“Interim trail use will provide a broad range of community benefits, including:… giving the downtown an economic stimulus by providing a new off-street transportation route to downtown businesses of all kinds…”
— from a resolution to create a new rail-trail in Tigard
On Tuesday, June 9th, Tigard City Council will vote on whether or not they should assume responsibility for an abandoned railroad line and convert it a non-motorized trail.
The nearly one-mile, 50-foot wide stretch of rail line is adjacent to Tigard Street and extends between Tiedeman and Main Streets (see map below/link here).
According to Duane Roberts at the City of Tigard, Portland & Western is in the process of relinquishing its rights to the line. This is a federal legal process that must be done with the oversight of the Surface Transportation Board (STB). As part of that process, “interested parties” (in this case the City of Tigard) have the opportunity to negotiate right-of-way agreements so the area can be used for public use.
The land under the rail line is owned by the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT). The Tigard City Council agenda item that deals with this issue says that in previous negotiations about a possible trail, ODOT’s Rail Division, “has opposed any trail use.”
According to the document, ODOT opposes the trail because they are, “adamant about preserving small, discontinuous pieces, like the Tigard loop, for future rail use.” The Council agenda summary goes on to say that although the south end of the loop is paved (it’s used for a TriMet park and ride lot) and doesn’t connect to the main line,
“ODOT Rail has maintained that the corridor could be used for rail use in the short term; such as for boxcar storage. Therefore, in the division’s view, even interim trail use could take away this potential.”
ODOT has also been concerned about safety because a small portion of the would-be trail location runs next to a separate, active rail line.
According to the City of Tigard, the negotiations with ODOT have “hit a deadend.” But now, with the process being turned over to the federal Surface Transportation Board, Tigard’s hopes of getting their rail-trail has new life.
If the Tigard City Council rules in favor of the trail, the STB would then give the City a “trail use authority.” The feds themselves would have no direct role in the Tigard/ODOT negotations, but according to the agenda item,
“negotiating with ODOT Rail under the auspices of the national rail administrative agency puts the City in a much more favorable position with regard to trail use than has been the case up to now…
STB’s favorable consideration of the City’s request could be a game-changer. For the first time, the City would have a real chance to exert some influence on state agency decision-making.”
For their part, City of Tigard staff recommends that their Council supports the trail by adopting a resolution next week that states that the trail will,
“… provide a broad range of community benefits, including: providing… a safe, off-street alternative to the adjacent Tigard Street;… giving the downtown an economic stimulus by providing a new off-street transportation route to downtown businesses of all kinds; and providing direct, non-motorized access to the bus and commuter rail transit station located in the center of the downtown area.”
Citizens can get involved and encourage Tigard City Council to pass the resolution by contacting Duane Roberts no later than June 10th.
More information on this is available on the Tigard Area 12 blog.
- Duane Roberts
(503) 718-2444
duane@tigard-or.gov.
Tigard City Hall
Attn: Duane Roberts
13125 SW Hall Boulevard
Tigard Oregon 97223.
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ODOTs arguement regarding safety issues citing a trail along active rail lines seems uncredible, seeing the Steele Bridge crossing right next to a VERY active rail line. The Port in Astoria has trail going right next to active lines. I could probaby find a hundred more instances here in the State given enough time. Judicious fencing would probably be sufficent to make the trail safe and useable.
Since I haven’t investigated,is this alignment anywhere near possible light rail lines for the future?
Pardon my asking, but exactly how is a trail adjacent to a rail line any more dangerous than a bike lane on an even moderately busy street? This would be a very nice extension of the Fanno Creek trail system.
There is a gap in the Fanno Creek Trail in this area but the current detour is about 1/2 mile on a low traffic street to the path in Woodard Park. The proposed stretch doesn’t really connect anything and would take you further away from Fanno Creek and it looks like it would be a more difficult connection than the current route.
I remember reading a while back (can’t remember where) that there was a plan to fill that gap by continuing the path along the creek. It looks mostly undeveloped in that area. I think that would be a better use of time & money and probably be less of a fight.
You may be right Brad. I don’t know enough about the possibility of alternate connections. Still, if I’m looking at this correctly, it gets you under 99W without stopping for traffic, which seems like a very good thing to me.
This would be a great addition. Tigard Street gets a lot of bike and pedestrian traffic, with no sidewalks, and a bike lane in one direction only. Plus, this feeds almost directly into the Tigard transit center.
At the risk of being obvious, Hasn’t the Springwater Trail between OMSI and Sellwood proven safe despite the fact that it is adjacent to an active rail line?
I stand corrected. I didn’t realize the transit center was right there. That would make a nice way get from the TC under 99W and connect to the existing trail.
Regarding boxcar storage – that’s an asinine excuse on the part of ODOT – there’s plenty of room for railcar storage on the existing P&W mainline south of Main St.
Also, as others mentioned, the safety concerns are overblown.
I’m no expert, but have ridden past this “rail line”. First, it seems to be in pretty bad shape so I’m curious how much rehab it would take to even use it for box car storage.
As for use in a light rail alignment, it pretty much parallels the current WES alignment, but not precisely and is very short. I don’t think it would help in that regard at all.
If memory serves, the ROW is very wide and might be able to accommodate a realigned railroad and trail if need be.
They’ve torn up the rails on the abandoned section. Some of the ties have also been torn up. It’s overgrown with weeds. Rehabbing it for boxcar storage is going to take a lot of ODOT $$$.
Tigard St is great biking– if you want to ride AWAY from Main St. There is no bike lane on the inbound side of Tigard St. There are no sidewalks on either side of the street, and no shoulders, either.
As a cyclist, I have to swerve around pedestrians and take my chances with the Angry Western Plumbing driver (~7:35 AM, every morning) to ride from Tiedeman to Main St. (Or, as I’ve just found out after 10 years of living in Tigard, take the Secret Fanno Creek Extension to Johnson St.)
Coming home in the evening, it’s more swerving around peds and bike riders who don’t feel comfortable riding with traffic on that street.
Paving that section of abandoned rail would go a long way to making it easier for residents of that part of Tigard to get into downtown– And since the City has large expensive plans to revitalise their downtown core, anything that gets people to shop and eat down there is a good thing!
I’ll be writing in with my support of the rail trail, you can bet on that!
Re: Safety:
There’s a fairly tall fence between the abandoned line and the WES/Freight line. At least, there is on the Tigard St side of the railway… 🙂
Traffic free crossing of 99W at Tigard (RonC post#4 & Brad #7). You may not be aware that if you come off the Fanno Creek trail onto SW Johnson, immediately before 99W lights, there is a narrow track between George Morlan’s parking lot and 99W which curves under 99W onto Main St.
Mike
Thanks Mike. I’ll check it out next time I’m out that way. The few times I’ve ridden through there on the Fanno Creek trail (from the east end), the trail just dies out and the connector route to pick it back up further west is anything but intuitive. While it’s very cool to get ‘inside info’ about routes like this, I would still much prefer that the routes were reasonably well marked and easily found. It’s my crazy guess that if they were we might see markedly increased use…
across the State there are many groups working on trails and having to ‘reinvent the wheel’ with each one. There is a huge learning curve for most,limited resources and varying levels of support from local governments. While I have no truck with recreational only trails, trails that have a strong transportation component are (IMHO) the Holy Grail of Trails. I would love to see a group of advisers form, folks with strong landuse and political chops,to mentor/support/birddog local groups working on transport trails.
Unless there is a huge outcry in support for this trail,and a group forming to advocate/support/birddog it, it would be easy for Tigard Council to decide it is not ‘doable’ and let it rest.And should a group of advocates form,hopefully it consists of folks who have strong understanding of zoning/land use issues and a serious streak of politickin to make it happen. Tigard Council has turned the decision making over to the STB. Their resolution notwithstanding, they don’t appear to be totally engaged in making sure it happens. Perhaps they need to be reminded of this trails importance by a few vocal,engaged local citizens.
Kt (#10) – Rehabbing it wouldn’t take any ODOT dollars, the railroad would pay the cost of improvements, or the City of Tigard – similar to what happened with the Springwater Trail (the City of Portland paid to rehab the rail line on the Willamette when it was moved to make room for the trail).
I think the real reason ODOT wants to keep that land earmarked is for future widening of the adjacent road. That may just be my paranoia talking.
This is a trail to no where. One terminus would be Tiedeman Ave., a two lane road with no bike lane, no shoulder, very heavy traffic. The other terminus is Main Street in downtown Tigard, which is used as a short cut by impatient drivers to avoid the gridlock on 99W.
Better to plant trees along this sight, make it a forest, capture some carbon.
Have Tigard Council declare Tigard Avenue and Commercial Street ( a street on the other side of the tracks that also goes under 99W, eventually becomes 98th and connects with Greenburg) bike boulevards that connect with other bike boulevards radiating out from a downtown hub. Have Tigard Council declare a car free day along Main Street, which would show Council’s intent to move away from a car-centric downtown Tigard.
Have the Tigard Council explain why they had a committee table any further discussion of a Bicycle Advisory Committee (http://www.tigard-or.gov/city_hall/boards_committees/cci/docs/cci_minutes_090121.pdf).
Better yet, ask the Mayor, who will be up for re-election next year, what his plans are for reducing VMTs in Tigard and how he plans on leading his city into the age of peak oil and climate change.
RonC, I agree with you that the Fanno Creek Trail in all its disjointed segments is hard to navigate if you don’t already know which way to go to find the next part.
For instance, just yesterday morning I discovered the rest of the trail from Tiedeman to Johnson, meaning I don’t have to ride on Tigard St anymore and risk the Wrath of the Western Plumbing Van Driver at 7:35 AM. Yippee!
Tigard Resident (me too! 10 years this year!) I agree that the City needs to stop talking the talk and start walking the walk– or riding the ride. Tigard has a rep for not being easy to ride around in– but I’ve found that not to be true. Of course, one must be somewhat assertive in riding around town, but I’ve found that most drivers are pretty good– especially when I obey the traffic laws by signaling, stopping at stop signs and red lights, etc.
Yes, Main St becomes the cut-off for impatient drivers who don’t want to sit in traffic on 99W, both morning and evening. The City’s plan to revitalize Main St and the downtown core looks to cut off the cut off. One of the things they’re going to have to figure out is how to accomodate all those drivers back on 99W.
Say, have you been to the 5th Tuesday meetings? That’s a great place to get your point across about reducing VMT, a BAC, and making Tigard more livable.
K’tesh posts when those meetings are in the forums, the next one should be the last Thursday in July.
Back on topic—
Duane would prefer that people type up their comments and mail or hand-deliver them to him at the planning department of City Hall.
If you decide to hand-deliver, go into the doors on the left, not the ones on the right.
If a new trail could go from the transit center through to Dakota rather than stop at Tiedeman, if would link up better with the Fanno Creek trail. Otherwise, probably the better link would be having the north-end trail terminus near the intersection of Tiedeman and Tigard Ave., so the Fanno Creek trail could be picked-up off of Tiedeman.
Turning Tigard Ave. into a bike boulevard instead of putting in a MUP, and developing the adjacent land as a nature park with a pedestrian path might be a nice option worth considering. Are Tigard residents ready and willing to put in bike boulevards yet?
Sorry, I meant to say “…so the Fanno Creek trail could be picked-up off of Tigard Ave.”, not Tiedeman.
Kt#17-
Tigard Council’s stated 2008 and 2009 goals mention reducing traffic congestion. This does not mean reducing VMTs. This means more and faster traffic. How? Tigard Council is implementing a plan, in concert with ODOT, to reduce the number of drive way entrances/exits on 99W. They also throw their unabashed support towards the fantasy of an I-5/99W connector.
In regards to the downtown revitilization, there are no plans to improve the dandy little underpass you have discovered. Several Tigard Mayoral races will happen long before any downtown revitilization happens. Mayor Dirksen is a happy motoring Tigard, vote the bum out.
RonC#19-
There is a steel plant across Tiedeman from the North terminus, once you negotiate that there is a very narrow bridge on 2-lane North Dakota Street you need to cross to get to Fanno. If the city of Tigard had not sold a sweet parcel of land on the east side of Fanno, the North side of North Dakota, to a former city employee for $30k, one could have put a park, MUP through there.
Tigard sets up perfectly for a hub and spoke bicycle boulevard system, with Tigard, Commercial, Pfaffle and Pine, Ash being some of the spokes of bike boulevards. WES/transit station, City Hall, downtown the hub. I think Tigard should be ready for this. I think Tigard is ready for car-free Saturdays with a car free Main Street the venue for Tigard Farmers Market. Sounds nice doesn’t it…car-free Main Street.
Tigard resident.. you call this a trail to nowhere and yet state one terminus is the Main Street of downtown. I haven’t lived in Tigard since 1976,so my memory is fuzzy,but there was a little business district of local shops there at the time. Cleaner,hardware store,etc. Does this main street business cluster still exist?
My reason for asking is Local business districts need a means for people to get there to be successful. Total reliance on cars only encourages sprawl. Being able to bike or walk there not only adds more supporters of the business distict,but adds more possibilities for different kinds of businesses.
Would having that trail benefit local businesses? Would people likely use it to do their shopping,go to a meal,etc, where before they either didn’t go there or had to drive?
Just askin, since I don’t have much knowledge of Tigard.
Joe Adamski#22
I did not mean that downtown Tigard is nowhere. I beleive downtown Tigard has enourmous potential to be a walkable, bikeable, vibrant, car-free business environment. Currently the terminus is next to the WES tracks where they cross Main Street and on the other side is a building that in 1976 was the Tigard Feed & Seed, now the Chameber of Commerce building. Looking south from the terminus, a concrete island keeps WES parking from turning left onto Main. WES parking is across Main Street to the South.
Would having that trail benefit local businesses? Imagine you are standing on this proposed trail, looking South towards downtown Tigard. To your left are the WES tracks. You cannot cross the tracks. Folks on the other side cannot cross the tracks, they use Commercial to get under 99W. City of Tigard staff did not mention this in describing the “… broad range of community benefits…”would be out of reach because of WES tracks. To your right is Tigard Street. On the otherside of Tigard Street is a triangle of neighborhoods bordered by Tiedeman/Woodard Park/Johnson Street (Kt’s new route) as one leg, 99W another, of course Tigard Street the other. There just aren’t that many people who would use the trail to support COT staff’s claim.
My concern would be the COT claiming the trail would be”…providing direct, non-motorized access to the bus and commuter rail transit station located in the center of the downtown area.” The way to do that would be to declare bike boulevards radiating into the downtown hub. Boulevards that urge non-motorized access to the downtown area. Declare a car-free Main Street on Saturdays along with the Tigard Farmers Market. Have a Street dance on Saturdays. Give folks a reason to experience a car free downtown.
Until Tigard City Council comes to an understanding that it needs to provide a means for people to get out of their cars in order to reduce traffic congestion, bicyclists and pedestrians will continue to be marginalized.
A trail to nowhere, accessible to a few, will not offer solutions to the problems we face as community dealing with peak oil. It will only make the sitting Council appear as if they are doing something, when they are doing nothing of substance.