A series of complaints about illegal and annoying activity on a narrow 350-foot path near the Willow Creek MAX stop has TriMet considering closing the route to the public.
The link runs from the Beaverton MAX platform to West Baseline Road, between a residential subdivision and a KinderCare day care center. It’s one of the few bike and pedestrian links across the MAX tracks in the area; the shortest detour would lengthen any trips that now use the path by up to two-tenths of a mile, or about four minutes on foot.
“There’s been some drug use and some vandalism along there,” TriMet spokeswoman Roberta Altstadt said Monday. “There can be people yelling. … People just don’t feel that it’s the safest path.”
TriMet outreach specialist Clay Thompson added in an email that the agency has been hearing about the path for “several years.”
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“There have been incidents of loitering, drug use, vandalism, accumulation of trash and hypodermic needles, aggressive behavior and other mischief, generating complaints from nearby neighbors and fellow transit riders,” he said.
“Every time we do a patrol, it’ll clear up, and you know, when the police are gone, the nuisance behavior comes right back,” Alstadt said.
The agency has distributed information to users of the path, asking for feedback on the proposal to close it. The deadline for public comment is this Sunday, June 8. Email any thoughts to willowcreekpath@trimet.org.
KinderCare spokeswoman Colleen Moran confirmed that their facility at 18685 SW Baseline Road had filed complaints in the past about people on the path.
“Last time they filed a complaint was more than a year ago, so we really haven’t had any issues in the last year,” Moran said. “When we filed our complaint, TriMet was out there really quickly. So we’ve had a good partnership.”
The path runs over KinderCare property. TriMet maintains the path due to a public easement. Moran said the company has no position on whether or not the path should be closed, but that it’s open to the possibility that either outcome might be best for the community.
“Obviously it’s a useful service for MAX riders, and that includes some of our parents,” Moran said.
Correction 4:40 pm: Earlier versions of this post misstated the amount of out-of-direction travel required for a detour.