Title
Beavercreek Road Preferred Street Cross Section
Body
RECOMMENDED ACTION (Motion):
Confirmation that staff is approaching lane width and intersection control appropriately for the sections of Beavercreek Road that abut the Concept Plan boundary.
BACKGROUND:
The Beavercreek Road Concept Plan (BRCP) is a guide to the creation of a complete and sustainable neighborhood in southeast Oregon City. The adopted plan provides a framework for urbanization of 453 acres within the urban growth boundary including a diverse mix of uses (an employment campus north of Loder Road, mixed use districts along Beavercreek Road, and two mixed use neighborhoods), all woven together by open space, trails, a network of green streets, and sustainable development practices. The BRCP has been carefully crafted to create a multi-use community linking Clackamas Community College, Oregon City High School, and adjacent neighborhoods together.
While the BRCP was formally adopted in 2008 and readopted in 2016, it does not include all the tools necessary to implement the vision of the plan such as the assignment of Comprehensive Plan Map or zoning designations to properties or changes to uses or design standards in the Oregon City Municipal Code (OCMC) to implement the requirements of the plan.
The purpose of this project is to update the Comprehensive Plan and Oregon City Municipal Code (OCMC) to allow planned housing and mixed-use development to occur, including applying mapping and zoning designations for properties within the Concept Plan Area. No annexations are being proposed as part of this action. https://www.orcity.org/Beavercreekroadconceptplan.
The attached staff memorandum summarizes a traffic study for the Oregon City Beavercreek Road Concept Plan conducted by DKS Associates and provides staff recommendations for intersection control and the optimal cross-section for Beavercreek Road. The study area comprises the adopted 2008 Beavercreek Road Concept Plan area. The objective of this study is to:
1. Compare future development and infrastructure recommendations in the Beavercreek Road Concept Plan to that of the 2013 Transportation System Plan (TSP) and Municipal Code;
2. Ensure Transportation Planning Rule (TPR) consistency; and
3. Provide responses to the following three questions identified by the public during the public engagement phase of this project to implement the Beavercreek Road Concept Plan.
• Intersection Control Analysis. What is the optimal design for intersection control along the Beavercreek Road Concept Plan boundary- traffic signals or roundabouts?
• Holly Lane Connection. How important is the Holly Lane connection to the transportation model? What if it does not connect for a very long time, or is removed?
• Road Network Evaluation. What is the optimal cross section for Beavercreek Road?
The responses contained in the attached DKS Associates memo address the above from a transportation capacity and design lens. Additional policy, legal, fiscal, construction, or maintenance factors that may be part of a larger discussion are discussed further in staff's memo.
Taking in to account the findings of the DKS study and the additional factors mentioned above, staff recommends keeping the existing and adopted 3-lane cross-section and re-adopting a cross section with dimensional components in the upcoming LEG 19-0003 to provide additional clarity for future land use conditions. Staff also agrees with DKS’s finding that signals are recommended at Glen Oak Road and Loder Road as signals are easier to build through incremental Land Use development conditions whereas, roundabouts can only be built as a full project.
Staff is seeking confirmation that retaining the 3-lanes on Beavercreek and utilizing signals rather than roundabouts along the Beavercreek Road frontage within the Beavercreek Road Concept Plan boundary is appropriate. If the City Commission wishes to implement a 5-lane cross section on Beavercreek Road either partially, such as north of Loder Road, or completely, staff may need to return at a future work session to provide an update on some of the outstanding factors described in this report.