The Policy Committee for the Oak Grove-Lake Oswego Ped/Bike Bridge Feasibility study accepted the study’s final report with a few minor wording changes, and approved future actions:
- Take no further action on the proposed bridge alignments given the political realities with the recent withdrawal of the City of Lake Oswego from the process and that the current landing points are not supported by the communities at this time, and
- Study pedestrian/bicycle crossings of the Willamette River on public or private land north and south of the City of Lake Oswego consistent with the adopted Clackamas County Transportation System Plan Project #2022, which identifies the project area for the bridge as being “Sellwood to Oregon City.”
The Policy Committee, originally made up of one elected official from each partner jurisdiction in the study – Clackamas County, Metro (which funded the study), the City of Milwaukie and the City of Lake Oswego – held its final meeting January 28 to review the study’s final report and recommend next steps. Lake Oswego was not represented at the meeting, after the city council voted in November 2019 to withdraw from the process.
In light of the Policy Committee decision, county staff will consult with Metro about studying other possible Willamette River crossing options.
The recommendations came after the Policy Committee accepted the final report of the feasibility study and determined the OGLO feasibility study to be complete. The study concluded that:
- The OGLO Pedestrian/Bicycle Bridge is technically feasible.
- Public land and/or right-of-way is available and can accommodate landings and approaches.
- Based on the criteria developed and approved by project advisory committees, two feasible bridge locations/alignments emerged. Both would accommodate light-weight emergency vehicles such as police cars and ambulances.
- SW Terwilliger Blvd (west side) to SE Courtney Avenue (east side) (A-3).
- Foothills Park (west side) to SE Courtney Avenue (D-3).
- Based on the support for the project indicated in the September 2019 scientific survey, the OGLO bridge project was considered to be potentially feasible. No additional scientific survey was conducted to confirm support at the end of the project.
The full report, summary of public input and more information about the completed feasibility study are available online or by contacting Project Manager Stephen Williams at swilliams@clackamas.us.