The King City City Council on Sept. 18 took its first step toward trying to revise the controversial Transportation System Plan, whose passage in 2023 led to the recall or resignation of a majority of the previous city council because the plan called for the extension of Fischer Road into Kingston Terrace in the city’s urban growth boundary (UGB).
Interim City Attorney Melissa Ryan told the council that the city would have to hire a transportation consultant to do modeling for the full build-out of Kingston Terrace and its projected traffic flow to come up with options. She added that King City would have to notify multiple affected parties, including the cities of Tigard and Sherwood, Washington County, Metro, and the Land Conservation and Development Commission, “that this is the path King City is thinking about.”
City Planner Maxwell Carter added, “… The regional transportation plan, which is the Metro Regional Plan that the city is forced to adhere to, has certain aspects in it that require networks of streets.”
He added, “I don’t see any reason or issue (why) we can’t eliminate (a road through the Bankston conservation easement) from the TSP… However, I think it would be a much harder argument to make to the state and to Metro to not connect Fischer to 137th… It would also be very difficult to make that argument that King City cannot connect to the UGB directly…
“There has to be a way to satisfy people and create a connective system that allows people to go from one side of the city to the other. Not everyone’s going to be happy, but we also have to satisfy requirements from the state, requirements from Metro. And if we do something that Washington County doesn’t agree with and not based on facts, then all these other jurisdictions (may) potentially challenge our plan.”
Carter recommended that the council come up with a resolution to approve to get the planning and funding process started to revise the TSP. “I definitely think it’s possible to do, but at the same time, it’s quite a project to take on,” he said.
Council President Jessica Braverman questioned Carter’s neutrality on the issue and reminded the council that voters last November voted four of them into office due to their commitment to revisit the TSP. She added she was concerned about bias against revising the plan and false information being presented.
Mayor Rachel Kazmierski said, “There are still community members who don’t want the extension at all, and I don’t think they’ve been satisfied as why, so although it might not be feasible, I want to make sure we go down the road of exhausting that so that we can show the community that we have upheld what we said we would do.”
During the discussion, Councilor Vince Arditi said that he has heard from residents along Beef Bend Road who are afraid that they will bear the brunt of additional traffic if it doesn’t go through Edgewater via Fischer Road, and he added that commuters are already taking shortcuts through King City to go between Pacific Highway and Beef Bend Road.
Ryan suggested that the city go ahead with a Request for Proposal (RFP) to solicit proposals from potential consultants for the project. “When the RFP comes back, that’s when the City Council would take a look at the current budget and see if the money’s actually in the budget before hiring a consultant,” she said, adding that there might be alternative funding sources available without tapping the city’s budget.
Kazmierski made a motion to direct the City Manager Pro Tem Ernie Happala to direct the staff to devote resources and seek funding to amend the TSP to include alternatives to the Fischer Road extension and avoid the Bankston conservation easement; Councilor Steve Gearhart seconded the motion; and it was approved 6 – 0.
