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Study Process
Washington County is embarking on a study to evaluate long-term transportation investments and strategies needed to help sustain our economic health and quality of life in the coming decades. Over the next 18 months this forward-thinking study will identify the tradeoffs between alternative long-term transportation investments examining:
- the county’s changing demographics;
- land use and economic conditions;
- transportation trends and new technologies; and
- financial, environmental, health, and equity issues that need to be considered.
The Study will help inform future choices and decisions that work for people and businesses.
Study Process and Public Engagement
The Study will advance through a five-step process (see image). We are currently in the first step: refining a set of community values and learning about transportation problems and opportunities facing the County. The public will stay informed as the study continues and will be asked to provide ideas for future transportation investment options, and will be invited to participate in an online open house to provide input on the study’s results and conclusions.
The study team reviewed many planning and visioning documents (pdf, 274 kb) adopted by cities in the County and Washington County, as well as regional and state plans and documents. These provide a starting place to determine Washington County community values and goals. A review of these studies and documents paints a picture of Washington County’s core community values for land use and transportation.
How important is each value to you?
From your experience living and traveling in the county, how well do you think we’re meeting these values overall?
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Amazing pastoral qualities of our rural areas, and their contribution to our economy, must not be destroyed thru so-called road improvements!
Fix what is already broken before building for new business. Why is Gain Share spent on an event center when we have roads with safety issues?
Many pedestrian walkways are unfriendly or dangerous to people who use scooters and wheelchairs. We should include equity for them.
Walkability, not just for cars. Build another parking garage on the empty land at Sunset Transit, that will remove even more cars
Public transportation is a wonderful option, but it will never be used as much as cars.
Traffic to/from Wash. Co. over the West Hills harm critical Forest Park wildlife connections, we need to reduce vehicle traffic on these roads
Voters have been unwilling to raise the funds needed to maintain what we have, much less what we need for the future. That has to be addressed!
Livability or quality of life.
Yes -- congestion relief and cost-effectiveness (all modes) should be added as discrete values.
Don't impose ideals on car commuters. Look at Intel's and Nike's parking lots. Bikes and MAX are important, but are just a part of the solution.
Environmental degradation.
Building more of the same won't create a livable future. Control growth, and account for changing work styles and values of younger generations.
Build for people, not cars.
Planning that restores identify of the various cities' core, downtown areas. Many, e.g., downtown Hillsboro, Beaverton, are blighted.
Just paving more roads for more cars and trucks won't work. An equitable multi-modal system will carry us safely and efficiently to our future.
Connectivity is only as good as the ability to move the traffic efficiently on the roadway. Improve what we have while expanding our options.
Our narrow county roads are too dangerous for the bikers. We need Roy Rogers to Clark Hill to TV Hwy so our Rural roads could be used safely!
Growth and new homes should be controlled by roads and traffic it will hold. First roads, then housing.
Traffic crashes are predictable therefore preventable. Being safe reduces congestion!
The City of Hillsboro's aspiration plan is exacting a high price on its residents, surrounding communities, and the population of our county.
The financial value should also be included when doing any transportation study, not just how funds are used, but how much funds are used.
Affordability of any option considered. Access to federal and state grants to assist in financing alternatives
Low income can barely put food on the table. The rich are doing just fine. Make them fork it out. 150K is NOT middle middle class... Thank you
Please! gas stations and convenient stores,a village with food & services. Walkability would be nice. It would help people connect. Wider roads!
Not everything is accessible by bike and walking. Get bikes off rural roads until they have real bike lanes!
Summarized it well. We've seen an heard many repeats on this: I would agree, government waste and poor money management have to STOP
Please make travel safe for people that are on foot or bikes.Too many Washington County roads are unsafe for those that don't have an engine.
Environment, safety, noise, carbon.
Adopt Vision Zero as a Washington County Transportation Goal.
Keep urban traffic out of rural areas. Rural roads should be improved for safe recreational use with wider shoulders.
Eliminate the waste of dollars on the useless electronic freeway signboards. Require road-damaging snow tire users to pay a user-damage fee.
I would love to see 3 track solutions that could support an express train. Connected bike Infrastructure must be better. No more road building.
Not everyone is physically capable of riding a bike or walking a significant distance. Let's not leave them behind!
Need safe biking lanes separated from the auto lanes. Need more development in Tanasbourne area.
Promote hub and spoke system with existing light rail stations. Station area planning is very important- set zoning to promote maximum density
We all share the roads, we should ALL help pay for the roads. Bikes, Hybrids and Electric automobiles need to be accessed a tax when purchased!
Recalling the old saw, growth is the philosophy of the cancer cell, not itself a value. Contain the sprawl and connectivity is simplified.
Light rail everywhere.
Consider the demographics of an area. King City does not need bike paths because of the age of the population. Tigard folks with two working p
Let's build and strengthen our community by increasing walkability and cycling. Create continuous sidewalks and bike lanes throughout the county
Connectivity is important if we are going to make the roads safer for people who walk and bike. Pursue retrofitting roads to improve this.
Privacy and Safety for residents. We have experienced a large increase in crime - mostly burglary in the last 3-5 years.
Urge you to work with Metro and the other Counties to coordinate how to address regional growth. The problem extends beyond county boarders.
We should look to our European examples. Having a healthy town with quick route between towns is, IMHO, a far better model than what we have.
Eliminate stormwater runoff. Increase the speed of public transportation. Make roads safe for bikes & pedestrians.
Yes, supporting families should be a value that is supported and sustained. Developers should not receive a variance just because of cost!
In general, this felt like a push-poll. You can't be all things to all people, but it's a good thing to strive for.
The primary transportation values that should be considered are Safety and interconnecting with other areas outside the county
Millenials are more into sharing resources and not buying cars. Let's increase safe walkways, bike lanes and mass transit.
Attempts to provide enhanced connectivity of road systems should continue to be pursued. For example, Cornelius Pass to Clark Hill to 124th Ave.
Vehicle means of transportation is and will be for a long time the lifeblood of our economy. Mass transit is needed now for our future needs.
arterial streets should have bike lanes, and bike lanes should be physically protected from traffic.
Growth should not be allowed if the roads will not support the growth. Develop a measurement to assess this.
More self-sufficient communities require less public transport. Focus on bringing rural residents to equitable, self-sufficient town centers.
WASHCO should value fitting into a larger regional strategy for transportation. I give METRO an F on this; kudos to WASHCO for this effort.
NO MORE LIGHT RAILS PLEASE! Cost of living will continue to climb if we don't improve commerce's ability to transport goods & services.
Besides congestion, most of the roads through out the county are in need of repair.
Yes! people really value having a car because culturally it has been instilled that, that is important. To change culture you need to educate.
Preserving the integrity of neighborhoods, and protecting home values, which is often part of neighborhood integrity.
Please make sure that you receive a statistically-valid sample of opinions on transportation options so the input is useful and not biased.
No one pays any attention to the profound transportation difficulties of those who are severely and/or permanently disabled.
Continuous & contiguous bike/pedestrian trails. More buses not roads. Ride share. Allow CERTIFIED Canine Good citizens on buses
Clogged arteries kill communities as well as people. Provide more capacity in roads or our clogged arteries will ruin our quality of life.
No, I think a few of those listed have overlap.
Education: Help people who are car-dependent learn how infrastructure reinforces that. Share examples of people living car-free in the county.
Active transportation improves physical and mental health the cost per mile of sidewalk and bike lanes is so much less than a roadway!
Put sidewalks everywhere! I run five days a week in the early morning before sunrise, and sidewalks are crucial to my safety.
Complete neighborhood/greenway trail networks in Beaverton, Tigard, Tualatin, and SW Portland. We have a nearly-great network with critical gaps
Community Livability - transportation impacts to community noise, lighting, parking, and congestion
Gasoline and diesel are the most expensive, polluting and non-renewable energy sources in transportation. Existing roads provide excellent access to cars, buses and trucks: their main complaint is traffic congestion, which can be solved with more efficie
It is important to me that my community is not designed around private automobiles. Lets focus on individuals needs.
Yes , building our roads and stop wasting time and money. I value results.
Yes
Electric bicycles may lead to increased bike commuting and long distances.
Given SB100, we probably need to consider protection of farmland, though that may fall under geographic equity.
Balance the needs of cyclists against proportionately much higher costs that other taxpayers are subsidizing to meet those needs.
The value of time. Right now, Washington County commuters waste an enormous amount of time (and gasoline) sitting in traffic jams. Two days ag
Finding usable alternatives to auto commuting to work is a important objective
LED street lights are nice! good effort there.
Walking with safety and confidence is a fundamental right, and should be respected and encouraged with appropriate facilities.
The adequacy and fairness of optional funding sources should be given careful consideration. Those who benefit most should pay the most.
Cycle tracks should be built. Motorists remember that cyclists are doing them a favor and avoiding another car in traffic. Peds need sidewalks!
MUP need physical separation of bikes/ped (Part II best practices design guide Fed Hwy fig 14-1) . Bike lanes are better for long distance.
A good safe multi use path is needed from Hillsboro to Portland. Bicyclists need multi use paths similar to ones built in Portland.
Night sky friendly lighting and rules enforcing the same. Sidewalks and crosswalks, and light to help peds and bikes be safe.
You need to connect the dots on trails. Add mid-block crossings to all these nice trails you are creating,
Improve street safety and accessibility for pedestrians and bicyclists. Improve public transit and make it a viable alternative to driving.
The safety and health of the community should be of top priority to Washington County. Car use should be discouraged as much as possible.
It's important to have off-road options available to non-traditional commuters.
Balance the needs of people to get around with the needs of wildlife and people to enjoy piece and quiet. Don't go bike crazy, cars matter too
I own a car and pay my fare share, and when I bike or walk to my destination it is opening a space for local freight mobility.
Reduce Pollution, subsidize mass transportation
Neighborhoods when possible should be connected for walking and bike riding. Individuals should not be able to block such access.
Use more electrical systems than carbon based fuels to run commuter buses.
Improve street safety and accessibility for pedestrians and bicyclists. Improve public transit and make it a viable alternative to driving.
Transportation policy should encourage "villages" within the city with easy access. Free parking and high capacity lanes have a high cost.
Raise the gas-tax/gallon by a few cents to fund community driven projects which promote a healthy and sustainable living. Have a 15yr foresight.
Emphasize pedestrian infrastructure improvements over everything else. It has been neglected for too long and we have a lot of catch-up to do.
Emphasis on car traffic flow has led drivers to believe that other transportation modes are '2nd class' and should get out of their way.
Invest in pedestrian access for areas where it is not safe to walk; bikes will benefit too. Manage the auto congestion due to growth.
Stop wasting money in the money-losing WES line. Quiet buses are needed. Multi-use paths that look like cycle tracks should be built now.
Transportation policy has been weighted too much towards single-occupancy autos. It's time to rebalance the system to support other users.
Project planning and construction should not favor one group (drivers) at the expense of others (pedestrians) - either all have access or none.
Most bang for the buck...Do you favor actual amounts invested reflect actual current use (84% auto capacity, 2% in Bikes, 6% in public transit)?
The noise factor should be considered. A road with many lanes and high speed limits should not be allowed near housing.
get rid of trimet-- the company is unreliable, a financial nightmare, and a drain on society.
Bike cyclists should pay their fair share for road maintenance or stay off the roads.
Yes, support for the basic needs of families and children and support for children when they are not in school..
The Study team has reviewed key planning influences—from the 1970’s to current times—that reflect the county’s planning history and provide perspectives that can inform future transportation planning.
Here are the key findings:
Community and Land Use
- The County exceeded growth projections in the 1980’s and 1990’s. The County is expected to grow dramatically in the future, adding 200,000 more residents and 122,000 additional jobs by 2035. This is the equivalent of adding another City of Beaverton and City of Hillsboro.
- The County is becoming more culturally diverse, and ethnic diversity is expected to increase.
- The character of the county has transitioned—from rural to suburban to, in many places, urban—as a direct result of regional and local land use and transportation decisions.
- Development over the past few decades has focused on regional and town centers and corridors to create more walkable communities, and greater emphasis on light rail station area planning, a mix of uses, and a variety of housing types.
- The designation of urban and rural reserves provides more certainty for long-term land use planning than we’ve ever had.
Travel and Transportation
- Employment growth in Hillsboro and Tualatin has meant more commuter traffic from Portland into Washington County employment areas and greater peak-hour north-south travel flow. Congestion and travel delays for trucks and goods movement costs money and forces changes in business operations and location decisions.
- Recent planning efforts have emphasized expanding transportation choice and reducing vehicle travel demand, which has resulted in 15 percent fewer miles driven per person and less time spent commuting than the national average.
- Coordinated transportation financing between the County and cities has been a successful approach. For instance, the Major Streets Transportation Improvement Program (MSTIP) has greatly enhanced the local transportation system by targeting improvements to address safety and capacity deficiencies and enhance multi-modal opportunities.
Read the Taking Stock Report (opens new window).
Next Steps in the Study Process
- The study team will refine the set of community values based on public input. Going forward, the Values Statement will be used to evaluate land use scenarios and transportation options.
- The team will develop conceptual transportation strategies and invite the public to provide their input later this year.
Stay Involved
- Sign up for our mailing list to receive study updates.
- Provide comments anytime on the project website: WCTransportationFutures.org.
Final Questions
Demographic Questions (Optional)
This study is requesting demographic information to evaluate the effectiveness of public outreach activities. The identity of individuals is kept confidential. The results are reported as totals only, and used solely to help improve future community engagement. Providing this information is voluntary and optional.
