Introduction

You don't have to live near SE Harmony Road in Clackamas County to know that, come rush hour, commuters can count on back-ups and delays at several intersections.  As an important east-west connector in west Clackamas County, Harmony Road averages approximately 20,000 vehicle trips per day.  As traffic increases, safety declines.  Harmony Road has long needed transportation improvements to safely and efficiently accommodate existing and future travel for cars, busses, bikes, and pedestrians.  For this reason Clackamas County, in partnership with the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT), is studying potential transportation solutions through an alternatives development and evaluation process that will conclude with an environmental impact statement (EIS).

Since October 2006, the Harmony Road Area Transportation Improvements Project team has been soliciting input from the local community and interest groups to develop a variety of project alternatives.  Early in the process, the public, tribes, and various government agencies were asked to define current transportation problems; establish goals and objectives; develop criteria and methods for evaluating project alternatives; and develop conceptual alternatives to resolve the identified problems.  The documents page contains a list of all public comments we've received so far.

During the project scoping period (April 9 to June 14, 2007), members of the Project Advisory Committee, agencies, technical team, and the public were given the opportunity to sketch out potential alternatives on blank maps.  As a result, over 40 transportation alternatives were received, which can be grouped generally into three "build" concepts (alternatives that include construction, described in Concepts 1 through 3 below).  A fourth concept is consideration of Transportation System Management (TSM) and Transportation Demand Management (TDM) strategies.  The final concept is the "no-build" alternative, also described below.  As described below, all of these concepts will be evaluated in the environmental review process.

Concepts Being Evaluated

1. Harmony Road and Sunnybrook Blvd. Improvements

This includes 16 design variations focused on improving east-west traffic flow on Harmony Road by adding lane capacity, and bike and pedestrian facilities.  Key issues associated with this concept include potential impacts to open space and the stream corridor south of Harmony Road, potential impacts to abutting homes, and other potential environmental impacts related to road widening.  These issues were emphasized during the scoping process.

2. Move Traffic to Highway 224

This includes 17 design variations that facilitate traffic movement south to Highway 224.  These alternatives typically attempt to redirect traffic from Harmony Road to Highway 224.  Design variations include extending Sunnybrook Boulevard to the south or other north-south roads that improve the connection to Highway 224.  Some of the variations propose improvements to both Harmony Road and north-south connections to Highway 224.  One key issue is potential impacts to the open space, wetlands, and the stream corridor where new roads are proposed that extend south of Harmony Road.  Another key issue is how well this concept would integrate with the proposed Sunrise Project and whether Highway 224 would adequately accommodate the additional east-west traffic.

3. Separate Rail Traffic From All Other Modes of Transportation

This includes 12 design variations related to the Harmony Road/Linwood Avenue/Railroad Avenue intersection -- a complex area where the main issues are separating the railroad traffic from the roadway and all other modes of transportation, and providing local access to Harmony Road.  The various configurations mainly propose building some type of road structure over the railroad, but one suggests building a railroad tunnel under the road and another suggests bridging the railroad over the roadway.  The scoping process also highlighted concern for potential impacts to homes and businesses, as well as visual impacts for the neighborhoods.

4. Transportation System Management (TSM) / Transportation Demand Management (TDM) Alternative

This option is a requirement of the environmental review process to see if TSM and TDM strategies can effectively solve the corridor's transportation problems.  TSM strategies may include improving road capacity through access management, signal timing, and/or other minor improvements.  TDM strategies focus on moderating demand for the facility by, for example, encouraging carpooling and/or cooperating with large area employers to implement flexible work hours.  This alternative will be analyzed and considered in the second level of screening.

5. No-Build

The no-build alternative assumes the planned improvements to Harmony Road and Sunnybrook Boulevard are not carried forward; however, 28 separate planned and funded transportation projects in the Harmony Road area will be implemented.  This alternative will be analyzed in the EIS and will provide a baseline to compare future conditions among the alternatives selected for impact analysis.

Harmony Road and 82nd Avenue, looking west		Harmony Road east of Linwood Avenue, looking west

Screening

With scoping completed, the next step in the project is to refine and evaluate the range of conceptual alternatives.  To narrow the broad range of alternatives (45 total), the project team used a tiered screening process to select the most promising alternatives for further analysis.  The first tier of screening considered planning, transportation and environmental elements at a qualitative level.  The project team assessed each of the 45 alternatives to determine its ability to meet the project goals and objectives, its potential effects on the surrounding community and environment as well as its effectiveness in solving transportation problems. The first tier screening focused on the following primary areas:

• Transportation (delay, accessibility, other modes of travel, etc.)

• Plan Compliance

• Displacements

• Environmental Justice

• Cultural/Archaeological/Historic Resources

• Park lands, 4f/6f Resources*

• Streams/Wetlands/Floodplains

* Section 4(f) of the Department of Transportation Act prohibits the Secretary of Transportation from approving a transportation project requiring the use of certain lands unless there is no prudent and feasible alternative to using that land, and the project includes "all possible planning to minimize harm to the park, recreation area, wildlife and waterfowl refuge, or historic site resulting from the use" (49 U.S.C. 303(c)).  Section 6(f) of the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) Act, 16 U.S.C. 460, applies to outdoor public recreation resources that were acquired or developed with LWCF monies.  It prohibits the conversion of such property to a non-recreational purpose without the approval of the Department of the Interior's National Park Service (NPS).

This first level of screening resulted in a narrowed range of 11 alternatives.  These alternatives were evaluated in more detail during the second tier of screening.  Again using criteria and measures, the second tier of screening helped the County narrow the range of alternatives to a final set of the most promising alternatives, which will be evaluated in detail in the project EIS.  The final set of most promising alternatives was presented and discussed at Open House #3 held on November 28th, 2007.

Once the final set of alternatives is selected, each alternative will undergo a discipline-specific impact analysis and environmental documentation that includes documenting the potential impacts and mitigation measures associated with each alternative.  Once this is completed, the Draft EIS will be distributed to public and agency stakeholders for comment.

Based on the environmental documentation and comments received, the Clackamas County Board of Commissioners will select its preferred package of improvements for solving the transportation problems in the Harmony Road corridor.  That decision will also be subject to review and comment by the public and agency stakeholders, followed by the Final EIS.

To learn more about the first level of screening and to review the 11 alternatives, please see the narrowed range of alternatives.  To read the screening reports, please see the documents page.

Harmony Road at Linwood Avenue, looking north		Harmony Road near Linwood Avenue, looking east

Current Project Status

The project team is currently completing analysis of additional transportation alternatives requested by the Policy Review Committee.  Upon review of the analysis, the committee will make their recommendations to the Clackamas County Commissioners, Milwaukie City Council, ODOT and FHWA.

How You Can Get Involved

Public involvement plays a vital role in each step of this project.  There are numerous opportunities for the public, agency and group representatives, and others to learn about the project and provide input.  This includes Open House meetings, Project Advisory Committee (PAC) meetings, Policy Review Committee (PRC) meetings, the project's website, newsletters, flyers, the comment hotline, and other forums and methods.  We want to hear from you!

For more information about how you can get involved in the Harmony Road Area Transportation Improvements Project, please see Get Involved.

Recent Events

• PAC Field Tour

On Saturday, October 6, 2007, Clackamas County held a field tour of the project study area for the Project Advisory Committee (PAC).  Attendees walked the project area and discussed possible roadway improvements to Harmony Road, possible alignments for the extension of Sunnybrook Boulevard, and possible solutions to separate the rail traffic from automobile, bicycle, and pedestrian traffic. The field tour provided an opportunity for PAC members to comment and ask questions while experiencing the project area's transportation issues and the potential impacts first-hand.

PAC Field Tour (October 2007)		PAC Field Tour (October 2007)

• Open House #3

The project's third Open House was held on Thursday, November 28, 2007 at the auditorium in Clackamas County's Sunnybrook Service Center.  Seventy two persons attended the Open House.  Clackamas County hosted the Open House to discuss the Screening Report Findings and recommended alternatives to consider in the EIS.  During the Open House, the County sought public input on these findings and recommendations.

To learn more about Open House #3, please click here.

Open House #3 (November 2007)		Open House #3 (November 2007)

• Open House #4

On Wednesday, July 9, 2008, Clackamas County hosted the fourth Open House for the Harmony Road Area Transportation Improvements Project.  The Open House was held at the auditorium in Clackamas County's Sunnybrook Service Center (9101 SE Sunnybrook Blvd., Clackamas, Oregon) from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.

This Open House / Public Forum gave all interested parties an opportunity to learn more about the Harmony Road Project, ask questions of technical staff, and express their views to Clackamas County Commission Chair Lynn Peterson and Milwaukie City Councilor Deborah Barnes. Both Commissioner Peterson and Councilor Barnes are on the Harmony Road Policy Review Committee (PRC), which is charged with recommending next steps in the project to the Clackamas County Commission and Milwaukie City Council.

Everyone who was interested in expressing their views to Lynn and/or Deborah had up to three minutes to speak individually to the elected officials at this meeting, and all comments were recorded.  Commissioner Peterson and Councilor Barnes will be accepting written comments online and through the mail until July 16.  All verbal and written comments will become part of the project record and will be considered by the PRC as it considers the next steps.

To learn more about Open House #4, please click here.

Other Ways to Participate

• Website:  www.HarmonyRoadProject.org

• Comment Line:

English:   (503) 697-2716

Spanish:  (503) 697-2701

• E-mail us your comments