A group studying transportation and communities in the southwest part of the region got a first look earlier this week at a report detailing the on-the-ground situation in the study area.
The Southwest Corridor Plan Steering Committee received a preview of and discussed a corridor existing conditions report, including information on population, employment, health, community amenities and transportation access affecting people in the Southwest Corridor between Sherwood and downtown Portland, at their meeting on Monday.
The committee, made up of mayors, commissioners and other elected and appointed officials from the 13 partner jurisdictions, discussed relationships between topics and implications of the information in the report, which is expected to be finalized and published in January 2012.
Metro Councilor and committee co-chair Carl Hosticka tied the conditions in the corridor to the Southwest Corridor Plan Charter, on the agenda for approval:
"Being an academic, I love information for information’s sake, but what we are gathering this information for is to help us make decisions to produce the world that we want to have," Hosticka said. "The charter is a beginning point at trying to define why we are doing all this and how we are going to go about doing it."
Hosticka called for the signing of the charter, which lays out the goal, timeline, roles and responsibilities for the plan as well as the committee’s charge and protocols.
Tigard Mayor Craig Dirksen appreciated that the goals were an outgrowth of regionally adopted goals:
"Tying it into the Regional Framework Plan that Metro has already adopted is very appropriate as opposed to trying to have (the Southwest Corridor Plan) have standalone goals," Dirksen said.
Catherine Ciarlo, a Portland representative on the committee, highlighted the importance of the charter as a foundational instrument:
"Mayor (Sam) Adams sees [this signing] as a watershed moment, both for the development of this project or series of projects and for the region as a whole," said Ciarlo, Adams' transportation director. "This gives us an opportunity to start from the ground up as a series of partners together."
Alan Lehto, speaking for TriMet general manager Neil McFarlane, echoed the Portland mayor’s sentiment:
"Neil is, as all of us are, looking forward to working in the entire corridor, working with all of our partners on this very promising project," Lehto said.
The Southwest Corridor Plan is a partnership between Metro, Multnomah County, Washington County, the Oregon Department of Transportation, TriMet and the cities of Beaverton, Durham, King City and Lake Oswego, Portland, Sherwood, Tigard and Tualatin.
The planning integrates multiple efforts: local land use plans to identify actions and investments that support livable communities; a transportation plan to examine high capacity transit alternatives and potential roadway, bicycle and pedestrian improvements; and strategies such as economic development, housing choices, parks and natural areas, safety and health.