Metro bankrolls Milwaukie projects

Millions to fund roads, trails and work on Lake Kellogg; Oregon City fares less well

By Patrick Sherman

The Clackamas Review, Mar 28, 2007, Updated Oct 30, 2009

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“Right now, the lake is like a bathtub – it’s way too warm for fish,” said Newman. “The plan has always been to return it to its natural state, which is more like a marsh.

“As to the bridge itself, they want to widen it so they can add full-sized sidewalks and a bicycle lane.”

The overall project is expected to cost $8.7 million, with this infusion of cash from Metro paying for engineering and design.

A planned MAX light rail alignment from downtown Portland to Milwaukie received $2 million in funding, again to pay for advanced design work. The overall project is expected to cost $880 million, with 60 percent of the overall funding flowing from the federal government.

“We’re in the environmental impact phase of the project right now,” Newman said. “When that’s done, we’ll seek approval from the feds to being preliminary engineering, which is what this money will pay for.

“Every step of the way, you have to follow their process. They don’t want a lot of projects moving forward that don’t have a realistic shot of getting funded.”

One local project that did not receive Metro’s support was the second phase of Oregon City’s McLoughlin Boulevard project, which would have beautified and enhanced the roadway between the Clackamas River bridge and the Rivershore Hotel. The city’s proposal would have cost $2.8 million.

“It wasn’t that there were any problems with Oregon City’s project,” said Newman. “There was just a lot of competition in that category. They ended up getting beaten out by a project in Portland and another one in Cornelius.”

Newman expressed his optimism that the project would eventually be funded.

“We’re talking about doing a ballot measure in ’08 for transportation issues, and if we can build a consensus around that, we could see this Oregon City project as a part of that proposal,” said Newman.

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