Multnomah County transportation leaders briefed the Board of Commissioners on Tuesday about a multi-stage effort to update the county code’s implementing documents for work in the county right of way, including an administrative procedure (TRS‑01), the road rules and a major revision of the county’s Design and Construction Manual (DCM).

County engineers said the updates are intended to align county procedures with state and federal law, reduce the number of variances staff must grant under an out‑of‑date manual, clarify permitting expectations for applicants and make technical standards easier for the public and staff to use.

The briefing matters because county right‑of‑way rules and standards govern how private developers, utilities and county capital projects design and construct improvements. John Hendrickson, transportation division director, said the current DCM is out of date and is written in metric units; that forces staff to default to federal (AASHTO) and Oregon Department of Transportation standards or rely on frequent variances. “When I became the transportation director in 2020, one of my first goals was to get the DCM updated because it is very old,” Hendrickson said.

Jessica Barry, deputy director of the transportation division, outlined the scope and sequencing. The department plans a minor administrative‑procedure update (TRS‑01) to align how the county brings right‑of‑way acquisitions and negotiations to the board with state and federal requirements. That update aims to reduce repetitive board briefings on single projects by clarifying when resolutions of necessity and negotiation steps are required. Barry said the county intends to update the administrative procedure this fall or in early winter.

Barry also said the road rules will receive a targeted update to add language that allows the county to charge utility permit fees in line with state law and to simplify the process for applicants to request variances from county standards. The major DCM rewrite will move the manual from metric to U.S. customary units, align multicounty and state technical references, reorganize content for easier public access, and include plain‑language explanations for permit applicants. Hendrickson said the department hopes the larger road rules and DCM updates will conclude next fall or winter.

Commissioners asked about ongoing maintenance of the DCM to avoid another long gap between updates. Commissioner Sandleton asked how the county will prevent another decades‑long lapse; Hendrickson recommended establishing a scheduled, ongoing review so the manual remains current when federal or state standards change. Commissioner Jones Dixon asked whether the county is using existing advisory bodies; Barry said staff will present to the county’s planning commission, the East Multnomah County Transportation Committee and advisory committees such as the bike‑and‑ped committee during the public review for the road rules.

No formal board action was required; the briefing was informational. Staff said some administrative changes do not require ordinance updates to county code (chapters 27 and 29), but after completing the DCM and rules updates they will evaluate whether codified changes are necessary.

The transportation division also described public outreach and stakeholder review steps that will be part of the rulemaking, including a public comment period and consultation with the county attorney and department leadership before posting rule drafts for public review.