Tualatin planners seek council adoption of 2045 Transportation System Plan; keep signal at 115th on long‑range list

Tualatin — City planners presented an informational update on the draft 2045 Transportation System Plan (TSP) at the July 14 City Council work session and said the Planning Commission unanimously recommended the council adopt the plan at its August hearing.

Erin Inghman, senior planner, summarized outreach, goals and the draft project list; the TSP identifies 116 projects grouped into Complete Streets, Active Transportation and Transit projects. "A TSP is required for all cities and counties in Oregon to ensure compliance with state rules and regulations," Inghman said, noting the plan advances safety, multimodal access and the city’s climate goals.

Why it matters: the TSP sets the city’s multimodal priorities and maps projects that determine eligibility for regional and federal grants, influence development requirements and guide capital programming for the next 20 years. Staff said adopting the plan would also trigger text and map amendments to Tualatin’s comprehensive plan and development code.

Major recommendations and contested items: staff recommended several functional‑classification changes (for example, reclassifying Walton Road from collector to arterial and Leviton Drive from arterial to collector) and recommended keeping a proposed signal at 115th Avenue and Tualatin Road in the long‑range plan. City traffic analysis showed that left turns from 115th onto Tualatin are already difficult during peak hours and would become significantly more constrained as nearby development and background traffic increase. Mike McCarthy, the city engineer, said the analysis considered two scenarios—one with no additional development and one assuming development south of the intersection—and that both scenarios point toward longer delays and a higher crash risk without a signal.

Staff and the Planning Commission recommended keeping the signal in the long‑range plan to preserve eligibility for grants and make the signal easier to require of future development. Planning Commissioner Randy Lettick told council the Planning Commission voted unanimously to recommend adoption but urged additional neighborhood outreach if the city later pursues construction: "We recommended that additional effort be made to make sure that they're included in any discussions about improvements at that particular intersection in the future," he said.

Public comments and neighborhood concerns: staff summarized public input asking the city to remove the 115th/Tualatin signal from the plan; River Park neighborhood commenters expressed concerns about increased cut‑through traffic, school safety near Hazel Brook and potential pollution from traffic. Staff said no final design or construction would occur without further neighborhood engagement.

Other plan elements: staff described an example Complete Streets project (a potential grade separation of Tualatin‑Sherwood Road at Boones Ferry and rail tracks) and an active‑transportation example (a shared‑use path connecting 60th Avenue to Martinazzi Avenue and Nyberg Street under I‑5). The draft plan also proposes text amendments affecting Comprehensive Plan Chapter 8 and Development Code Chapters 74 and 75 and requires findings that the plan conforms to Oregon Administrative Rules (including Division 12), the Oregon Highway Plan and Metro code.

Timing and next steps: staff said the Planning Commission’s unanimous recommendation will be forwarded to council and that the council will hold a public hearing on Aug. 11 for adoption of plan text amendment 25‑0001 and plan map amendment 25‑0001. Staff also said they will research the implications of moving specific projects between the constrained and unconstrained lists, noting recent rule changes could affect the process for later amending the TSP. No final council action on adoption occurred at the July 14 work session.

If adopted, the plan will guide project prioritization, grant applications and development review for the next 20 years, and staff said they will return with required findings and additional outreach strategies for contentious intersections before any construction occurs.