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Washington County committee approves Opportunity Fund support for Tigard trail and two ODOT mobility pilots
Summary
The Washington County coordinating committee on Dec. 11 approved Opportunity Fund expenditure requests to support Tigard’s Red Rock Creek Trail railroad‑crossing bridge and two ODOT Innovative Mobility grant applications (Hillsboro travel market study and a Westside micro‑mobility pilot). Funds will be obligated only if the grants are awarded and projects are fully funded.
Washington County’s coordinating committee voted Dec. 11 to approve two Opportunity Fund expenditure requests tied to regional active‑transportation and mobility grants.
Diami Valentine, principal transportation planner with Washington County, told the committee Tigard is seeking $6,000,000 from the community paths program for construction of the Red Rock Creek Trail railroad crossing bridge and reported the local minimum match would be $616,000. "This is a request to the community paths program for 6,000,000 and the local minimum match requirements is, 616,000, being requested from the opportunity fund," Valentine said.
Valentine noted the Opportunity Fund awards are conditional: "these funds only become obligated once the grant is successfully awarded and the project . . . is fully funded," she said, underscoring that opportunity funds act as last‑dollar support.
The committee also approved two requests tied to ODOT’s Innovative Mobility program. Hillsboro is seeking $200,000 for a Washington County travel market segmentation assessment and requested that half of the local match be covered by opportunity funds. The Westside Transportation Alliance asked for $200,000 to pilot a west‑side bike‑share and micro‑mobility lending library; staff reported a minimum match of $22,890. County staff summarized the combined Opportunity Fund obligation for those two proposals at roughly $35,390.
Members expressed broad support for the Tigard bridge’s pedestrian connectivity and for pilot projects that expand first‑ and last‑mile options. Mayor Lube moved the Tigard request and the motion carried; a subsequent motion to grant the ODOT Innovative Mobility requests passed as well. County staff and city presenters reminded the committee that award of the Opportunity Fund amounts is contingent on the applicant receiving the primary grant awards and meeting project funding conditions.
The committee scheduled further review and a briefing on Opportunity Fund program history and success rates for a retreat meeting in January to orient newly seated members.
