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Commissioners, public and staff discuss recovery campus, housing projects and traffic concerns
Summary
Public comment and multiple commissioners focused on the county's recovery campus and housing projects — a public speaker flagged construction and traffic worries for the $44,000,000 recovery center, commissioners described recent groundbreakings and community meetings, and one commissioner warned tolling on the interstate bridge could divert traffic to I‑205.
A public commentator and several Clackamas County commissioners used June 4 remarks to focus attention on the county's recovery campus and recent housing projects, while raising questions about traffic and the need for better performance metrics.
Les Poole, who addressed the board during the public‑communication period, thanked commissioners for a recent recovery‑campus meeting but urged more work on traffic and construction management. "It's a huge project. It's $44,000,000," Poole said, adding that the county should revisit diversion modeling if the interstate bridge is tolled and traffic shifts from I‑5 to I‑205.
Commissioner Martha Schrader and Commissioner Ben West highlighted the Clackamas Heights groundbreaking and described the recovery campus as a continuum‑of‑care approach learned from other jurisdictions. "It's gonna be a beautiful, beautiful complex," Schrader said, and West said the projects will improve "hundreds and hundreds, if not thousands of people's lives." The board also heard that the community meeting had helped allay many residents' concerns.
Commissioner Savas raised concerns about the pending interstate bridge toll vote and its potential to divert traffic, saying the county has a long record of asking ODOT to address diversion and that the commission may "abstain or oppose" tolling if mitigation is not adequate. Commissioners and staff also discussed the need for consistent performance metrics to guide budgeting and program decisions; County Administrator Gary Schmidt said staff will return with a proposal on metrics for board review.
Why it matters: the recovery campus and related housing projects are central to the county's strategy for addressing homelessness and behavioral‑health needs; questions about traffic diversion, local neighborhood impacts and performance measurement affect how the projects will be implemented and perceived.
What happens next: staff will follow up on neighborhood concerns raised at the community meeting, the sheriff and county staff will coordinate to address reported public‑safety worries before facility opening, and the board signaled ongoing oversight — including potential further discussion of the interstate tolling question when that vote approaches.
