 |
Old Fashioned Festival committee lands on its
feet; plans in place for annual fete
Local blues band will highlihg musical acts
|
Bypass effort gathers steam |
Bypass committee hears design recommendatoins |
By David Sale, Newberg Graphic
reporter
E-mail David at
dsale@eaglenewspapers.com
|
Members of the Newberg-Dundee bypass Project Oversight Steering Team
(POST) received an update on the proposed bypass design options at
their Friday meeting.
The design process began in 2004 with establishment of a transit
corridor between Newberg and Dayton. The length of the proposed
route was divided into four sections, and different design options
considered for each.
At this meeting, representatives of Parametrics, an engineering
consulting firm retained by the Oregon Department of Transportation,
presented the preferred alternatives for a draft environmental
impact statement (EIS), to be considered by the state this fall.
“We’re looking at stream habitat for fish and animals, as well as
impacts to housing and businesses along the route,” said POST member
and Yamhill County Commissioner Leslie Lewis. “There’s a whole range
of factors to consider in addition to the engineering and cost
feasibility.”
After considering several designs, Parametrics recommends a
two-loop interchange between the bypass and Highway 219, in the area
of Industrial Way. The loops would be sited on the northwest and
southeast quadrants of the interchange, providing good traffic flow
with minimum impact on existing development, the study said.
Along the rest of the bypass route, many options remain on the
table, particularly as it passes through the city of Newberg, where
three potential designs exist.
The proposed route through Newberg’s urban growth area would take
the bypass from Industrial Parkway past Scott Leavitt Park and SP
Newsprint to cross Waterfront Street. How the bypass will
interact with existing streets determines the differences between
the proposals.
One proposal calls for a sunken roadway along much of this
distance, with overpasses at River and College streets, and the
railroad tracks, where they cross the bypass. This design would have
the least visual impact but involves some expense in the form of
groundwater protection for the bypass.
Another option is to build the bypass at or near existing
ground level as far as Leavitt Park, then to have it raised on an
embankment as it exits town. The railroad, River and College streets
would pass through tunnels in the embankment. This would be the most
cost-effective design, but with considerable visual impact.
A third design blends elements of both, with the bypass to run
below grade only after it passes Willamette Street, with a raised
overpass to be built over River Street.
All three of the designs will require an easement across SP
Newsprint’s property and the removal of some houses bordering 11th
Street. The last option would have the least impact on residential
areas in Newberg, but would require an considerable relocation on SP
Newsprint’s part, which the study suggests might seriously affect
their ability to operate.
The POST will likely make its recommendations at its Aug. 4
meeting. The completed draft environmental impact statement will be
published by ODOT in January, following state approval.
Lewis added that the EIS must then be submitted to the federal
Department of Transportation for consideration. Meanwhile,
under Oregon law, local municipalities must enact “interchange area
management plans,” to govern land use and zoning around the future
bypass interchanges.
“It’s a time-consuming process, especially in Oregon — the
interchange plans are unique, part of our land use regulations,”
Lewis said. “We’re still about a year and a half away from a final,
completed plan for the bypass.”
Dundee City Council
clears one obstacle toward construction of the thoroughfare
DUNDEE - The city council approved Monday a set of supplemental
findings in support of the Newberg-Dundee bypass.
The resolution was approved by the council with a lone dissent from
council member Craig Roggers, who noted for the record that he found
Dundee’s participation in the bypass project to be “fiscally ...
morally and ethically irresponsible.”
A public hearing was held prior to the vote, in order to address
concerns over the resolution, which would amend portions of Dundee’s
comprehensive plan concerning the bypass. The sections of the plan,
originally added by ordinance in 2004, were made to permit the
Oregon Department of Transportation’s bypass to pass through Dundee.
The original ordinance, which also endorsed ODOT’s proposed route,
were appealed by 1,000 Friends of Oregon, Friends of Yamhill County,
and Columbia Empire Farms.
The state Land Use Board of Appeals found in favor of the city, but
stakeholder Columbia Empire Farms pursued the case to the Oregon
Court of Appeals.
That court found that Dundee needed to include additional
information in the amendment, regarding state land use Goal 10,
which governs land use for housing.
The bypass route would occupy 60 acres of a 170-acre agricultural
holding zone, which is held in reserve for future residential use
under Dundee’s comprehensive plan.
In the new resolution, the city finds that, according to the
existing comprehensive plan, sufficient residential land would
remain available.
The finding was based on a buildable lands survey done by the city
in 2003. Columbia Empire Farms, in its appeal, argued that Dundee
should undertake a new survey, at a cost of at least $30,000, before
approving ODOT’s proposal. |
|
From
July 19,
2006, Newberg Graphic
Click Here to Subscribe |
|
|
