Forest Grove Raises Big Box Traffic Issue

By Jill Smith, The Oregonian, Portland, Ore.

Jan. 19–A Wal-Mart may come to Cornelius, but one of its biggest traffic problems may occur in Forest Grove, where city councilors and staff can’t vote on the project but want to make sure their concerns are heard.

The intersection of Oregon highways 8 and 47 — locally known as Pacific Avenue and Quince Street — is something of a gateway to Cornelius and Forest Grove, said Forest Grove City Manager Michael Sykes.

“I think it’s in both our interests to do everything we can to make sure we keep that entrance viable for industrial, commercial and residential users,” he said.

The Wal-Mart proposal for a 204,000-square-foot supercenter, along the border with Forest Grove, is being reviewed by the Cornelius Planning Commission and the City Council. The store would be on North Adair Street between First and Fourth Avenues.

Richard Reynolds, planning manager for Cornelius, said Wal-Mart has met its requirements in terms of traffic.

Traffic concerns have been a significant issue in Planning Commission hearings on the proposal.

Forest Grove officials worry that increased traffic from a Wal-Mart would make the Yew Street intersection with Oregon 8 — just west of the city’s boundary with Cornelius — unsafe for pedestrians. They also worry about cars trying to avoid traffic jams on Oregon 8 by using 24th Avenue — now an industrial street — to get to Oregon 47. Forest Grove also is seeking an 8-foot-high wall at the back of the proposed store to block noise, light and potential shoplifters.

But the most critical issue is the “gateway” intersection at highways 8 and 47, Sykes said.

Heavy traffic there is already a problem, particularly for westbound trucks on Oregon 8 turning north onto 47, said Forest Grove City Councilor Pete Truax. “The utility poles on that corner get hit almost on a daily basis,” he said.

The Oregon Department of Transportation expressed concern even before Wal-Mart’s traffic engineers studied the intersection, said Rob Foster, Forest Grove’s public works director.

A Wal-Mart would draw crowds from rural communities such as Banks and Vernonia, said Forest Grove Mayor Richard Kidd. Those potential shoppers would likely use Oregon 47 to get to Oregon 8 and the Wal-Mart less than a mile east, he said.

Beaverton residents would do the same, he said. “People from Beaverton and that area are not going to come down the TV Highway through 131 traffic lights to get to the store.”

Wal-Mart is, in fact, required by a state transportation rule to mitigate traffic at affected intersections. It proposes adding an eastbound right-turn lane to Pacific Avenue, going south onto Oregon 47.

Reynolds said this improvement was proposed after Wal-Mart traffic engineers studied the intersection and the Oregon Department of Transportation and Cornelius’ traffic consultant, DKS Associates, reviewed the study. Wal-Mart estimates the new turn lane would cost $132,000 and has offered $150,000 to Forest Grove to create it, he said.

Foster said the turn lane proposed by Wal-Mart would be an improvement, but that right turn lanes were needed just as badly going north on Oregon 47 from Oregon 8 and west on Oregon 8 from Oregon 47.

“The study indicated they’re all inadequate,” he said.

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