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Westover Road restrictions to stay
By Mary D. Edwards

Washington County commuters who drive over Cornell Road into Portland got mixed messages this week regarding use of Westover Road. Message 1: The right turn onto Westover will stay closed to all but carpools during morning and evening commute times. Message 2: Those who ignore the signs and turn right might just be able to get away with it, because Portland police have higher priorities than ticketing those seeking to escape Cornell’s rush hour backup.

That was the gist of a community meeting held Dec. 5 at Chapman Elementary School. The meeting was called at the end of a six-month trial for the road restrictions in the neighborhood streets off NW Cornell Road. NW Westover was closed to all but carpools during weekday commute hours (7-9 am and 4-6 pm) in April after neighbors successfully lobbied the Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) for some relief from a steady stream of cars winding through their neighborhood.

PBOT spokesman John Brady presented data showing traffic volumes dropped in the early part of the trial, from an initial 528 to 208 at three months and then 340 at the six-month mark. Brady said the decline and then increase was likely due to drivers fearing enforcement—which did happen at first—and then taking a risk by ignoring the signs and driving through. In response to questioners, he said there was no data on carpool numbers, nor on changes in drive times for commuters.

While some in the audience disputed the data, which for some streets and times showed more traffic rather than less, the goal of restricting drivers is intended to have the effect of making Cornell less appealing as a commuter route. “If people thought Cornell was a good way to go into the city, traffic might increase in the long run,” said Brady.

Michael Schoenholtz, president of West Hills Transportation Partners, who circulated an online petition to end the restriction, has pointed out that, “Portland has no incentive to solve the commuter woes of Washington County residents. They point to Metro as the solution—even though Metro says Portland needs to take the lead. “All authority on this topic area is held by the local municipal governments and not Metro,” said Metro Councilor Kathryn Harrington.

PBOT’s data did not include the number of scofflaws ticketed for flouting the signs. But one Westover neighbor said he believed only one Portland policeman, monitoring for a total of three hours, wrote three tickets in the first week.

Enforcement to be minimal

Portland police have more pressing (i.e. safety) issues to deal with than the livability concerns of the residents of Westover, Brady said.

PBOT also prioritizes safety over livability. That’s why a traffic signal at Cornell and NW 25th isn’t on the table thus far. The intersection is one of the safest in the city, he said, because cars must slow for the stop signs.

Members of the audience, who numbered about 60, were made up of commuters and Westover neighbors. Several on both sides agreed that the closure was “a band-aid” to the larger problem of too many drivers on too few roads at one time. Notably, PBOT calls Cornell a collector road and as such its 5,000 to 10,000 cars per day aren’t considered unusual. What’s at issue is the number of cars cutting through the neighborhood side streets. 

State Rep. Mitch Greenlick represents both NW Portland and NE Washington County. He attended as a private citizen and noted the PBOT decision highlighted “competing interests” and was too narrowly focused on a few streets.

What’s needed, said Carol Chesarek, of the Forest Park Neighborhood Association who attended the meeting, is a Transportation Demand Management (TDM) study on long-term solutions.

A TDM was also one of the goals of the Change.org petition to end the restriction by the West Hills Transportation Partners. Their petition was signed by more than 1,200 people. TDM programs are implemented as alternatives to widening or building roads. In its petition, the group says a TDM here can include subsidized transit, van or car pools, shuttle buses, telecommuting, or flexible work hours.

Funding and leadership for such a study—and any broader solutions—would have to come from Metro, both Chesarek and Brady said. Until then, “the long lines that exist will continue to exist,” Brady said. But Portland would have to request the study and be willing to actively participate, and they haven’t shown a willingness to do so. However, some point out that the Portland region’s traffic woes may discourage new businesses from locating here, so it should be a Portland concern.

The online petition, which was presented as a letter to the Portland City Council, Multnomah and Washington County Boards of Commissioners, Metro Council, and PBOT, seeks the following three actions:

An end to the closure of Westover to non-carpoolers because of “the hardship from the unexpectedly large increase in commute times.” The group said it would support Westover traffic calming measures once relief measures are in place. 

A stoplight at NW 25th and Lovejoy among other short-term solutions. (Brady said the cost of a signal was estimated at $300,000.)

The opportunity for the group to work with Portland, Multnomah County, and other agencies, to “explore potential longer term solutions to the larger problem,” including a Transportation Demand Management program (TDM).

Cedar Mill residents weighed in about Cornell and other commuting routes at CPO 1’s September meeting, billed as an Inter-County Commuting Forum. In the brainstorming session, residents called for the stoplight at NW 25th and Lovejoy, a shuttle service along Cornell, and bike lanes.

Cornell’s history

Portland’s problem with Cornell goes back more than 25 years when the city got its first complaint about it. But anyone who drives—virtually any time of the day—runs into crowded roads, be they collectors like Cornell or highways. The roads were not built for the level of use they’re getting. The Westover restriction is just one example of this.

The same wasn’t true when land that was to become Cornell Road was surveyed in 1868. Surveyors judged it “to make a good road and will be of public utility, will shorten the distance to Portland and will damage no one.” The new route was to connect with the established Balch Creek Road at the Multnomah County line near William and Emily Cornell’s donation land claim.

Aside from horses and walkers, the major users of the early road were wagons bringing produce to Portland from west side farms, and stage coaches, principally the West Side Stage Line that ran along Cornell through Cedar Mill, with stops in Bethany, West Union, Helvetia and eventually Hillsboro.

The Cornell-Westover route isn’t something new either. From a Cedar Mill News article about the West Hills Dairy in the 1920s and 30s: “The raw milk and cream was loaded onto a truck that Ernest drove into West Portland along a standard delivery route,” Thorne recalls, “They went up Cornell and delivered milk to the rich folks in the big houses at the top of the hill, and then continued onto Lovejoy and up Westover.”

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