In Sue Raxter’s backyard along Tualatin Road, she has created an oasis filled with trees, exotic plants, a waterfall and pond, creative yard art and much more. But in the nearly 19 years she has lived in her home, the one thing she has not been able to control is the increasing noise and disruption from Tualatin Road on the other side of her fence.
“We call this the Tualatin Speedway,” she said. “The crosswalks mean nothing. I heard some guys talking and laughing about how fast they are going. Now it is a game to come off Teton, hit the gas and fly to get to the flashing speed sign to try to beat their last time.”
So, when Brett Hamilton came knocking on her door last summer to talk to her about a grass-roots effort to prevent Lam Research from adding an entrance/exit on Tualatin Road, she was all in. Raxter is now part of the effort involving hundreds of homeowners and apartment dwellers living north of Tualatin Road between the Tualatin Country Club and 124th Avenue and as far north as Hazelbrook Road.
Lam’s TUX development plan calls for a two-phase project that consists of three buildings for offices, a research laboratory, manufacturing facilities and utilities totaling 423,470 square feet. The application also includes “expansion of an existing bulk gas storage yard, and associated landscaping, parking and public/site improvements on a 75.96-acre site zoned Manufacturing Park (MP).”
Hamilton, who lives off 115th Avenue about 500 feet from Tualatin Road, got a letter at the end of May about a neighborhood meeting concerning Lam’s project. On June 5, there was a city-required meeting with the developer at the Juanita Pohl Center, “and there were probably 50 to 60 people there,” Hamilton said. “Everyone was on the same page – why an entrance on Tualatin Road instead of Leveton Drive? Lam representatives kept dodging the question, but they did say they would fund a traffic light at 115th.”
Lam’s proposal would add an estimated 2,036 daily vehicle trips to the local roadway network, according to the TualatinRoad.org website. It adds that Lam’s proposed site design would send 70 percent of that traffic (1,425 daily trips) through the new entrance on Tualatin Road.
“Why add an entrance on Tualatin Road instead of using Leveton Drive?” Hamilton asked. “At peak times, traffic would back up to 124th. Lam submitted their plan in July, and at a Tualatin Transportation System Plan meeting last August, a traffic engineer said that ‘a traffic light would create gaps in traffic so people could pull out,’ but on the red-light side there will be big back-ups.
“And talking to neighbors farther away, they have different concerns. People living on Jurgens and Hazelbrook will experience more traffic, and (Hazelbrook Middle School) school buses will be impacted. The costs of this project outweigh the benefits.”
Hamilton pointed out that it is easy to turn right onto Tualatin Road but not left and that those people living on the north side might just head to 99W and shop in Sherwood or Tigard rather than battle traffic to turn left to get to downtown Tualatin.
Hamilton continued, “Lam is one of the biggest employers in Tualatin, and people in our group have made the point that they are not opposed to the expansion. No one wants to stop Lam from growing. We want Lam to grow but not the traffic on Tualatin Road to grow. If we could figure out what Lam is trying to achieve, we could work together to resolve it.”
Hamilton said that people in the neighborhood have donated money for all the signs and banners, noting, “I have never seen our neighbors so united.”
Finally, he said, “Lam has one shift right now, but the city needs to look at the impact of more shifts being added in the future. This is an irreversible decision by the city that will impact us for the rest of our lives.”
Tualatin Life emailed several Lam executives and asked them to comment for this story, and the company sent the following statement: “We are excited to build on our long history in Tualatin by expanding our advanced lab capabilities. The project will bring new jobs and expand our economic impact in the community. We are currently working with the City of Tualatin to address relevant traffic issues. We are proud to be a leading employer in the community and will continue to follow the city’s process to finalize a plan for the project that works for the city, the community and Lam.”
Mayor Frank Bubenik was asked to comment on the applications and replied, “I can’t answer several of your questions without possibly causing an issue if the application(s) come to council on appeal,” and he recommended that residents attend the public hearings to ask questions and get more information.
More information is available on the Save Tualatin Road’s website, tualatinroad.org. The full application can be seen at www.tualatinoregon.gov/projects. Two public hearings on the project will be held at the Tualatin Service Center, 10699 S.W. Herman Road. The Planning Commission hearing is on March 19 at 6:30 p.m., and the Architectural Review hearing is on April 2 at 6:30 p.m. Comments can be emailed to Associate Planner Keith Leonard at kleonard@tualatin.gov.
