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Second Public Meeting for Riverfront Connector Plan
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 27, 2018
St. Helens, Ore. – In January 2018, the City kicked off a grant-funded transportation study called the Riverfront Connector Plan. This plan will set the framework for a cohesive, multi-modal transportation loop from Highway 30 to the Riverfront District and along the waterfront.
The public is invited to attend a public meeting on September 11, 2018, from 5:15 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. to learn and provide feedback about the recommended design options for roads and intersections in the project area. This meeting will be held in the St. Helens Council Chambers, located at 265 Strand Street, St. Helens.
Local business and property owners in the project area are encouraged to attend, particularly those along Gable Road, Old Portland Road, Plymouth Street, and St. Helens Street (within the Riverfront District). This is an opportunity to review and comment on the preliminary intersection and street design recommendations.
If you are interested in attending the presentation about the project but cannot make the 5:15 p.m. public meeting, there will be a work session for the Planning Commission at 6:30 p.m. immediately after the public hearing with the same information. Community members are welcome to attend, but this meeting is intended to be a working meeting for the Planning Commission with limited time for audience input.
Goals and objectives for the project area were identified at the beginning of the planning process. Criteria based on those goals and objectives was then used to evaluate street design options for the project area. This has resulted in a set of preliminary street design recommendations for each segment and intersection in the project area.
The meeting materials will be available to review before the public meeting. Materials will be loaded to the Riverfront Connector Plan project website under the Project Documents section by September 4, 2018 (www.riverfrontconnectorplan.com).
The project website also contains general information about the project, goals, and study area. Comments and suggestions on the recommended street intersections and design options can be provided via the project website. The plan is anticipated to be adopted by Spring 2019, and there will be additional opportunities to offer input before final adoption.
Anyone interested in attending future meetings can follow the City’s Facebook Page (https://www.facebook.com/cityofsthelens/) and subscribe to the City’s e-Newsletter (https://www.ci.st-helens.or.us/community/page/newsletters) where specific meeting details will be provided.
About the Riverfront Connector Plan
In 2015, the City of St. Helens purchased the former Boise Veneer Mill and White Paper sites and launched the Waterfront Redevelopment Project. In order to help with the costs of redevelopment, the City has applied for and received several state and federal grants. These grants have allowed the City to conduct site assessments, hold meetings to gather community feedback, and create a framework plan for development.
One important piece of the successful redevelopment of the St. Helens waterfront will be transportation improvements from Highway 30 to the Columbia River. In particular, key intersections have been identified as deficient along the main route from Highway 30 to the waterfront.
Overall project goals for the Riverfront Connector Plan include:
Creating “streetscape” plans for the study area to help provide the foundation for orderly redevelopment that connects the various St. Helens neighborhoods together, brings people back to the Riverfront District, and creates a connection to the greater local region.
Improving the aesthetics and function of the corridors to attract business and investment, provide better access, provide direction and signage to the Riverfront District, ensure multi-modal access, and improve desirability of the study area.
This planning project is funded with a $208,550 grant from the Transportation and Growth Management (TGM) Program, which is a joint program of the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) and the Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development (DLCD). This TGM grant is financed, in part, by the federal Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act (“FAST Act”), local government, and State of Oregon funds.
Importance of the Plan
Major redevelopment projects are expensive, and local governments often rely heavily on a combination of state and federal grants and loans to finance the work. To be eligible to receive these types of funds, local governments must often prove in their grant or loan applications that they have already adopted plans that provide a framework for development.
In the past decade, City of St. Helens staff has worked hard to update old plans and adopt new ones that provide the necessary framework to make the City a competitive applicant for receiving major state and federal redevelopment grants and loans.
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For further information regarding the Riverfront Connector Plan, please contact Associate Planner Jenny Dimsho at jdimsho@ci.st-helens.or.us or 503-366-8207.
