Pamplin Media Group – Milwaukie Resident: City Should Not Blame Citizens For Failure

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Ronelle Coburn: Many thoughtful and intelligent citizens volunteered their time to keep Monroe Greenway safe

The destruction of a public park is not the result of a mistake. Developers know when they have public land adjacent to their project. And it’s probably someone’s fault when a developer is cutting down trees, at the corner of Southeast Monroe Street and 37th Avenue in Milwaukie, in a public park. And at the end of the day, isn’t it our city’s responsibility to protect our public spaces and follow their rhetoric on preserving our city’s trees?

On November 17, in this newspaper’s cover story “Milwaukie Fines the Developer”, the city’s apparent failure was compounded by Mayor Gamba blaming citizens for the bulldozed trees, and implicates furthermore that the redesigned cycle path (the Monroe Greenway) was the result of a few neighbors unhappy with the construction of the apartment project. Neither are true.

To begin with: the vast majority of neighbors agree with the development of the apartment itself. Valid concerns were primarily about the complex traffic patterns and extreme stresses around the site due to the few outlets to Highway 224, the intersections with the railroad, and the multiple complex intersections surrounding the site, not the complex. of apartments itself.

To continue: Many stakeholders were included in the cycle lane reassessment process, including the town planning department, city staff, neighbors, residents who will be affected throughout the greenway network, the leaders of the neighborhood association, Bike Milwaukie, the original members of the Monroe Greenway action. Committee and a consulting firm that redesigned the path to wrap around the apartment complex. Many thoughtful and intelligent citizens have volunteered their time to make the proposed Monroe Greenway safe for the widest variety of users, both in terms of road safety and personal safety.

For its own safety concerns, the developer would not open the path to the apartment complex and plan to completely fence the path on both sides, along the railroad tracks, with no exit along the entire length of Milwaukie Market. . This was a result that the community and citizen planning committee could not have foreseen for years before the arrival of a developer, let alone a project of this magnitude.

The issue of personal safety was first brought to the attention of the planning department by me, while others raised road safety issues. At first they disagreed, but after careful consideration, the planning staff did a bit of community outreach, heard more concerns from citizens, and decided that changes needed to be made. They hired respected transportation experts Alta Planning + Design to assess road and personal safety issues and had them present an alternative solution which was then widely endorsed by the community.

In addition to alleviating the safety and security concerns, the proposed alternative route went further and achieved other goals proclaimed by the city of “busy streets”. A public testimony to city council signed by many community leaders said the revised route “will make both sides of Monroe Street between Oak and 37th more alive and active, attractive, and all future Central Milwaukie projects more marketable for residents. residents who lead active lives. This proposal was well received by community members who saw it, including residents who previously opposed the Monroe Greenway. ”

At another city council meeting, I testified in public that, like many women, I would never put myself in a situation where I was trapped. If the fenced path was built, where would the users stay if someone decided to attack or steal them?

Fortunately, my concerns are also those of the majority of our community whose grassroots efforts designed and promoted the entire Milwaukie Greenway network in the first place. Thanks to caring, active and vocal Milwaukie residents, our city will soon have a section of world-class cycling and walking infrastructure that we can be proud of.

Of course, anyone who rides a bike would prefer a more direct and flat route, myself included. But never at the expense of personal safety and road safety. What is the point of building an infrastructure that is underutilized because it is not secure? And shouldn’t we as a society strive to provide public facilities as safe as possible for all?

Sadly, Mayor Gamba seems to be another one of those men who can’t put themselves in other people’s shoes, and who turns around and blames those of us who speak up to make sure everyone’s needs are met in the community. design and construction of our public facilities.

He has also used our most dedicated citizens, who have volunteered countless hours, weeks and years for the betterment of our city for all who live here, as a scapegoat for the city’s failure to protect. public infrastructure.

As a citizen who has been constantly involved in city processes for 3.5 years, the even more disheartening picture is that blaming citizens for the removal of trees (via the cycle path) is not just another example of the bait-and-trade game constantly played by The Organs of the City of Milwaukie to demean their citizens for wanting whatever is wrong with what they deem best for us.

Ronelle Coburn is a resident of the Ardenwald neighborhood of Milwaukie and co-founder of MilwaukieRIP.

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