City Manager Responds to Neighbors Concerns About Pedestrian Safety at George Rogers Park

Lake Oswego City Manager Martha Bennett, who often rides her bike to work through GRP to City Hall

On Friday August 8th, our neighborhood hosted a Walk About with City leaders to address ongoing concerns related to pedestrian safety in Old Town. With the surge of visitors to GRP trying to park on our streets, it's not safe for pedestrians and cyclists. And we expect this problem to get worse after the construction of the new riverside path. Over the years, our 8-block neighborhood has become the overflow parking area for George Rogers Park, especially on hot summer days when beach goers and park visitors exceed available parking capacity. We appreciated the opportunity to walk the area together and discuss potential solutions in person with City officials.

GOAL: We want to prevent a tragedy and improve neighborhood livability.

A summary of this important discussion was sent to Martha and posted on our blog to help ensure that the concerns and ideas shared by our community are documented and considered as part of future planning.

Martha sent this email response on Thursday August 13

"Hi Derrith,

Thank you for the follow up. I know from the detailed notes, that City staff appreciated the chance to see things from the perspective of the neighbors.  I think we can all say that we also appreciate the constructive, solution-oriented approach that you and the Old Town neighbors have taken.

City staff have already begun to follow up on many of the ideas and issues that you all talked about.  For example, I know that the Fire Department took a look at whether they could move equipment down the street, and they did it during a very busy time on one of the recent very hot summer days.  Police, Fire, and Parks are also already doing follow up.

Based on the work done by City staff, I’d suggest that we need to think about the next steps as “short,” “medium,” and “long-term.”  For example, the Police Department has already identified that they can increase patrols by our community service officers on the really warm days, and we’re going to implement that action right away.  In another example, we are thinking about how we can communicate clear safety messages to the folks who use the beach on warm summer days.  (Things like “park respectfully” and “don’t block traffic while you pump up your SUP.”)  An example of a medium term action is looking at how to “reinforce”  the “one-way” section of Furnace (especially to make it safe for pedestrians).  Another example of a medium term idea is how we’ll promote Roehr as the best place to access the new greenway.  However, other things, like anything that involves a capital improvement to the Park or the parking lot, should be considered “long term” and has to be prioritized by the Parks Board and the Council against all of the other capital projects in the entire system.

So, with all of that said, here’s how we’re going to move forward:

1. We’ll send you a more complete list of the items we’ve already followed through on based on the walk.

2. We will send you and the neighborhood a list of the things that we can do without Parks Board and City Council direction.  We will include some estimated timelines, We would appreciate any feedback you and the neighbors have on the list.

3. We will also send you a list of things that we feel need policy direction from Parks Board and Council, either because they are capital projects or require more community input.  To the extent we can do so, we’ll identify a path forward to enable the neighborhood to advocate for that.  We certainly would not be able to commit to a timeline for those items until they are put into a larger context.

I don’t think we need an additional meeting in September, but I agree that a meeting next spring would be very helpful.  In particular, that spring 2026 meeting should focus on communication and on the plan for enforcement and tracking over the summer.

And, as an aside, I actually think that the extension of the greenway pathway to Foothills may reduce the number of bicycles that you see in the neighborhood.  I know that I personally find the climb out of Foothills on the Kincaid Curlicue much easier and more pleasant than the rather awful climb out of George Rogers. Let’s hope the cyclists are respectful of the pedestrians who will also use the greenway.

Thank you again for being a creative partner.

Martha

Martha Bennett

City Manager | City Manager’s Office"

We all appreciated Martha's speedy response and willingness to create an action plan. Thank you Martha!

I wrote back to Martha on August 15th as the Old Town Neighborhood Chair.

"Thank you for this note Martha and your suggestions for next steps. I’ll regroup with our neighbors about this at our next board meeting and get back with you. 

We definitely would like a meeting about this with the City before the spring. 

Our neighborhood annual meeting is in October and this will be the topic. Perhaps you and others would like to speak then about the City’s action plan to improve both neighborhood livability and pedestrian safety?  Please let me know your availability for an evening meeting in October. 

Good idea for organizing all the ideas into short, medium and longer term solutions. Could those also be prioritized looking at what is most effective and cost effective for our two goals for improving livability? And improving pedestrian/cyclist safety?  For example, the traffic analysis that’s part of design review is expensive and would take time. The residents only parking permits with 2 laminated cards per household would improve livability by 90% and pedestrian safety. It’s been done in Bend and Portland. Neighbors want this option explored further. And plans implemented to ensure in May 2026 we are not facing the same or worse traffic and pedestrian safety situation. 

Our neighbors are unified that Old Town should not be the overflow parking lot for GRP because there is not enough parking there during the summer hot days.  We all acknowledge that 2/3 of the visitors during those times are not from LO.  Let’s prioritize doing what’s best for LO residents. 

Thanks

Derrith"

This afternoon I asked ChatGPT to create an example of a chart I was envisioning and got this suggestion you see below. Obviously we'll all want to improve on this but it's a start for what may be helpful to evaluate the different options.