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Protecting Neighborhood Livability While Welcoming Park Visitors

How the City of Lake Oswego can be "Good Neighbors" to Old Town residents.


This is the traffic flow and parking plan from the 2026 Arts Festival
This is the traffic flow and parking plan from the 2026 Arts Festival

The Festival of the Arts Showed What's Possible.

Let's Build on the Festival's Success.


The 2026 Lake Oswego Festival of the Arts demonstrated that thoughtful traffic and parking management can improve both visitor safety and neighborhood livability.


Recognizing that the streets surrounding George Rogers Park cannot accommodate large numbers of parked vehicles, Festival organizers worked with the City to implement a comprehensive traffic and parking plan. The result was a safer and more enjoyable experience for visitors while significantly reducing impacts on nearby neighborhoods.


Many of the Festival's strategies—such as remote parking lots and shuttle buses—may not be practical for every busy summer weekend. However, several of the traffic management tools used during the Festival are inexpensive, easy to implement, and could help address the challenges Old Town experiences during the summer.


George Rogers Park Has More Visitors On Hot Summer Days Than Parking Spaces


George Rogers Park has only 121 parking spaces.


Many of those spaces are located near the upper athletic fields, while visitors heading to the beach, lower park, and riverside trail often prefer to park on Old Town neighborhood streets instead.


On warm days and especially on weekends, neighborhood streets effectively become the overflow parking lot for George Rogers Park.


The result is:

  • streets filled with cars parked everywhere

  • residents being unable to park themselves in front of their homes

  • pedestrians walking in roadways that have no sidewalks

  • cyclists, strollers, dogs, and paddleboarders sharing narrow streets

  • blocked visibility at intersections

  • delayed access for emergency vehicles

  • reduced parking for residents, their guests and service contractors


The City already has experience and success managing these challenges during major events. And Parks & Rec has data on the number of Park visitors from Placer AI.


What Worked During the Festival


Temporary No Parking Areas

For the Festival, temporary "No Parking" signs were installed throughout the neighborhood.


These included:

  • both sides of Furnace Street from Ladd Street toward Leonard Street

  • portions of Durham, Church, and Wilbur Streets

  • the north side of Ladd Street


These temporary restrictions protected intersections, improved pedestrian safety, and ensured residents without garages could still park near their homes.


No Parking Signs placed on Furnace Street during the Arts Festival
No Parking Signs placed on Furnace Street during the Arts Festival
No Parking Signs placed on Durham Street at Wilbur and down to Ladd
No Parking Signs placed on Durham Street at Wilbur and down to Ladd

No Parking Signs placed on Church Street at Durham
No Parking Signs placed on Church Street at Durham

No Parking Signs placed on Ladd Street during the Arts Festival
No Parking Signs placed on Ladd Street during the Arts Festival

No Parking Signs placed on Durham at Ladd Street
No Parking Signs placed on Durham at Ladd Street

No Parking Signs placed on Wilbur Street between Furnace and Durham
No Parking Signs placed on Wilbur Street between Furnace and Durham

We would like the City to consider using these same temporary signs during the busiest weekends from July through September.


This is an inexpensive solution that has already proven effective.


Resident Parking Passes

Festival vendors received parking permits that identified authorized vehicles.


A similar approach could be used for:

  • Old Town residents

  • home health providers

  • contractors

  • visitors staying with residents


This would help preserve neighborhood access while allowing legitimate parking. And this would make it easy for LOPD to know who not to ticket. Neighbors could print their own passes to use in their vehicles.



Better Management When the Parking Lot Is Full

Another successful Festival strategy was actively managing vehicle access.


When George Rogers Park fills on hot summer weekends, vehicles continue entering the park even after every parking space is occupied. This creates unnecessary congestion as drivers reach the bottom of the hill, discover there is nowhere to park, and must turn around while additional vehicles continue entering.


During an emergency at the park over the July 4th weekend, this became especially apparent. "Throughout this time there was a steady stream of cars trying to enter the lower parking lot. You would think that one fire engine was clue enough to avoid the lot, but once you're in the traffic stream, it's hard to get out."


Read more here:


Instead, temporary signs such as:

  • Parking Lot Full

  • No Parking Available

  • Lower Parking Lot Closed

could be placed at Green Street and Ladd Street whenever the lot reaches capacity.

These signs could be put out by Park Rangers or Community Service Officers.


During the Arts Festival the entrance to GRP from Hwy 43 to Green Street was closed. People could only exit.
During the Arts Festival the entrance to GRP from Hwy 43 to Green Street was closed. People could only exit.

Similar traffic management techniques are already used at Sauvie Island during busy periods.


The entrance to Ladd Street from Hwy 43 was also closed to traffic entering. They could only exit.
The entrance to Ladd Street from Hwy 43 was also closed to traffic entering. They could only exit.

Temporary signs like these could also be used
Temporary signs like these could also be used

See map below of the traffic flow for the Arts Festival - Park visitors were to enter on Wilbur Street, turn on Furnace to enter the park (and try and find parking) and exit on Green Street to Hwy 43.



Planning Ahead

The Festival transportation plan demonstrates that the City already understands an important reality: There are more visitors on peak days than George Rogers Park has parking spaces.


Rather than relying on neighborhood streets to absorb overflow parking, the Festival used transportation management tools to reduce impacts before problems occurred.

That same proactive approach could benefit George Rogers Park throughout the summer.


Our Recommendations


For the remainder of Summer 2026

We encourage the City to:

  • use temporary "No Parking" signs in key neighborhood locations

  • continue proactive parking enforcement

  • close access to the lower parking lot when it is full


These are relatively low-cost strategies that the City has already demonstrated can work.


Looking Ahead to Summer 2027

We encourage the City to develop a seasonal traffic and parking management plan for George Rogers Park.


Potential strategies could include:

  • remote parking lots

  • pilot shuttle service on peak weekends

  • improved visitor information

  • bicycle parking and encouragement

  • dynamic parking management based on occupancy


Portland Parks & Recreation is currently piloting shuttle service to Forest Park with Metro grant funding, demonstrating that creative transportation solutions can help protect neighborhoods while maintaining public access to popular parks.


The City already knows how to do this because it successfully did it for the Festival. Let's apply the same proven practices during the busiest summer weekends.


Related blog posts:

  • How Can We Work Together to Balance Public Access and Neighborhood Livability at George Rogers Park? George Rogers Park is one of Lake Oswego’s most valued public spaces. There are only 121 parking spaces. During the summer—especially on hot evenings and weekends—the park regularly exceeds its parking capacity. As a result, Old Town becomes the overflow parking lot, creating significant impacts on neighborhood livability, safety, and access. Our ask of the City Leaders is for a specific one to two year plan to eliminate the strain on Old Town.




 
 
 
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