UPDATE: WASHINGTON COUNTY MOVED THE ITEM FROM CONSENT TO ACTION ITEM: Thanks to the 20,000 plus who have read this story, to all those who reacted and perhaps contacted the County Commissioners and Staff- You made the Difference!
FROM THE COUNTY TO THE HILLSBORO HERALD:
“The Temporary Closure of SW River Road for Required Hazel Village South Improvements has been changed to an Action Item. You can view the updated Board of County Commissioners Aug. 26 meeting agenda. The Board has exercised its discretion to allow public comment, up to two minutes per person – the same duration as the public communication at the start of all Board meetings. In addition, there will be a brief staff presentation prior to the public comment. The Board will then consider taking action.”
So now those of you opposed can testify in person or on Zoom – and feel fre to speak yoru mind:
| Agenda – Regular Business Tuesday, August 26, 2025, 6:30 PM Washington County Board of Commissioners Charles D. Cameron Public Services Building Auditorium 155 N. First Ave., Suite 300, Hillsboro, OR 97124-3072 |  |
Hybrid Meeting (In-person and Virtual)
To access the meeting by phone – Please dial +1 669 900 6833 or +1 253 215 8782
To unmute to provide public comment press *6.
Webinar ID: 839 7739 5459
August 25 Update
Consent Item 3 – Pulled and Moved to Action Item H.3 – Public Comment will be taken.”
See the agenda here- https://washingtoncounty.civicweb.net/Portal/MeetingInformation.aspx?Id=12903
See the handout on the road closure here- https://washingtoncounty.civicweb.net/document/313728/Approve%20Temporary%20Closure%20of%20SW%20River%20Road%20for%20.pdf?handle=B3AA1073A31E4B8C9F3C1945BEABA442
INFO ON GIVING TESTIMONY:
So, everyone, it is up to you now. The pressure of the story and the outflow of calls and emails brought forth the change we needed. Now it is up to you to have your voices heard!
It is a hot weekend, as you all know (Record Heat), so I was digging into the County Commissioners’ agenda for this next Tuesday. This Summer, we have seen the closure of Jackson School Road so that Trammell Crow can add acres of new industrial buildings in North Hillsboro. 1st Street and Highway 219 were closed for the past few weeks, causing residential neighborhoods near 1st and Walnut in Hillsboro to be overwhelmed with cut-through traffic, including Rock Trucks and Semis on narrow streets. And now this.
The Washington County Commissioners are being asked to approve the closure of SW River Road, which provides a vital SE route in and out of the city – get this – FOR 5 MONTHS!!! In fact, they will pass it- it is being treated as a minor housekeeping issue. But small this is not!
Read the Meeting Agenda and see Item 2 of the Consent Agenda here –
All of these trucks, commuters, school buses, etc., will have to travel out of their way and head right through brand new South Hillsboro, down narrow one-lane side roads, and go miles out of their way, which will choke up 1st Street and TV Highway in Downtown Hillsboro. This is not a small closure. And this is no 3-week inconvenience. When this is over, hundreds of thousands of vehicle trips will have been dumped into residential areas and already clog the TV Highway East and West of Hillsboro. This will cause many locals to experience an easy 20-30-minute delay daily. And many locals along River Road will have their access to shopping and schools more or less doubled in distance.
5 MONTHS? WHY?
The reason? PRIVATE DEVELOPMENT – Closing a major collector street that carries thousands of trucks, vehicles, and school buses in and out of Hillsboro every day for 5 months for 900 new homes is bad Government. The consent agenda provided little information beyond the County Staff’s desire to proceed, the absence of a public meeting or hearing, and the possibility of mitigation if the developer can operate crews at night.
Here is the Notice:
“NO KNOWN OPPOSITION AT THIS TIME”
Folks, this is lazy government. This gives the developer a pass and saves them potentially Millions in traffic signal crews. I doubt there was a Public Open House or Hearing – those directly affected may have received a Mailer. But this once again shows that Washington County Leadership under Kathryn Harrington and Pam Treece has turned its back on the people and public safety, and even commerce in our County, in favor of a private developer. This is being done to accommodate the new 900-plus lots at Witch Hazel Village South, where new streets, sewers, and roads are going in. But there are options to this. An internal rock drive through road to the East of River Road would easily accommodate local traffic and then some. But that would cost money, and clearly, the County leadership is not having that, unless you all speak up!
If enough of those affected call in to Washington County and contact the county administration’s office with a phone call, you might make a difference. This needs more discussion.
Call in and demand that Item 2 of the Consent Agenda be pulled pending a public meeting or a better plan!
Contact: Stephen Roberts | Director
503-846-3798 direct
stephen_roberts@co.washington.or.us
EMAIL YOUR THOUGHTS TO ALL COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
bcc@washingtoncountyor.gov
County Commissioner At Large – Kathryn Harrington – email: chair@washingtoncountyor.gov
Kathryn Harrington email – Hard to say how or if she receives information- Ms Harrington’s email link is a BCC- since she is the leading decision maker and runs the County with an iron fist, you may want to try all of the following email addresses she has used in the past: Kathryn_Harrington@washingtoncountyor.gov , Kathryn.Harrington@co.washington.or.us, cao@washingtoncountyor.gov,
Charles D. Cameron Public Services Building
155 N First Avenue, Rm 300
Hillsboro OR 97124
503-846-8681
503-846-4545 (fax)
washingtoncountyor.gov/bcc
Term Expires: December 2026
Serves all of Washington County.
County Commissioner District 1
Nafisa Fai – email – district1@washingtoncountyor.gov
Charles D. Cameron Public Services Building
155 N First Avenue, Rm 300
Hillsboro OR 97124
503-846-8681
503-846-4545 (fax)
washingtoncountyor.gov/bcc
Term Expires: December 2028
District Map: Map(Link is external) [PDF]
County Commissioner District 2
Pam Treece – E mail – district2@washingtoncountyor.gov
Charles D. Cameron Public Services Building
155 N First Avenue, Rm 300
Hillsboro OR 97124
503-846-8681
503-846-4545 (fax)
washingtoncountyor.gov/bcc
Term Expires: December 2026
District Map: Map(Link is external) [PDF]
County Commissioner District 3
Jason Snider – email: district3@washingtoncountyor.gov
Charles D. Cameron Public Services Building
155 N First Avenue, Rm 300
Hillsboro OR 97124
503-846-8681
503-846-4545 (fax)
washingtoncountyor.gov/bcc
Term Expires: December 2028
District Map: Map(Link is external) [PDF]
County Commissioner District 4
Jerry Willey – email: district4@washingtoncountyor.gov
Charles D. Cameron Public Services Building
155 N First Avenue, Rm 300
Hillsboro OR 97124
503-846-8681
503-846-4545 (fax)
washingtoncountyor.gov/bcc
Term Expires: December 2026
District Map: Map(Link is external) [PDF]
From a local who emailed us, but wanted to stay anonymous for fear of retribution by the County:
“This item needs a public hearing
We just got back access to River Rd after 2 years of closure and tolerating heavy traffic volumes and travel expense/time on alternate routes namely Hwy 219. Poor planning as someone knew this was forthcoming and work could have been done during the River Rd closure at that time. Someone in the planning department should be fired!
There is a viable alternative by putting in an internal site by pass, but of course we wouldn’t want the contractor to have to burden that expense even though he probably factored it in his costs. So again let the public bear the added travel time and expense not to mention the increased traffic volumes on alternative routes.”
Here is the information about the meeting on Tuesday- you have every right to go and be heard on the record!
| Agenda – Regular Business Tuesday, August 26, 2025, 6:30 PM Washington County Board of Commissioners Charles D. Cameron Public Services Building Auditorium 155 N. First Ave., Suite 300, Hillsboro, OR 97124-3072 |  |
Hybrid Meeting (In-person and Virtual)
To access the meeting by phone – Please dial +1 669 900 6833 or +1 253 215 8782
To unmute to provide public comment press *6.
Webinar ID: 839 7739 5459
Im willing to bed whoever makes the decisions was paid off, that’s why no meetings with the public.
Geez, another thousand pounds of complaints. When is our community going to stop complaining about the world? Somebody wrote they bet someone was paid off? More conspiracy theorists! Let’s all get over ourselves and just accept the fact that we live in a beautiful country and we are of the most wealthiest people on the planet even if you’re making $100,000 household income. Get over it!
Those who will suffer through this, the traffic issues that will imperile marginalized communities, neighborhoods turned into cut through routes- these are public safety issues. And this is not the norm. Traditionally the developer provides traffic options, flaggers, side access passing lanes, etc- so to me this is not about complaining. It is about public safety, proper governance, and following time tested methods that focus on community benefit.
The Democrats always make bad decisions fro the residents
This is INSANE!!! Why should tax paying citizens have to suffer just because someone wants to build 900 homes? Wash. Cnty is being choked with an overwhelming amount of new industry & subdivisions. People need to have a say in these matters. Road closures have already caused turmoil and inconvenience and it needs to stop!
This is INSANE!!! Why should tax paying citizens have to suffer just because someone wants to build 900 homes? Wash. Cnty is being choked with an overwhelming amount of new industry & subdivisions. People need to have a say in these matters. Road closures have already caused turmoil and inconvenience and it needs to stop!
Zoom into the meeting Tuesday and ask them to pull this from the consent agenda or move it to a Public Hearing!
How can we do that?
I’ve always thought that hillsboro actually did pretty well in terms of making sure long term interruptions were planned out and not unnecessarily inconvenient. That being said; I’ve lived in this area 40 years or so and I never would have believed there was any way possible to fill in some of the areas that have been developed. That is a crazy amount of fill. Where did it come from? It couldn’t have been from very far away. Blows my mind.
Development is fine. Asking the public to foot the inconvenience is a different story. Good reporting.
Said like a real Citizen – exactly- We welcome all to come and enjoy our Community – just do NO HARM and PAY YOUR WAY and TAKE CARE OF YOUR BUSINESS!
I agree with you Scott! Appreciate the info Dirk!
Outrageous sell out of the area and no regard for quality of life for everyone here already. That’s ridiculous and shouldn’t be approved. The density alone will cause crowding, a rise in crime and taxes and it sucks…
Can author plrase provide a link to the county announcement or wherever the map and related info was found?
Yes, Glen. Here you go! https://washingtoncounty.civicweb.net/Portal/MeetingInformation.aspx?Org=Cal&Id=12903
See item 2 on the Consent Agenda- I added this to the article in the first section as well.
Thanks for the question – hope that helps. Not much there-
Another waste of tax payers money. And a lot of B’S.
Thanks for reporting on this. County government should be communicating to all affected citizens about major disruptions like this. A roundabout was recently finished at the intersection of River Rd and Farmington with taxpayer $, and this will make it largely useless for almost half a year. I agree, this is outrageous.
The excessive development of residential housing, especially of multi-family housing like apartments has been going on for well over a decade and it’s getting worse EVERYWHERE. Those in government, and private businesses involved are purposely destroying our communities and neighborhoods by overbuilding so much and it is eventually going to backfire, many of these homes being built now will end up being unocuppied and they will find it was unnecessary and unwise to overbuild the way they are now.
A 5 month closure is absurd not to mention that once the development is finished River Rd is still a 2 lane. The amount of traffic added without the infrastructure to support it (new roads) how are are all these cars getting in and out. Good reporting D
I’m sure this will probably get buried under the NIMBYs, conspiracy theorists, and people who think every issue is black and white and the ignorant gov’ment will always choose the wrong side, but the road closure is necessary to install an incredibly deep public sanitary sewer line in a road right next to a river. Any time you dig a very deep trench it’s dangerous. When you dig a very deep trench right next to a river it’s VERY dangerous. The County is deliberating on a safety issue and weighing your convenience against not only the lives of the people working in that trench, but of potential motorists driving through the work zone.
Hi Sarah;
I have not been able to access those plans. Can you kindly show us all how the 34 foot deep sewer is in the roadway? I guess you must have them? Even then, an interior bay pass can be built to allow two lanes through the applicants property around the sewer – that has been done many times before. Please send a link over to the sewer designs when you can! Thanks
It literally says its 34 deep in the Agenda item attachment you posted in your article lol
Something is up. No released sewer plan. Private developers? Are they putting the sewer in the middle of the main arterial so they can use all the land for $$houses$$. Then whenever access to the sewer needs to happen the road will be shut down again. Oh, don’t forget there is another road closure with the round about coming!
I think the sewer plan changed but how can we tell if we can’t find it?
I too saw a completely different map over a year ago showing the sewer farther East and not on River Road. The map that was shared tonight shows the sewer running right down River Road. I guess that leaves more room to build houses.