A gathering of community members and leaders celebrated the opening of a fully inclusive public space with the grand opening of Elizabeth Austin Playground. In addition to giving kids a first opportunity to experience the playground, the free event featured a ribbon cutting with the City of Vancouver Mayor, followed by a variety of games and giveaways before concluding with an outdoor movie screening.
“When communities, foundations, and local governments unite with a shared vision, we can create more than playgrounds, we can build spaces where every child, regardless of age or ability, can experience the joy of play together.”
– David Sacamano, Business Unit Leader of Planning & Landscape Architecture
The occasion also allowed those in attendance to recognize the contributions of the playground’s namesake, Elizabeth Austin, who was a revered leader, mother, and advocate for inclusive spaces in the community. With the opening of the playground, the city’s diverse set of public play areas now boasts three inclusive playgrounds.
About Elizabeth Austin Playground
Following master planning for improvement for the broader Fruit Valley Park, Elizabeth Austin Playground drew on extensive public outreach to establish a final design with fully accessible features. These plans were made possible by a $1 Million donation by the Kuni Foundation. Altogether, the playground features follow a design theme of “Play Like a Bird.” Accessibility accommodations in the design go beyond what’s typically found at public playgrounds. Among the features are fully accessible rubber surfacing, inclusive play equipment, a water play area, and bird sculptures. In support of children with specific developmental and neurodiverse needs, it is also the city’s first fully-fenced playground to maximize user safety. New bike racks, benches, and picnic tables further enhance the park for the entire community while placing an emphasis on the area’s natural setting.
The ribbon cutting ceremony at Elizabeth Austin Playground.
Elizabeth Austin Playground during its grand opening.
Graphic showing the playground concept and features that make up the design theme for Elizabeth Austin Playground.
A community ribbon cutting marked both the official halfway point of the Multnomah County Bond project and the historic opening of the Albina Library. As the largest library to open in Portland, Oregon in more than 100 years, work on the Albina Library also included the historic preservation of a Carnegie Building that dates back to 1912.
Among the activities across the grand opening weekend were musical performances, workshops, readings, and crafts like flower origami. This opening follows previous events for the county, including the Holgate Library ribbon cutting. As bond program managers for Multnomah County Library’s historic capital bond program, Otak project leads Mike Day and Judith Moses were on-hand alongside public officials and the broader Albina community to celebrate the milestone.
About the Albina Library Project
With 11 building projects now complete, Albina Library represents just one piece of the overarching $450 million bond program that makes these improvements possible. The expansion adds more than 22,000 square feet of space while preserving and seismically upgrading the historic Carnegie Building, making it the city’s largest new library since the 1913 opening of Central Library. The location of Albina Library in a historically black neighborhood also heavily influenced its design. More than 3,500 community members were engaged across more than 65 public outreach activities to gather input.
A variety of murals, sculptures, and other artwork by local artists can be found throughout the location to reflect the community’s cultural backgrounds. To ensure the library’s public spaces reflect the needs of the surrounding community, 27 teens participated in the Youth Opportunity Design Approach (YODA), collaborating directly with project architects and library staff to create spaces that are welcoming, functional, and teen-friendly. That effort led to a new 1,743 square foot space where teens can gather to play games or study.
Additional new community spaces include an outdoor courtyard where patrons can gather and enjoy nature, as well as numerous community rooms and a new 4,300 square foot interactive kids’ area. For more information on the Albina Library project, visit their website.
Left to Right: Judith Moses and Mike Day
The event featured several speakers from the community
People gathered inside to see the library’s new spaces
The community gathered outside the Albina Library’s front entrance
Redevelopment of the waterfront in downtown St. Helens, Oregon, took a significant step forward with a recent ribbon cutting that opens the area to improved public use and future growth. Members of the community gathered alongside project partners to formally introduce the greater accessibility, functionality and public amenities this work delivers.
From left to right: Amanda Owings, Keith Buisman, David Breneman, Mandy Flett
From left to right: Scott Nettleton, Sean Clark, Mandy Flett, Keith Buisman, Amanda Owings
About the Rejuvenated St. Helens Waterfront
In an area that includes several public buildings, like City Hall and the courthouse, the waterfront of downtown St. Helens represented a great opportunity for future growth and expanded public use. After a planning effort led by Otak outlined concept options that include redevelopment of an old mill site, work began on two projects aimed at rejuvenating the area.
The city moved forward with a proposed concept that led to the new riverwalk and its adjacent 1st and Strand roadway. Review of the recommended plans and concepts included input from the community and potential developers to best position the area for both immediate and future use.
Anchored by a circle turnaround that provides a point of interest along the river, the roadway design of 1st and Strand improves access for pedestrians and motorists alike. This includes direct connection to the new riverwalk where Otak worked as a subcontractor to Mayer/Reed to create a new public space ready to host a variety of events.
A number of aesthetic and functional improvements were part of the roadway design, from concrete treatments and bulb-outs with planters at intersections, to a new multiuse path and more clearly defined parking. With an eye on the future, an extension of utilities positions the old mill site for shovel-ready development.
Positioning a community for long-term success is a planning effort that requires vision into the past, present, and future. Development around community goals often takes shape in the comprehensive planning process, but today this ever-evolving discipline faces increasingly complex challenges.
From the air to water and soil, the impacts of climate change are putting environmental factors at the forefront of long-range planning with the overarching need to create community resilience. As science and extreme weather events continue to paint a clearer picture of the specific hazards facing communities across different geographies, accounting for these variables becomes an increasingly essential element of the comprehensive planning process. In fact, for many planners today it’s not only essential, but mandatory. A growing number of states now have legislation in place – as well as significant sources of funding – that requires the inclusion of measures to address climate change in long-range plans.
In this piece, we’ll discuss how the comprehensive planning process is evolving to emphasize interconnected systems of resilience. From climate co-benefits centered on reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, to improving socio-economic standing of residents, these emerging efforts are becoming a vital component to the future well-being of our communities.
Comprehensive planning is the process of creating documentation that guides decision-making around a variety of topics (i.e. land use, transportation, parks, housing, environment, employment etc.) for the direction of communities years into the future.
Communities often sharpen the focus of their overall vision through subarea plans aimed at covering specific parts of a city. These mini-comprehensive plans focus on the unique goals of a particular district, neighborhood, corridor, or other more targeted area of the broader community.
The Comprehensive Planning Co-Benefits Landscape
While impacts vary from one region to another, the fact of the matter is, no community is unaffected by climate. From flooding in coastal areas to extreme weather events on the mainland, growing trends with the environment have confirmed the importance of limiting human contribution to those changes while also making communities more resilient against their effects. It’s through this lens of resilience planning that co-benefits between different interconnected systems are found to maximize social, economic, and environmental factors collectively.
Resilience Planning Terminology
Types of Community Assets
Reference: Washington Department of Commerce
At the heart of resilience planning is the recognition of community assets – both tangible and intangible – and how they relate to potential hazards. The co-benefits of this process often are found in goals such as reducing greenhouse gas emissions or restoring watersheds, all to benefit the common needs of humans and habitats alike.
Environmental Systems of Resilience
At this point, any approach toward sustainability and resilience in development relies on an understanding of the connection between systems in the built environment and natural environment. Efforts to mitigate impact or restore natural systems are planned to include co-benefits to community infrastructure.
Implementation projects that result from the comprehensive planning process can go a long way toward ensuring better preserved natural systems lead to more resilient communities.
Mitigating Impacts to Water, Air, and Soil
Many of the most vital elements found in nature are equally vital to our communities. From direct impacts like mitigating floods and wildfires to passive ones such as water and air quality, the co-benefits of resilience connect our communities to their broader ecosystems to reduce risk and enhance public health.
In many areas of the United States, one of the most pressing hazards is wildfire. Considering physical loss to impacts on insurability and other economic effects, their toll on a community can be swift, widespread, and long lasting. What’s more is these events can cause a domino effect of natural disasters.
The scorched land and destroyed vegetation left behind by a wildfire will often lead to erosion of soil and increased runoff from stormwater. Excess water and sediment can have extreme impacts on water quality, transportation infrastructure (culverts, bridges etc.), and other community assets for years after a fire has been put out.
While strides have been made in fighting wildfires, the best approach remains in resilience planning designed to limit their impact before they start in the first place. Methods like identifying watersheds that are at risk and encouraging their preservation and restoration puts communities in a better position to avoid the variety of ways wildfire leads to loss.
Flooding and Sedimentation
Similar to the relationship between wildfires and watersheds, the role of healthy vegetation can play a large role in a community’s water quality and flooding. As a stormwater measure, native planting can have the added utility of accounting for added impervious surfaces, providing natural bioretention.
By limiting erosion through healthy root systems, native plantings are an essential element of any shoreline. In other types of environments, preserving soil also reduces the potential for debris flow or rock/mud slides that can cause a high amount of damage to property and loss of life.
Healthy habitats that include native plantings are also commonly used in planning efforts for parks and community spaces. Native plants are healthy food sources for local wildlife and because they’re adapted to the surrounding climate, they often require less water and maintenance, conserving an area’s resources efficiently. They also add to the culture, education, and development of public spaces by encouraging a community to learn about and embrace the natural heritage of their region
Housing, Transportation, and Energy Systems of Resilience
Just as environmental factors impact community infrastructure, the reverse is also true. It’s no secret that transportation contributes to greenhouse gas emissions and that development can negatively impact ecosystems. It’s also important to recognize that disparities in impacted communities exist and planning around environmental justice is an opportunity to increase social justice.
When looking at issues individually, it can be difficult to find satisfying solutions, but when problems are viewed wholistically through the lens of resilience, the ability to influence positive outcomes becomes clearer.
Green House Gas (GHG) Emissions Reduction
A primary factor in resilience planning is the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. The focus on reducing vehicle miles driven and setting reduction targets is central to much of the regulation in Oregon and Washington state.
Planning that emphasizes transit-oriented development and active transportation not only works to reduce greenhouse gas emissions but also can lead to more vibrant, healthier communities. A comprehensive plan can also include a look at industrial processes or emissions that come from city operations in order to lower an area’s carbon footprint.
Housing Density and Affordability
Across the country, many urban areas face challenges associated with affordable housing. With obvious economic implications, the ability to increase not only the supply but the density of housing is an effort to improve community resilience as well as upward mobility.
Within the comprehensive planning process, updates that allow for higher density housing or more flexible housing types can be made to the city code. Middle housing, or the in-between housing of detached single family and large multifamily complexes, is one avenue for flexible housing that maintains the character of a neighborhood. Ultimately, the goal for planners is to give people affordable housing options for the different stages of life that exist in any given community for the benefit of all.
Continuity in Operations and Utilities
In many areas of the country, communities are now familiar with “flex events” or “rolling blackouts” aimed at reducing energy consumption when there is high demand being met by strained energy infrastructure. As shifts in climate produce more frequent extreme temperatures–both hot and cold–planning efforts should consider how to make this process more efficient for communities while also considering improvements to energy grids that are more adaptable to these changing conditions.
Creating Stronger Communities through the Comprehensive Planning Process
In the context of comprehensive planning, resilience planning adds an additional layer of foresight focused on the interconnected systems of community, climate, and the natural environment. To truly prepare communities for a wide range of possible outcomes, resilience planning requires planners and stakeholders to not only consider current conditions and future growth, but also to anticipate and plan for a range of possible scenarios exacerbated by climate change and environmental degradation.
To encourage – and in some cases, mandate – this proactive approach, states such as Washington, Colorado, and Oregon have incorporated new planning requirements for local governments to address climate through comprehensive plans. At the same time, it has also opened the door to related grant funding and technical assistance for community leaders to implement impactful initiatives by injecting resilience into each step of the comprehensive planning process.
Understanding Risks and Opportunities Through Meaningful Community Engagement
Community engagement and collaboration is an essential component of any planning process and takes on added importance when preparing for climate change and impacts to vulnerable communities. The process should bring in all voices of a community, particularly underserved ones and those that are most vulnerable to shocks and stressors. By involving a variety of groups, including tribal consultation, a more complete view of relevant factors is brought to the table while building consensus around goals.
An existing conditions analysis, including collecting data, understanding a wide range of community experiences, and identifying resources and assets available to mitigate impacts is a vital part of engaging the community toward a meaningful direction. A variety of engagement opportunities, from a booth at a popular event to interactive virtual open houses can provide a forum for gathering this information and beginning the public engagement process.
As planners work with elected officials and planning commissions to begin applying direction to specific projects and policy, findings from community engagement continue to help confirm and refine goals. Communication of community priorities gathered through public engagement is vital to creating this roadmap for future success.
An outdoor community engagement event in Vancouver, WA.
Plans for Austin Park Playground displayed for the community.
A planning session with community stakeholders in Vancouver, WA.
Meeting with community leadership in developing plans in Vancouver, WA.
Assessing Current Conditions, Hazards, and Community Assets
Mapping existing conditions (zoning, environmental conditions, population, traffic, property market, job market etc.) and community assets can reveal connections between individual factors, as well as larger systems in the area.
Examining these assets includes not only physical infrastructure but also social capital, cultural resources, and natural ecosystems. This includes identifying hazards (also known as shocks and stressors), such as hurricanes or wildfires, as well as chronic stressors like sea-level rise or economic inequality.
Shocks: Generally short-duration, rapid-onset or acute events that cause a disruption to normal life. (i.e. hurricane, wildfire, earthquake, flood etc.)
Stressors: Chronic, slow-onset or longer-term conditions that weaken a community over time and can impact community functions and well-being. (i.e. affordable housing, loss of habitat, air quality etc.)
“Futures” as a Plural in Outlining Desired Conditions
The comprehensive planning process often answers, “where do you want to be in 20 years, and how do you get there?” To develop strategies to adapt and thrive in the face of uncertainty involves envisioning future scenarios and understanding potential outcomes in more vivid detail than might be illustrated by a simple trendline or series of “high, medium, and low” projections.
Because future conditions are largely based on assumptions with certain metrics, there are a couple different ways to approach scenario development. Often, planning process participants are asked to choose between a variety of predetermined options for projects. An alternative to this approach involves preparing for several different pathways for development in order to respond to how future conditions evolve in reality, rather than a single expected outcome. This adaptable approach is especially important for resilience planning when considering factors such as how water levels might rise or where certain economic indicators will trend.
Whether it’s through innovative land use planning, investment in green infrastructure, or promoting sustainable transportation options, creating a roadmap for a more resilient future requires consideration of a range of interconnected community systems. Through the planning process, these systems and are aligned with a breadth of possible outcomes to design flexible, adaptive policies that are resilient to changing conditions.
Environmental Systems: Preserving ecosystems and natural resources to benefit community health.
Community and Social Systems: Supporting strong group structures and equitable government and social services.
Infrastructure Systems: Planning the built environment alongside natural systems to improve community functions.
Economic Systems: Improving access to opportunity and financial security.
Housing Systems: Developing access to shelter and strong surrounding community.
Developing Policy and Mapping Outcomes
Eventually, turning a planning vision into reality requires action. Implementing a comprehensive plan and co-benefits involves a mix of policy changes, infrastructure investments, and continued community engagement efforts.
At this stage, plans need to be double checked against state mandates, such as Washington’s Growth Management Act, while also translating overarching regulation to local jurisdictions. Those outcomes can then be adopted in the form of law by city councils or county commissions and funding options that will turn those plans into a reality can be explored.
Example State Legislation
Growth Management Act (Washington)
The resilience sub-element must include goals and polices to improve climate preparedness, response, and recovery efforts. This is mandatory for all counties and cities fully planning under the GMA and encouraged for others. As part of this, the greenhouse gas emissions sub-element requires goals and policies to reduce emissions and vehicle miles traveled.
Climate-Friendly and Equitable Communities (Oregon)
Intended to incentivize the adoption of transformational practices, programs, and policies that support sustainable development patterns and affordable housing into the future. This program will help communities align policies and regulations to focus on resilience around primarily housing and transportation.
Fortunately, there is growing support and funding available for resilience projects, with grants and other resources becoming increasingly accessible to communities committed to building a more resilient future. By aligning with state mandates and leveraging available resources, communities can turn their resilience plans into actionable projects that make a tangible difference in people’s lives.
Putting it All Together: A Multidisciplinary Planning Approach
In an era of unprecedented challenges, resilience planning offers a path forward for communities seeking to build a more sustainable, equitable, and adaptive future. Collaborative by nature, this effort benefits from the expertise of a number of practices focused on building improved communities.
By integrating resilience principles into the comprehensive planning process, communities can better prepare for and respond to the complex threats of the 21st century, ensuring a safer, more prosperous future for generations to come.
With many disciplines working together on a variety of projects, perhaps the best way to get a feel for a firm’s impact is simply, a coffee with… the people doing the work.
This video series features experts sharing insights gained during their time in the AEC industry, with an emphasis on the importance of collaboration to meet a common goal of creating improved communities.
In this edition, we sit down with leaders of our owner’s representative group that specialize in school bond management to hear how their work maximizes taxpayer dollars to benefit students, educators, and the surrounding community alike.
Discover more in the video and check out the transcript below:
Shaun: You know, each, each project I’ve been on… it takes a team. It definitely takes a village to do a school project of any size… that’s what we’re here for.
Bob: I am Bob Collins. I’ve work with, I’m a client services manager and I manage K-12 Bond project.
Sarah: I’m Sarah Oaks. I’m the director of project and construction Management here at Otak.
Shaun: I’m Sean Stuhldryer. I’m a program manager at Otak and I manage K-12 bond programs.
Brian: I’m Brian Hardebeck. I’m a client services manager here at Otak, and primarily in the K-12 and higher education market sector.
Bob: Many people don’t realize that, particularly in Oregon, school districts to do any kind of major capital construction need to raise money through a bond.
It doesn’t come from the state funding that they normally get for day to day expenses. And so a bond program captures major capital improvements, investments, and renovations.
Shaun: Every bond is different. Some bonds are one school and some bonds are 30 schools. In general, the more projects you would have then I would say the more phases or waves you need to have, because it’s really not practical to be working on every school at the exact same time.
Brian: What we do is it’s all for the kids. That’s what we’re here for, to improve their environment and allow the educators and the district leadership to concentrate on what they do best, educate and let us set that heavy lift for them.
Sarah: A lot of schools have facility staff and oftentimes they can do project management, but as you said, they have, you know, day jobs that they’ve gotta keep up with kind of a heavy workload.
And so whether it’s for just that period of time where the bond is in passage, or if there’s a particular complexity that maybe those facility folks don’t have experience with, I think that’s where we have a real value add, to kind of come alongside whatever resources the district has.
Bob: A lot of our service can start in pre-bond management, assisting the client and really understanding what their needs are.
Working alongside with an architecture or design team to do some pre-bond and public engagement with the voters to help the district assure they’ll have a good, strong message out there, and that the voters have the public engagement that they need to understand what they’re gonna pay for.
Shaun: Oftentimes I’ll work with school districts to develop their district standards, and district standards, help design teams meet the needs and the priorities of the district.
You know, so you don’t overshoot in what you build frequently. We’ll identify tiers of priorities. Those are a few ways that we just return the best investment back on the taxpayer money.
Brian: One Of our major roles is the, uh, master communicator and facilitators to the district and to the voters.
We take on a sometimes very public, outward facing view for the client to really actively listen to them, take their feedback, and communicate that to the district. Help them facilitate the decision making process that includes voter input into the prioritization of projects, but also encompass the, “what’s in it for me,” question from the voter.
Bob: I think that one of our biggest roles is we are identifying risk to the project and then communicating to them. And in doing so, that I think develops trust with all those folks.
Sarah: You know, other things we do, I think particularly with engagement is making sure that districts have a citizens oversight committee set up too, to kind of put eyes and ears on the process.
How do you cater to specific school district needs?
Shaun: I’ve worked with clients with, you know, acquiring properties, dealing with entitlements, dealing with development codes.
One interesting thing about, I think, in our business is every project is unique. It’s always a new team, new entities or people coming together for the first time.
Bob: One of the things we found very important to help develop a team from the beginning before there is really a team is chartering. Putting that out there so that there really is expectation setting from the get-go at the highest level.
So, there’s an opportunity to try to have members on your team that you feel have the same vision and passion about doing the work. And then again, being transparent, always in communication, you can’t communicate enough.
Sarah: You cannot overstate the importance of communication. I think a fundamental agreement for that is, is trust.
And I’m glad you mentioned chartering. I mean, that’s such an important thing to kind of get up everyone’s different goals on the table and figure out how those are gonna get woven together.
Brian: I think for me, uh, being a coastal region client service manager, I think one thing that I’m involved with more than probably inland groups is coastal resiliency and how to deal with rising, rising water levels.
Earthquake preparedness and resiliency for post-incident occupation of the new school or a school building or a public facility in this case. Where is it located? That all plays into the planning involved in a bond program for coastal districts, coastal clients.
Shaun: You know, a lot of school districts maybe they pass a bond every 10 years or, you know, every 20 years. Maybe it’s more often every five years. But, you know, the bond runs its course and then the school district’s not in the business of building things, they’re in the business of education. But we’re out serving other school districts and staying sharp, keeping up with technology and changes.
Sarah: I would like to say that we’re experts in uncertainty, right? Of figuring out how we’re gonna face it, how we’re gonna bring a team through it, how we’re gonna make decisions to come out on the other side of it.
So oftentimes we’re building spaces where, you know, they aren’t able to teach that because they don’t have space for it yet. And so sometimes it’s coming alongside educators as they’re putting together curriculum and we’re designing the space at the same time.
And so, I think it’s really figuring out not just how to build a building, but how to build a building to be used immediately and then for generations. You know, that I think is something you have to, you have to really have a good crystal ball, or yeah, a good sense of it.
What do you find rewarding about school bond work?
Brian: This industry’s very personal to me. I’m a product of a career and technical education class (CTE) in high school.
I just recently worked for a bond client, rural client on the Oregon coast. We saw the need to expand their career and technical education offerings, built a new CTE laboratory building for them. And I think at the end of that, we used the building as an educational process.
The kids that were already in their CTE programs had an exploratory program to bring in kids that really hadn’t thought of what their careers are going to be. They hadn’t figured out their “why” yet. But something caught ’em. And to see that engagement from the students and something that lit up their “why” was fascinating to me. And it was, it was great to see.
Sarah: I think one of the most gratifying moments that I’ve had just in this particular line of work is… so I’ve had an opportunity to work and participate in ACE Mentors, which is an after school program for high school students that are looking to explore careers in architecture, engineering, and construction.
I’ve now been in this field long enough that some of these students actually had gone through programs at a school that I worked on and had caught the bug, got interested in this line of work because they were able to work in one of the construction labs or in the STEM space of this school that hadn’t existed before we worked on this project.
And so it was very cool just that they are now getting exposed to different hands-on, project-based learning opportunities, career paths that are now kind of bringing them into this, in this industry.
So that felt very full circle for me and just very, very exciting just to hear how much they were enjoying those spaces. I really appreciated that.
Bob: Along the lines of what Sarah mentioned, managing teams of other Otak project managers and seeing their growth, that’s been a lot of fun.
We were asked to build essentially four schools and get ’em all done at the same substantial completion time, and everybody in the industry said, that’s ridiculous. No way that could really be done.
We did get it done on time and under budget, we had money left. So that was a really big, feather in my cap.
Shaun: Something really rewarding for me is opening up an elementary school. And it’s almost because you’ve got this community ready to go to come together, and that’s always just really rewarding to watch that happen.
We opened a school, RA Morrow Kennedy Elementary School in Clackamas County, a while back and I just was really fortunate with a fantastic team.
I mean, well under budget, ahead of schedule. Everything was ready when they wanted to move in in the summer and people were exuberant. It just felt like there was a, there was something in the air where everything came together. You could just see this community developing. That was just a really cool moment for me.
Brian: The school building needs to be more than just a school building. It needs to be a community asset. It’s a community center. It is all for the kids, but it’s also for the community.
Celebrating their 24th year, the annual DJC Oregon Awards took place this June, recognizing 53 ‘Top Projects’ from across the Pacific Northwest. Among the honorees were four Otak projects whose improvements to their community ranged from water quality and public facilities to affordable housing.
This year’s recognized work showcased the breadth of our multidisciplinary expertise, with contributions from our architecture, structural, survey, and owner’s representative teams. Learn more about the new additions to our collection of award-winning work and their broad benefits to the region below.
Wecoma Place
For a community displaced by wildfires, Wecoma Place is an affordable housing project that adds 44 residential units to the community of Lincoln City, Oregon. Our architecture team designed the building to emulate the enduring nature of the area’s coastal landscape.
After nearly 55 years of service, an outfall to the Columbia River from the Salmon Creek Water Treatment Plant was decommissioned and replaced. The new outfall was designed to cross numerous obstacles including infrastructure, property, and natural barriers. The survey and mapping team utilized a comprehensive set of tools, from traditional ground surveying to UAV aerial photogrammetry and a bathymetric drone to make construction of this essential public asset possible.
As part of a larger bond program, the Multnomah County Holgate Library triples the size of the original facility while also representing the most energy-efficient library ever built in the county. Supporting one of the most culturally diverse areas in the region, extensive public engagement led to a design that reflects those diverse communities through a variety of features including signage, color patterns, and art installations throughout. Our owner’s representative team has led overall program management for the entire $380M program.
The Leiser Road Overpass crossing State Route 14 in Vancouver had a history of vehicle impacts on the low chord of the bridge girders. After an oversized load hauling a wind turbine struck the overpass causing significant damage, Tapani partnered with Otak’s structural group in working with WSDOT to repair the bridge. That work included replacing one girder, repairing 5 others, and repouring the deck and guardrail over the replaced girder. Otak provided a shipping and lifting analysis for the precast concrete girder, as well as designing temporary shoring for the girder and deck forms.
A cornerstone of any growing community is its connectivity. Roadway engineering provides more than just conduits for cars; it forms the framework for mobility in a community that leverages a variety of modes of transportation.
A well-designed transportation network featuring different types of roadways can have widespread impact on economic development and individual wellness. This includes improvements that ensure all areas—especially underserved populations—have access to jobs, essential services, and amenities as well as healthier lifestyles through reductions in emissions and the promotion of active transportation. In this blog we discuss how roadway designs exist at the intersection of planning and transportation engineering to support the growth of healthier, more sustainable communities.
Roadway engineering is the planning, design, and construction of transportation infrastructure that enhances existing roadways or establishes new connections within a community. The practice integrates technical expertise, urban planning, and environmental considerations to develop safe, efficient, and accessible transportation systems that serve both current and future needs.
The design process starts with an assessment of existing conditions, including topographic mapping, survey and GIS, to understand site constraints. From there, engineers develop roadway layouts that meet design and safety standards. The final design incorporates permitting requirements, cost considerations, and agency coordination to ensure a smooth transition from planning through construction. The end result is a completed roadway that enhances connection across a community.
Stormwater Infrastructure and Low Impact Development
An extremely common aspect of roadway engineering involves the inclusion of stormwater infrastructure considerations. While accounting for increased impervious surfaces and polluted runoff, stormwater features reduce flooding and improve water quality for a community.
With new development comes the potential for negative environmental impact, but proper analysis of natural resources can mitigate adverse effects. Existing culverts are notoriously inefficient and are also among the most common barriers to fish passage. Today, culverts are being replaced to protect aquatic habitat, reduce flooding, and preserve water rights for property owners.
An important piece of roadway engineering is consideration of how it facilitates more than just cars. Multimodal design gives communities options for how they get from point A to point B, all while reducing carbon emissions and promoting physical health through active transportation. Emphasizing pedestrian mobility features like pedestrian bridges, protected bike lanes, cross walks, and traffic stripping reduces traffic conflicts for all.
Safety is the top priority of any roadway project. With updated traffic signals and signage, drivers are more aware, creating a safer environment for themselves and pedestrians. As the design of a roadway considers number of lanes and width, control of speed can also be effectively managed.
A healthy transportation network is a diverse transportation network. As roadway projects increase in size, so do opportunities to incorporate multimodal features. This can include accommodating mass transit with new stations, specialized lanes, or connection to adjacent trail systems. All ultimately contribute to traffic calming, creating a more connected community.
From small neighborhood streets to large arterials, each roadway type must be designed with the specific needs of the community in mind. A critical aspect of any design is engaging with the public to ensure buy-in and minimize disruption. The larger the initiative, the more essential public outreach becomes, and each project presents its own unique impacts to the connectivity of the communities it serves.
Types of Roadways and Their Impact on Communities
Different types of roadways serve unique, though connected, purposes in a transportation network. Their design often begins with comprehensive planning efforts which help identify the transportation needs of a community. Potential projects can then be developed with the focus of serving both community and client goals.
Neighborhood Streets
Neighborhood streets are designed with a primary focus on safety and accessibility, often placing an emphasis on pedestrians, cyclists, and access to public transit. The more limited scope of neighborhood street projects makes cost-effective construction strategies vital to fit within local budgets.
With this localized focus on enhancing connectivity and accessibility, neighborhood streets also typically include ADA-compliant sidewalks and crosswalks while speed bumps or curb extensions are among traffic calming measures. This roadway type requires extra attention to minimizing impact on adjacent properties while maximizing the benefits to those who call the neighborhood home, including the public assets that often exist in the area.
Tualatin, OR Adds Safe Routes to School
Among some of the most important improvements that can be made to neighborhood streets are those that create a safer environment for children that play and travel in the area. For many parents at Tualatin Elementary, it was clear that updates to the neighborhood streets could make a real difference for the kids walking and biking to and from school.
As part of Safe Routes to School (SRTS) programs, which provides grants for these types of improvements, work on 95th and Avery made a variety of upgrades to enhance pedestrian safety, particularly for the kids of Tualatin Elementary.
Multiple intersections were improved with high visibility striping in crosswalks, rectangular rapid-flashing beacons (RRFB), and other features to create safer pedestrian crossings and reduce conflicts with vehicles. Deficient sidewalks and gaps were replaced to further enhance the pedestrian experience.
Mid-Size Collectors and Corridors
Mid-size collectors and corridors serve as vital connections between neighborhoods and larger roadways. This roadway type supports moderate traffic volumes and often incorporates improvements that enhance transportation operations and facilitate flow between developing areas.
Corridors generally aim to improve access to commercial areas, parks, and transit hubs in response to increasing traffic demand. As part of planning efforts, these improvements are sometimes made in anticipation of future development. The larger scope often involves coordination with utility companies and various agencies, as they can have a substantial impact on not only the community but the surrounding environment.
Silverdale, WA Sees Reduced Congestion and an Enhanced Waterfront
The community of Silverdale had long looked to improve on poor waterfront access. Where the Clear Creek Estuary crosses under Bucklin Hill Road and meets Dyes Inlet, high traffic was common which was especially problematic considering its semi-rural setting. Altogether, the area represented a missed opportunity to create an appealing place for recreation, community connections, and growth for local businesses.
Improvements to Bucklin Hill Road and Bridge changed that. Two additional travel lanes eliminated congestion while new bike lanes and facilities were added where there had been none. Widened sidewalks and new trail connections added to new active transportation opportunities for the community. Extensive public outreach, including the “Scout Your Route” campaign to keep the public informed of closures, minimized disruption while reducing construction duration. These improvements had a direct, broad impact on all community members, including residents at senior living facilities in the area that now benefit from greater accessibility to their local businesses.
Large Arterials and Highways
Large arterials and highways are critical for regional mobility, commerce, and overarching economic development. Linking rural and urban areas, these roadways provide communities of all sizes access to important resources like employment and healthcare in metropolitan centers, while supporting the social and cultural networks between different areas. The scale of large highway upgrades can lead to wider improvements to transit-oriented development that diversify modes of transportation and maximize project value.
These roadways often present unique engineering challenges and draw from multiple funding sources, requiring close coordination with agencies to ensure regulatory compliance. As long-term, high-visibility projects, managing timelines and minimizing construction impacts is essential to minimizing disruptions that, at this scale, can be especially costly. This includes effectively communicating project updates with the surrounding community through informational websites, local representatives, and other channels to provide clarity and achieve buy-in.
Salem, OR Supports Rapid Growth and Underserved Areas
In a historically underserved area of Salem, Oregon, where 36% of parcels are underutilized, the McGilchrist Complete Street Project is designed to enhance business development, job creation, and multimodal transportation options for members of the community. It’s part of a 20-year vision for economic growth as well as transportation safety and environmental sustainability.
Considering the large and lasting impact of this work on the community, it was imperative to include them. Extensive stakeholder engagement went above and beyond, working directly with property owners, businesses, and local agencies to ensure the project addressed real community needs. These efforts led to the incorporation of refinements such as the protected cycle track and intersection realignments.
Based on feedback from public outreach, 74% of the corridor features protected bike lanes and new sidewalks. The design aims to significantly improve pedestrian accessibility while minimizing pedestrian-vehicle conflicts, resulting in fewer severe crashes and lives lost. The inclusion of $15 million of stormwater infrastructure upgrades also means this work plays a critical role in not only reducing future flooding for the community but improving habitat for fish.
Making the Complete Connection
Roadways are essential to creating vibrant, connected, and equitable communities. Because of their widespread impact, roadway projects of any size involve a diverse set of considerations to ensure that impact is comprehensive and long lasting. Through thoughtful planning, collaboration, and public engagement, Otak’s multidisciplinary teams take a cohesive approach to designing more connected communities that address current and future needs.
With the mission of advancing the science around urban ecosystems, the 23rd Annual Urban Ecology and Conservation Symposium took place featuring a presentation detailing work on the Springwater Wetlands Restoration project. Project lead, Rose Horton, presented alongside the client, Portland Bureau of Environmental Services (BES) and the City of Portland, to discuss the variety of ways improvements to this watershed are designed to improve the local habitat and surrounding community.
“At a really well attended conference, it was great to be part of all the wildlife research and knowledge that was shared… it’s important to show how restoring wetlands also protects people with solutions like naturally improving flood storage.”
– Rose Horton, PE|Team Leader, WNR
What is the Urban Ecology and Conservation Symposium?
The event is hosted by the Urban Ecosystem Research Consortium (UERC) of Portland/Vancouver and was held at Portland State University. Made up of members from educational institutions, state agencies, local governments, and non-profits, the UERC offers professionals opportunities to gather and share knowledge about urban ecology. Several speakers across a range of organizations gave presentations to share knowledge and ecological data with a focus on building communities in the region.
Insights from the Springwater Wetlands Restoration
Among the presentations given on ‘Restoration and Monitoring’ at the 2025 UERC was a unique, 70-acre urban wetland enhancement project that aimed to address decades of attempts to reduce flooding in the Portland area. Johnson Creek is one of the few free-flowing streams in Portland and has a long history of nuisance and catastrophic flooding. The restoration of the Springwater Wetlands focused on reducing that flooding while also enhancing habitat and improving community amenities for the city.
Co-presenting with client representatives, Rose detailed how this restoration work removed non-native fill and improved flood storage to protect neighborhoods from Johnson Creek and advance the city’s goals. This work also added more connections to the Johnson Creek trail system, including educational signs and site features made from WPA rock that connect the area’s history with its natural environment.
The Otak project team and client at the 2025 ACEC WA Engineering Excellence Awards Banquet.
This year’s American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC) Washington Awards Banquet celebrated a variety of projects from the region that improve communities through innovative engineering solutions. We’re proud to share that Otak’s NE 40th Stormwater Trunk Extension and Water Quality Facility project was honored with a Silver Award for Successful Fulfillment of Client/Owner Needs, highlighting the exceptional work and the dedication of our stormwater planning and environmental teams to collaborate closely with our client partners.
In further developing the City of Redmond’s stormwater infrastructure, this project stood out for a design that ensures water quality for people and natural habitat alike, while encouraging investment in the redevelopment of the area.
About Phase 1: Street Stormwater Trunk Extension
Redmond’s proactive approach to stormwater management included extension of a stormwater trunkline to a new direct outfall into Lake Sammamish to accommodate future redevelopment without the need for large on-site flow control facilities. This allows for higher density in a growing urban area around the new Redmond Technology Light Rail Station.
At the upstream end of the trunkline basin, the NE 40th Street Water Quality Facility was established to treat highly polluted runoff from 19 acres of a high-traffic roadway area. The new retrofit treatment site includes a unique leaf-shaped biofiltration facility that is viewable by pedestrians and transit center users at a gateway node within the city.
Congratulations to our team, client, and project partners for their hard work and dedication! We look forward to continuing our mission of delivering innovative and sustainable built solutions.
With many disciplines working together on a variety of projects, perhaps the best way to get a feel for a firm’s impact is simply, a coffee with… the people doing the work.
This video series features experts sharing insights gained during their time in the AEC industry, with an emphasis on the importance of collaboration to meet a common goal of creating improved communities.
In this edition, we sit down with a leader of our transportation engineering group and a member of our structural engineering group to hear how their work intersects to create infrastructure that gives people the independence to move.
Find out in the video and its transcript below:
Introduction
Greg: The interface between, you know, roadway and civil and bridges is really about that, that connection of community.
Amanda: Well, that urban built environment was really cool to me too. You know, being able to actually walk through your projects as an engineer drive by.
Greg: ‘I did that,’ right?
Amanda: Exactly.
My name is Amanda Owings. I am the transportation and infrastructure business unit lead for the Oregon and Southwest Washington offices.
Greg: My name is Greg Mines. I am a structures engineer in our bridge group out of Vancouver.
Greg: I mean, bridges are both, you know, literal and metaphorical. So you have, you know, like you’re connecting, you know, connecting communities. And then also, we’ve done a few projects replacing connections that were lost.
Or you’re either trying to help people move through an environment or you’re trying to connect different communities with each other in different areas of community.
Amanda: And adding on to that is giving people options when they don’t have any, right, If they have an alternate way to get somewhere or an independent way to move about their community.
That’s what I think is really heartwarming about the work that we do is that you are now eliminating barriers. You’re giving people independence to move. And that’s something that everybody wants to have. They want that freedom.
Greg: I’ve worn many hats at Otak. I started out doing bridges and then for a while actually went and did some buildings for the national parks. And I get, I get a lot of projects that don’t fit in any particular bin of, of someone’s specialty. So I’ve [done things like] gone scuba diving for projects etc.
I’ve been here for 14 years. But why don’t you kind of fill me in on, on kind of your history with the company?
Amanda: Oh, sure. I started at Otak in 2000. That was my first job out of college. So I was an EIT, worked into my PE as well as project management, and then found that I wanted to try a little bit on the public side.
So for 9 years I was working at two different agencies and really kind of missed consulting, missed the networking, missed working with multidisciplinary teams. So it’s been really nice coming back and being able to work with lots of different people.
Greg: What’s some of the like perspective that you brought from that that public work and, and working for who is frequently our client and coming back again?
Amanda: It’s really helpful to know where their pain points are and what things that they struggle with getting through their councils or through budget or really just working with the public.
So when, when it comes to how a design is put together or how a project is presented, if the public can’t quite understand it then and we need to redesign it. And so I, I have that perspective that’s really helpful just to see it from how the agency is going to be able to pay for it, explain it, maintain it in the future.
What’s it like working closely with the public and local communities?
Amanda: Well, the urban planning side of my work is quite rewarding because it does create projects and work with the communities directly. So the community is really giving their voice to what the design team is working on, and it’s really does make for a much more creative project in the end, and you’re really doing something that the public wants.
One of the communities that I worked in is that there was an intersection that had lots of crashes. It was really unsafe and we worked really hard to get that intersection repaired. And now it’s not even on the safety list and nobody ever thinks about that intersection anymore.
It’s those kinds of things that it’s like, you know, you’ve done a good job when nobody talks about it anymore. A backwards way of finding pride in your projects. But it’s true.
Amanda: We had a project for Washington County, was Olson Rd. And it was one of my very first projects and it had taken almost two years to really get through all the design. There’s like 100 driveways to sign, lots of public outreach.
But that project sticks with me because I can drive it. In fact, I drive it as many times as I can.
The second project that was really rewarding to me was a project in Tigard through their downtown, and we submitted and got a national APWA award for it.
So it was on the cover of the magazine that we really need to see.
Greg: We did one project in Olympic National Park. Crystal Creek Bridge is the name of it, and it was a suspension bridge. It was asymmetrical. It was a design build project. So we’re working with the contractor really closely and making the decisions.
So there was kind of this additional insight that we had during design and it came out and it’s a really cool bridge.
How does your work benefit from a multidisciplinary environment?
Amanda: It is important to work with other disciplines in the industry because it does help you kind of foresee some of the issues that you know are going to be coming. And the more that you can relate with their work kind of makes you design more stuff that much better.
It just goes that much more smoothly.
Greg: Especially early on in a project. I feel like sometimes you’ll get like a maybe a plan set and, and you can tell that it’s not a project yet. It’s four or five individual projects, each discipline kind of doing their own.
And then you start doing that collaboration where you, you sit down and you know, you’re all, if you do a plan sheet turn or whatever, but you trade and then you look at everybody else’s and you’re like, ‘oh, hey, I think we can change this here.’ And then when you start to blend that together.
Amanda: Or asking the questions, ‘why did you do it this way? What can I do to make this a little bit easier for you?’
Greg: And working with the same people you kind of get to know, this is something that, you know, we looked at previously with, with Amanda… she can probably solve this.
The deep bench that we have of that expertise in and, and have it all just in house, You’re just blown away by what you can find.
Amanda: I love that I can pick up the phone and call you anytime when I have a structural question that’s not even related to a project that we’re working on together. But just having that access to you or your team is really helpful to our transportation group.
To provide the best experience, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional
Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Graphic showing the playground concept and features that make up the design theme for Elizabeth Austin Playground.
People gathered inside to see the library’s new spaces
The community gathered outside the Albina Library’s front entrance
