Engineers told Tualatin City Council last week that nearly every fix for the Tualatin-Sherwood Road bottleneck has a "fatal flaw," leaving a single $250 million option on the table.
That option would still create a new traffic jam.
The road-over approach, the only design city staff called viable, would raise Tualatin-Sherwood Road above Boones Ferry Road and the Portland and Western Railroad tracks. It would shift the road south, build two new roundabouts and require relocating surrounding businesses, Tualatin Life first reported.
But project manager Marc Butorac of Kittelson and Associates warned councilors the congestion would simply move west to the intersection of Tualatin-Sherwood Road and 90th Avenue. He called 90th the project's next bottleneck, saying conditions there would "continue to deteriorate" even after the $250 million build.
City Engineer Mike McCarthy said he had expected more workable designs. The other alternatives each hit a wall: keeping the road's current alignment during an overpass build would squeeze Tualatin-Sherwood Road to one lane in each direction for roughly 18 months. At-grade widening would only buy about 20 years before traffic returned to current levels, Butorac told the council.
A southerly realignment would tack on at least $35 million in right-of-way costs because the city would need to acquire six properties, according to Butorac.
City staff also reported that even the preferred road-over design failed to meet community development goals. Council President Valerie Pratt pressed the point.
"The hard one for me was the number one thing you got feedback on was community development and none of these meet that criteria," Pratt said.
Councilor Bridget Brooks urged the city not to wait. She said traffic will "get a lot worse" and questioned whether federal grant funding would remain available. McCarthy said the project is still a strong candidate for the Rail Crossing Elimination grant program, run by the Federal Railroad Administration.
The Tualatin-Sherwood Road corridor sits on Metro's High Injury Corridors map. A Kittelson and Associates technical memo dated June 26 found that two intersections along the corridor scored in the top 85 percent of the Oregon Department of Transportation's (ODOT) Safety Priority Index System. About five freight trains and 20 TriMet Westside Express Service (WES) commuter trains cross Tualatin-Sherwood Road each weekday.
The Tualatin-Sherwood Road Rail Crossing Study began in early 2026 and is expected to wrap up in February 2027, according to the city's project page. The study team includes the City of Tualatin, Kittelson and Associates and Washington County.
Councilors directed engineers to keep analyzing alternatives, including raised pedestrian paths. According to Tualatin Life, the city's planning department plans to hold a virtual open house Sept. 14 through Sept. 28. Residents can learn more and comment at the city's project page.
