Lam Research, using a taxpayer-funded Oregon CHIPS grant, has submitted plans for a massive facility expansion that would add an estimated 2036 daily vehicle trips to our local roadway network. Lam's proposed site design would send 70% of that traffic (1425 daily trips) through a new entrance on Tualatin Road. We are opposed to this new entrance.
Tualatin Road is a busy street that runs along the north side of Lam's campus and the south side of the Riverpark neighborhoods of north Tualatin. It's heavily burdened by cut-through commuter traffic, and is also the main access road in and out of our neighborhoods. The last thing Tualatin Road needs is more traffic.
Leveton Drive is a lightly-used industrial access road that runs along the south side of Lam's campus. Leveton Drive is concrete, built to handle tractor trailers and heavy vehicle loads, and currently carries 3 entrances to the Lam campus. Leveton Drive has more than enough capacity to handle all the traffic from Lam's expansion.
Recent traffic counts (max vehicles per hour)
• Tualatin Road (PM peak at 112th Ave)
1313
• Leveton Drive (PM peak at 118th Ave)
370
Lam currently has a driveway that connects Leveton Drive straight to the parking lots on the north side of their campus, but the proposed site expansion would eliminate that driveway. This is unacceptable. Lam’s new site plan needs to include at least one usable driveway that connects their main parking lots directly to Leveton Drive.
We ask Lam to modify their proposal:
Use Leveton Drive not Tualatin Road.
Project Documents
- Neighborhood Meeting Letter (5/22/2024)
- Neighborhood Meeting Minutes (6/5/2024)
- Neighborhood Update Letter (7/12/2024)
- Proposed Site Plans (7/8/2024)
- Traffic Impact Analysis (7/8/2024)
- Lam Application (136MB Zip 7/8/2024)
Tualatin Road has been discussed previously by Lam:
“Janet said there is no access to Tualatin Road, currently only a fire access is provided on Tualatin Road. Jennifer said we looked at opening that but it’s faster to go down Leveton Drive and up 124th Avenue.” Neighborhood Meeting (8/16/2022)
Industrial Truck Routes
Lam's neighbor to the west, Japan Aviation Electronics (JAE), currently sends truck traffic (semi tractor trailers and warehouse deliveries) away from Leveton Drive with signage instructing drivers to use Tualatin Road. Lam is proposing that the new entrance on Tualatin Road at 115th would be jointly used by Lam and JAE. We would like to see all truck traffic use Leveton Drive.
School Busses
In the morning and afternoon during the school year, Tualatin Road carries a stream of school busses taking students to and from Hazelbrook Middle School. Adding more commuters to this road would increase the risk to students and cause longer delays and traffic backups.
Public Funds
Lam Research is a multibillion-dollar microchip company using a taxpayer-funded grant to help pay for this expansion. We believe that any project built with taxpayer funds should be held to a higher standard and not harm the community.
Save Tualatin Road
In order to preserve the livability of our neighborhoods and to protect our quality of life, we, the residents who live along Tualatin Road, both renters and owners, request the following changes:
- Remove Lam’s proposed entrance on SW Tualatin Road at SW 115th Avenue.
- Add to Lam's proposed site plan a usable driveway that connects Lam's main parking lots directly to Leveton Drive.
- Remove from Tualatin's Transportation System Plan the proposed traffic signal at SW 115th Ave and SW Tualatin Road.
- Preserve and extend Lam's berm along SW Tualatin Road.
- Require that Lam and JAE use SW Leveton Drive for all non-emergency vehicle access.
- Establish a tractor trailer and warehouse delivery entrance on SW Leveton Drive for JAE.
- Eliminate noise pollution and offsite sound impacts from Lam’s operations.
- Eliminate light pollution and light trespass from Lam and JAE campuses across Tualatin Road.
- Remove Lam's unsightly No Trespassing signs posted along Tualatin Road.
- Establish 24-hour onsite emergency contacts for Lam and JAE.
What can you do right now?
- Email this Sample Letter to the Tualatin City Council (council@tualatin.gov) and Tualatin Planning Department (planning@tualatin.gov) and let them know that Lam’s proposal is unacceptable. It’s time for the city to make this issue a top priority. Mayor Bubenik said “I’d encourage people to keep sending the emails.”
- Speak at the next Tualatin City Council Meeting (in person or via Zoom) on the 2nd and 4th Monday of each month, beginning at 7:00 pm. Public Comments are limited to 3 minutes per person. This is the best way to make sure your voice is heard!
- Host a Save Tualatin Road yard sign on your property!
- Read and share this Tualatin Life Article.
- Talk to your neighbors and get ready to speak up at community meetings.
- Post on Social Media and Nextdoor to help spread the word.
- Contact Us if you have any questions