PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Lake Oswego has walked back its plans to restrict access to Oswego Lake throughout the holiday weekend.
Officials previously announced that access to the lake from Lower Millennium Plaza Park would be closed from the evening of Thursday, July 3 to the morning of Monday, July 7. Although the area will remain closed on the Fourth of July, the city revealed on Wednesday that it will now reopen to the public from 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. the following day.
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“This temporary closure is intended to support public safety and facilitate operational planning during the Independence Day weekend,” the City Manager’s Office wrote. “The closure shall be publicly noticed and enforced in coordination with Parks and Police personnel.”
The updated closure follows backlash from residents who questioned the city’s decision to temporarily restrict access just months after a Clackamas County judge ruled Oswego Lake should be open to the public. On June 27, Mark Kramer — one of two plaintiffs who sparked the 13-year legal battle with officials and Lake Oswego Corporation — wrote a letter in which he threatened to take action against the city if it followed through with the closure…