Portland Advocates Call on Feds to Oppose Freeway Expansion

Environmental and sustainable transportation advocates in Portland, Oregon are urging federal officials to oppose a proposed expansion of the Interstate 5 freeway through the city’s Rose Quarter.

A grant being considered by the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) could “make or break” the project, according to an article by Taylor Griggs in the Portland Mercury. “Freeway expansion opponents argue ODOT has concealed the true environmental costs of the Rose Quarter project in order to present it as a sustainable and equitable investment in Portland’s future. But their opposition to the grant award puts them at odds with local government officials and several community organizations, who have also written USDOT with letters of support.”

ODOT’s current plan involves new auxiliary lanes in both directions of the freeway. After years of backlash, the department agreed to sink the freeway and add new surface connections above. “ODOT says the cover will be able to support residential and commercial buildings, and will make it easier for people walking, biking, or rolling to get around. The project also includes a plan to build a pedestrian and bicycle bridge over I-5 near the Moda Center.”

Although it received a $450 million Reconnecting Communities grant, the cap plan, developed with “strong input” from community advocates, is largely unfunded and could cost up to $1.9 billion. 

Advocates including Joe Cortright and Chris Smith, founders of No More Freeways, recommend that USDOT award a smaller, $400 million grant geared toward completing a proposed pedestrian and bike bridge. In a letter, Cortright and Smith said “the project is engineered to be vastly wider than needed,” doubling the width of the freeway. “Ultimately, advocates from groups like No More Freeways say the RCN program cannot coexist with a USDOT that doles out federal funding to polluting, harmful freeway expansions.”