The agency declined the Oregon Department of Transportation’s request for $750 million to fund the I-5 Rose Quarter Improvement Project.
“The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) has rejected the Oregon Department of Transportation’s (ODOT) request for $750 million in funding for the Rose Quarter Freeway Expansion,” according to an article in Roads & Bridges, signaling a shift away from highway expansion as the norm in transportation planning.
The contentious project is over $900 million short of its estimated $1.5 to $1.9 million cost. “ODOT now has a significant budget gap for the Rose Quarter Freeway Expansion and the Interstate Bridge Replacement. The Joint Transportation Commission is working to develop a bailout for ODOT, which says it faces a large funding gap for both operations and capital projects.”
Local environmental and transportation advocates oppose the project, which received a Reconnecting Communities grant earlier this year for its plan to bury the freeway and cover it with cap parks and other usable land, saying it doesn’t fully address the ongoing negative impacts of the interstate on surrounding communities.
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