What City Observatory did this week A note to City Observatory readers: Bear with us, folks: We’re in the last week of our month-long deep dive into Portland’s debate about whether to spend a half billion dollars to widen a mile-long stretch of freeway near the city’s downtown. Based on all we’ve learned in our […]
The Week Observed, March 29, 2019 Read More »
Highway planners use a deeply flawed “lemming” model of traffic that rationalizes highway widenings The traffic projections made as part of the Environmental Assessment for the $500 million Rose Quarter I-5 widening project make an audacious claim that the project will reduce traffic congestion and greenhouse gases, and completely unlike any other freeway expansion project,
The Lemming Model of Traffic Read More »
ODOT hid its plans to build a $3 billion Columbia River Crossing in the Rose Quarter Freeway Widening Environmental Assessment The carefully crafted marketing campaign for the I-5 Rose Quarter Freeway widening project is adamant that you don’t call it an expansion. It’s an “improvement project” they say. We’re not widening the freeway, we’re just
There’s a $3 billion bridge hidden in the Rose Quarter Project EA Read More »
Congestion pricing is a quicker, more effective and greener way to reduce congestion at the Rose Quarter than spending $500 million on freeway widening. Failing to advance pricing as an alternative in the environmental review is a violation of the National Environmental Policy Act For the past month, we’ve been taking a hard look at
Congestion pricing is a better solution for the Rose Quarter Read More »
Long regarded as a national leader in transportation policy, Portland is being called out by some of the best and brightest for a wrong-headed decision to spend half a billion dollars widening freeways. The damage done is not just to the city’s reputation. Janette Sadik-Khan: Once king of sustainable transpo, Portland could be come jester
National transportation experts: Portland, you’re doing it wrong Read More »
What City Observatory did this week A note to City Observatory readers: We’re deep in the thick of Portland’s debate about whether to spend a half billion dollars to widen a mile-long stretch of freeway near the city’s downtown. Based on all we’ve learned in our research at City Observatory, and our analysis of the
The Week Observed, March 22, 2019 Read More »
Expanding freeway capacity on I-5 hasn’t reduced crashes in Woodburn, but did triple in cost Today, we’re pleased to offer a guest commentary from Naomi Fast. Naomi currently lives in Beaverton, Oregon. Previously, she lived in Portland, where she learned to ride a bicycle as transportation while earning graduate degrees at Portland State University. Her
Safety last: What we’ve learned from “improving” the I-5 freeway. Read More »
Oregon’s Department of Transportation is lying about safety to sell a half billion dollar freeway project Fear-mongering is the one of the lowest, if unfortunately most effective, means of selling anything. Threaten anyone with a danger to their health and safety, and they’ll acquiesce to a sales pitch. Oregon’s Department of Transportation is using an
Safety: Using the big lie to sell wider freeways Read More »
Portland’s Albina neighborhood was devastated by the I-5 freeway; Widening it repeats that mistake Freeways and the traffic they generate are toxic to vibrant urban spaces. The great lesson of the urban freeway building boom of the 1960s was that it served chiefly to destroy, devalue and depopulate city neighborhoods throughout the nation. Freeways accomplished
How a freeway destroyed a neighborhood, and may again Read More »
Tax free shopping in Oregon saves the typical Southwest Washington household $1,000 per year Cross border shopping accounts for 10-20 percent of all trips across the I-5 and I-205 bridges Tax avoidance means we’re essentially paying people to drive and create traffic congestion Those who live in “the ‘Couv”–Vancouver, Washington–often like to poke at their
How tax evasion fuels traffic congestion in Portland Read More »
