Thanks for an amazingĀ turnout lastĀ Thursday!Ā
We had a wonderful crew join us for ourĀ #steptemberpdxĀ walkĀ on ThursdayĀ to City Hall;Ā thanks to Ron Buel and Joe Cortright for telling us about the history of Tom McCall Waterfront Park and to Oregon Walks for hosting us on theirĀ #steptemberpdxĀ walk series.
Over 35 individuals signed up to testify in opposition to the Rose Quarter freeway widening.Ā Our letterĀ has been signed by over 440 community members and 26 community organizations.
We had a busy week in the media as well.Ā Check out the coverage of our nascent campaign inĀ The Oregonian,Ā BikePortland.org,Ā The Portland Tribune,Ā Portland Mercury, andĀ The Association Press; and thanks toĀ Portlanders for Parking ReformĀ for uploading video of all of our testimony onto youtube.
What comes next?
Turnout for ODOT’s Open House on Freeway ExpansionĀ TonightĀ in Northeast Portland
ODOTĀ is holdingĀ an open houseĀ on the Freeway Expansion Project at the Matt Dishman Community CenterĀ TONIGHT, September 12th. We’ll be showing up to leave comments about our concerns about traffic safety, the inability of this project to address recurring traffic congestion, air quality considerations, and more.Matt Dishman Community Center
September 12th;Ā 5:00-7:00pm
77 NE Knott Street, Portland OR
(Accessible via TriMet Bus lines 4, 6, 44 and the Rodney Avenue Neighborhood Greenway)
TestifyĀ on Thursday; Contact City Hall byĀ Friday
Miss your chance to testify last week? City Council will be holdingĀ an additional round of public testimonyĀ on the Portland Central City Plan on Thursday, September 14th, atĀ 2:45pm. Individuals signed up last week will be given preference to testify first.
If you can’t make itĀ this ThursdayĀ but still want to help, please consider sending in your own testimony to City Hall expressing your concerns with the project. ClickĀ HEREĀ to queue up an email to your elected officials. Public testimony on the Central City Plan closes byĀ Friday, September 15 at 5pm.
If you haven’t already, pleaseĀ sign our letterĀ and ask your friends and colleagues to do the same. We’re just short of 500 signatures; can you spread the word onĀ facebookĀ andĀ twitterĀ to help us get over the top?
Down the Road
It’s been a busy couple weeks over here at No More Freeways HQ!Ā We’ll have more to share soon about the next steps of our 21st century freeway revolt; we’ll continue toĀ ask City Council to remove this project from the Transportation System Plan, and we’reĀ interested in learning more about the Council Resolution proposed by Commissioner Dan Saltzman to ensure that congestion pricing is studied and implemented before freeway expansion. We’ll be conducting further outreach to bring more community organizations on board, to explain our opposition to this expensive boondoggle to elected officials, and to stand on the shoulders of a previous generation of Portlanders who prioritized building a city for people instead of paving a city for cars.
In the mean time, reach out to us atĀ nomorefreewayspdx@gmail.comĀ if you’re interested in becoming a regular volunteer with our coalition. We have meetings approximately twice a month, and would welcome new members to join us.
On behalf of all of us at No More Freeway Expansions: Thanks for your continued support.
Let’s Go Stop a Freeway!