We wish to congratulate Albina Vision Trust and the city of Portland for securing nearly half a billion dollars of investment from the federal government to support Black wealth creation and neighborhood repair. This is a generational investment in restorative justice that could remediate the damage done by the original construction of the freeway, and will create jobs and homes for displaced Black Portlanders.
The best way to ensure this investment heals and doesn’t harm the neighborhood is to construct the caps and lose the lanes. No More Freeways continues to insist that ODOT conduct a full Environmental Impact Statement that considers alternatives to excessive freeway expansion. ODOT is still short $1 billion to build the current design of the proposed $1.9 Billion Rose Quarter Freeway Expansion, and can address this shortfall by right-sizing the highway portion of the project and instead investing in housing and amenities for the neighborhood. Albina deserves cleaner air and affordable housing, not air pollution and endless traffic congestion, and the Reconnecting Communities grant funding should be used to heal this neighborhood without ODOT further harming the neighborhood with air pollution and additional freeway lanes. ODOT’s insistence on a costly project that doubles the width of the highway and likely violates environmental standards is delaying the opportunity to heal this neighborhood.
– statement from No More Freeways
4 thoughts on “No More Freeways’ statement on Portland’s receipt of Federal Reconnecting Communities Grant: Construct the Caps. Lose the Lanes.”