FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Oct 18, 2024
PORTLAND – ODOT staff announced on Thursday morning in a Transportation Work Group meeting that the US Department of Transportation had rejected Oregon Department of Transportation’s (ODOT’s) request for $750 million from the federal INFRA Grant Program to spend towards the Rose Quarter Freeway Expansion, a project that would double the width of Interstate 5 through the Albina Neighborhood.
ODOT was counting on this additional influx of federal money to advance the freeway expansion. The agency now faces a $900 million funding gap for the Rose Quarter Expansion Project, at a time in which ODOT is hemorrhaging dollars and legislators are grappling with how to find the revenue necessary to stabilize the agency’s $1.6 billion annual budget shortage. Legislators recently concluded a statewide “transportation roadshow” tour soliciting feedback from the public on desired priorities and investments in the upcoming 2025 package. According to the Move Oregon Forward coalition, comments received from the public overwhelmingly demanded greater investment in public transit, road maintenance and street safety improvements, with less than 5% of the comments received in support of megaprojects like the Rose Quarter and other highway construction.
“Next year, the Oregon legislature will be facing a massive unpaid bill as our statewide transportation system is suffering from decades of disinvestment and neglect, with no easy answers on how to find the votes to raise the taxes to pay for it,” said Joe Cortright, an economist with City Observatory. “Without this federal grant, it’d be even more irresponsible for legislators to allocate an additional $900 million to pay for this polluting, bloated highway expansion when Oregon has alarmingly critical investment needs for statewide bridge repair, safety improvements and transit needs.”
“We continue to call on state legislators, Governor Tina Kotek and the Oregon Department of Transportation to develop a plan for a “right sized” Rose Quarter project that leads with investments that restore the livability of Albina, rather than needlessly doubling the size of the I-5 freeway,” said Chris Smith, a co-founder of No More Freeways.
Doug Allen, Portland Area Vice President of AORTA-Association of Oregon Rail and Transit Advocates, said his organization had asked, years ago, that climate-friendly transit alternatives to this freeway expansion be considered in an Environmental Impact Statement. “Oregon needs to recognize that we can’t afford to spend $900 million on the Rose Quarter Expansion when that money could instead be improving transit and freight rail infrastructure across the state. That would be much more helpful to Oregon’s economy than subsidizing peak hour auto travel.”
Notably, this comes just months after the announcement in March that the federal government gave a $450 million grant from the Reconnecting Communities and Neighborhoods (RCN) program, the largest such grant given nationally, towards building caps over the freeway to heal the damage done to Albina, formerly Oregon’s largest Black neighborhood, by original construction of I-5 in the 1960s. This week’s decision shows that while the federal government supports repairing the damage done to Albina, it isn’t going to foot the bill for a massively widened freeway.
While the grassroots organization is supportive of the freeway cap components of the project, over the past seven years No More Freeways has organized to oppose the freeway components of the proposed project. NMF had uncovered previously undisclosed documents showing that ODOT’s plan is to double the width of the roadway in some sections, allowing for future lane expansions–decisions that are driving the high cost of the project, and causing its price tag to spiral out of control, quadrupling to $1.9 billion. These and other findings have led to significant community opposition, with thousands of Portlanders demanding ODOT conduct an Environmental Impact Statement, dozens of youth climate advocate-led protests outside ODOT, and multiple lawsuits. Most recently, this summer No More Freeways joined five other co-plaintiffs in filing a NEPA complaint against ODOT, contending that the agency failed to study alternatives to freeway expansion and therefore violated federal environmental law. No More Freeways also wrote a letter to the USDOT in July expressing concerns about this project receiving federal INFRA grant funding. National advocacy organization America Walks also sent a letter co-signed by 155 organizations across the country urging USDOT to not grant INFRA funding to projects that align with the principles of the Reconnecting Communities program.
“It’s time for ODOT to get the message and design a project that is focused on re-connecting the community, rather than widening the highway,” said Smith.