Since August 2017, No More Freeways has been working to stop the proposed $1.9 Billion Rose Quarter Freeway Expansion and numerous other freeway projects across the state of Oregon. proposed closely following local, regional and statewide conversations pertaining to the proposed Rose Quarter Freeway Expansion and ODOT’s other climate-destroying freeway expansion projects proposed across the Portland metro region.
We’ve been actively submitting letters and organizing thousands of public comments as these freeway expansion proposals are being deliberated by different levels of government. Below includes a handful of our letters to convince local, regional, statewide and national elected officials, appointed officials, and governing agencies to join us in opposing ODOT’s freeway expansions and demand that Oregon instead invest scarce resources in transportation investments for public health, climate justice, traffic mitigation and equity initiatives.
Letters submitted by No More Freeways and numerous community partners to the Oregon Department of Transportation Rose Quarter Freeway Widening Public Comment period in Spring 2019 are available HERE.
Letters submitted for the Public Comment Period for the Supplemental Environmental Assessment in winter 2022-2023 are available HERE.
Letters submitted for the Public Comment Period for the Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the proposed Interstate Bridge Replacement in fall 2024 are available on the Just Crossing Alliance website, available HERE.
Prominent letters, documents produced by No More Freeways are listed below, in chronological order:
- Letter to Portland City Council: August 30, 2017 Re: Central City Plan Update
- Letter to Portland City Council: September 7, 2017 Re: Central City Plan Update
- Letter to Oregon Department of Transportation: October 6, 2017: Public Comment on I-5 Rose Quarter Freeway Expansion
- Letter to Oregon Department of Transportation’s Portland Region Value Pricing Advisory Committee: November 20, 2017
- Letter to Portland City Council: November 29, 2017 Re: Congestion Pricing Resolution (additional citizen commentary submitted November 30, 2017 available here)
- Letter to Portland City Hall: January 18, 2018 Re: Central City Plan Hearing
- Letter to Federal Highway Administration: March 23, 2018 Re: Freedom of Information Request re: Environmental Impact Statement, written by CRAG Law Center and cosigned by OPAL – Environmental Justice Oregon and Audubon Society of Portland
Letter to Oregon Department of Transportation Portland Region Value Pricing Advisory Committee: April 30, 2018- Letter to Oregon Transportation Commission in support of Decongestion Pricing: July 20, 2018
- Letter to Oregon Department of Transportation and Federal Highway Administration, requesting extension of the public comment period: November 28, 2018
- Letter to Oregon Department of Transportation, requesting data that should have been made available in the Environmental Assessment: March 4, 2019
- Letter to Oregon Department of Transportation, requesting the agency to honor its commitment to a 45 day public comment period: March 18, 2019
- Letter to Oregon Transportation Commission, regarding hiring of next director of ODOT: May 9, 2019
Letter to Joint Policy Advisory Committee on Transportation (JPACT), regarding ODOT’s Corridor Bottleneck Operations Study (CBOS): October 17, 2019
Letter to Oregon Transportation Commission, regarding State Transportation Improvement Program funding: December 9, 2020 - Letter to Governor Kate Brown, regarding new appointment of new member of the Oregon Transportation Commission: February 2, 2021
- Letter to Oregon Transportation Commission regarding ODOT’s obstruction to public records asking about width of proposed Rose Quarter Freeway Expansion: March 17, 2021
- Letter to Oregon Legislature’s Joint Transportation Committee on HB 3065: March 16, 2021
- Memo to Oregon Legislature, on history of community opposition to Rose Quarter Freeway Expansion: March 16, 2021
- Letter to Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Requesting FHWA rescind Finding Of No Significant Impact decision: March 30, 2021
- Testimony submitted to Historic Albina Advisory Board, April 8, 2021
- Legal complaint: No More Freeways, Neighbors for Clean Air, Eliot Neighborhood Association vs US DOT / FHWA, US District Court: Filed April 2, 2021
- Testimony: No More Freeways’ opposition to HB 3055B, to Oregon Legislature, Sent June 24, 2021
- Legal complaint: Before the Land Use Board of Appeals (LUBA) No More Freeways vs ODOT and Oregon Transportation Commission, filed June 2021
- Petitioner’s Response to Motion to Dismiss for Lack of Jurisdiction: No More Freeways vs ODOT and Oregon Transportation Commission, filed June 30, 2021
- Letter to Governor Brown, demanding a veto of HB 3055: July 2, 2021
- Follow-Up Letter to Secretary Pete Buttigieg, once again requesting FHWA push ODOT to conduct a full Environmental Impact Statement: July 12, 2021
- Letter to Oregon Transportation Commission, on Hybrid 3 Design: September 7, 2021
- Letter to ODOT’s tolling program, on Comments on Regional Mobility Pricing Project draft Purpose and Need: September 29, 2021
- Letter to the Joint Policy Advisory Committee on Transportation (JPACT) on IBR, Climate Change and Electric and Autonomous Vehicles: November 15, 2021
- Letter to Federal Highway Administration, Regarding ODOT’s NEPA process for proposed I-205 expansion: December 2, 2021
- Letter to Metro Council, demanding delay on MTIP vote for allocation of funding for Interstate Bridge Replacement Project: December 9, 2021
- Letter to Portland Public Schools, supporting community-led relocation conversation for Harriet Tubman Middle School and decoupling Tubman’s future from proposed freeway expansion: February 8, 2022
- Letter to Oregon Department Of Transportation, regarding new information to be included in Environmental Re-evalutation for proposed Rose Quarter Freeway Expansion: February 17, 2022
- Letter to Washington Legislature, regarding our concerns for the proposed Interstate Bridge Replacement: March 3, 2022
- Letter to Oregon Department of Transportation, asking clarity for Categorical Exclusion of the I-205 Tolling Program and proposed freeway expansion: August 29, 2022
- Letter to Oregon Department of Transportation, asking for more information and 90-day public comment period for proposed Rose Quarter Freeway Expansion: September 13, 2022
- Letter to Federal Highway Administration, regarding concerns proposed I-5 Rose Quarter Freeway Expansion lacks “Reasonably Available” funding: March 20, 2023
- Letter to Federal Highway Administration, regarding I-205 Benefit Cost Analysis: March 21, 2023
- Letter to Oregon Department of Transportation, full comments demanding an Environmental Impact Statement on the proposed I-205 Freeway Expansion: April 18, 2023
- Letter to Oregon Legislature’s Ways and Means Committee: Opposition to House Bill 2772: April 24, 2023
- Letter to Federal Highway Administration, regarding lack of funding for proposed Rose Quarter Freeway Expansion: May 15, 2023
- Letter to Federal Highway Administration, regarding new information about lack of funding for proposed Rose Quarter Freeway Expansion: July 24, 2023
- Letter to Oregon Department of Transportation, regarding the agency’s repeated failures to meet public records or public engagement laws: November 3, 2023
- Letter to Federal Highway Administration, regarding errors in the Benefit Cost study for the Interstate Bridge Replacement’s Federal Grant Application: November 21, 2023 (Cortright supplemental testimony available here)
- Letter to Oregon Legislature’s Joint Committee On Transportation and Special Subcommittee On Transportation Planning, regarding the proposed Rose Quarter Freeway Expansion in advance of the December 2nd subcommittee hearing: November 29, 2023
- Letter to the Federal Highway Administration, regarding our support for PBOT’s application for federal funding for the N/NE Broadway Corridor and our continued demand that the feds direct ODOT to conduct an Environmental Impact Statement: December 21, 2023
- Letter to Oregon Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration, pointing out that ODOT cannot claim that tolling is not “reasonably foreseeable” after Metro’s 2023 adoption of Regional Transportation Plan and therefore the Rose Quarter Freeway Expansion Supplemental Environmental Assessment is not valid under NEPA: December 22, 2023
- Administrative Complaint: Objections to Metro Regional Transportation Plan and Regional Framework Plan Amendments – Metro Council Ordinance No 23-1496: Filed January 9, 2024.
- Letter to Federal Highway Administration, providing significant new information on suspension of Regional Mobility Pricing Project – April 8, 2024
- Letter to Federal Highway Administration, showing how cancellation of RMPP Represents Significant Challenge for Funding Rose Quarter – April 25, 2024
- Petition for Judicial Review: No More Freeways, Neighbors for Clean Air, BikeLoudPDX, Families for Safe Streets, Eliot Neighborhood Association vs ODOT – May 10, 2024
- Letter to Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Federal Department of Transportation, Opposing Oregon DOT’s receipt of INFRA grant funding as submitted: July 2, 2024
- Letter to Transportation Policy Alternatives Committee (TPAC), regarding MTIP amendments: July 10, 2024
- Letter to Federal Department of Transportation, with America Walks and 155 co-signers, encouraging INFRA Grant program to invest in projects that don’t increase highway capacity: July 24, 2024
- Petition for Judicial Review: No More Freeways, Neighbors for Clean Air, Eliot Neighborhood Association, BikeLoudPDX, Association of Oregon Rail Transit Advocates, and Oregon Families for Safe Streets vs USDOT, ODOT: August 9, 2024.
- Coalition Letter to Federal Department of Transportation, in support of Portland Bureau of Transportation’s Application for Reconnecting Communities and Neighborhoods Grant program funding for Boise/Eliot Neighborhood: September 27, 2024
- Letter from No More Freeways and America Walks in support of Reconnecting Communities and Neighborhood grants: October 29, 2024
- Letter from Just Crossing Alliance to Interstate Bridge Replacement Program, in response to the Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement: November 6 2024
Letters submitted by No More Freeways and numerous community partners to the Oregon Department of Transportation Rose Quarter Freeway Widening Public Comment period in Spring 2019 are available HERE.
Letters submitted for the Public Comment Period for the Supplemental Environmental Assessment in Winter 2022-2023 are available HERE.
Letters submitted for the Public Comment Period for the Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the proposed Interstate Bridge Replacement in fall 2024 are available on the Just Crossing Alliance website, available HERE.