Matt Garrett, Director of ODOT.
(Photo © J. Maus)

Last month, we wondered whether Governor Kitzhaber would make a personnel change at the most powerful position inside the Oregon Department of Transportation. This week the Governor announced a slew of changes atop various agencies — but ODOT wasn't one of them. Read the email below that was sent from ODOT Director Matt Garrett to his employees about the news...

"I wanted you to know that I have received notice from Governor Kitzhaber that I will remain as director of ODOT.

As I told Governor Kitzhaber, I have been extremely proud to have led this organization for the past five years. I illustrated for him what you have accomplished in administrative efficiency, customer service and project/program delivery. You have a well-earned reputation for delivering huge programs like OTIA and the multimodal investment of ConnectOregon on time and on budget. Our work is very important because it affects thousands of Oregonians across the state every day. Your reputation and performance have favored me in this decision.

I thank Governor Kitzhaber for his trust and confidence in me and in us. Together we will accomplish much more. I appreciate what you do every day."

Some interesting items on the agenda for a rare local meeting of Oregon's official Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee (they usually meet in Salem)...

Bike/Ped Advisory Committee to meet Feb. 2 in Portland

SALEM – The Oregon Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee will meet Wed., Feb. 2 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Oregon Department of Transportation Region 1 Headquarters, 123 NW Flanders Ave. in Portland. Agenda items include discussions on greenhouse gas emission reductions, flexible federal funds and TriMet bridge naming, among other items.

All Bicycle/Pedestrian Advisory Committee meetings are open to the public. Accommodations will be provided to persons with disabilities. To request an accommodation, please call ODOT’s Bicycle/Pedestrian Program office at (503) 986-3555 (TTY: (503) 986-3854).

Governor Kitzhaber at his
acceptance speech back in
November.
(Photos © J. Maus)

Oregon's newly elected Governor John Kitzhaber has made a many staff appointments in his first month in office. He's named people to help him develop policy on issues like energy policy, business development, job creation, health care, affirmative action, and other issues. But there's one issue where Kitzhaber has been glaringly silent — transportation.

And, while our state faces much more serious issues, there's not shortage of action around transportation right now.

In the 2009 legislative session, former Governor Kulongoski passed the Jobs and Transportation Act that included over $800 million in earmarks for road projects across the state (some of which are already moving forward). ODOT — whose 2007-2009 budget was about $3.4 billion — received federal stimulus funding for over 200 projects — with about 100 of them completed and 40 still under construction. (more...)

ODOT's Sunrise Project comes with
some big-ticket bikeway infrastructure,
but it would also remove 23 acres of
wetlands, among other impacts.
(Photo: ODOT)

The Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) has completed the environmental impact statement (EIS) and opened up the comment period on their Sunrise Project, which is one of two phases of their Sunrise Corridor project.

The full build-out of the Sunrise Project will be a six-eight lane highway from I-205 stretching east over five miles along the Highway 212/224 corridor to the Rock Creek Junction. ODOT needs about $1.5 billion for the full build-out, but they don't have nearly enough funding at this time. They do however, have $130 million, which allows them to get started on a package of "improvements" right away. (more...)

Detail from one of four concepts to widen I-5 near the Broadway/Weidler interchange taken from the I-­5: I-­84 to I-­405 Design Workshop Concept Report prepared for ODOT. For context, the buildings in the upper left are the parking garages for the Rose Garden Arena. Yellow lines are newly widened freeways, orange lines show changes to local streets, purple outlines show buildings that might be displaced and x's show streets that would be removed.

(more...)

ODOT Traffic Safety Division
Manager Troy Costales.

Troy Costales is the Traffic Safety Division Manager for the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT). In that position, he oversees about $28 million per year in a variety of programs to decrease the amount of fatal and injury crashes on Oregon roads. Costales was also on the committee put together by the Transportation Research Board to find out why the United States continues to lag behind other countries when it comes to saving lives. The TRB issued a report on their findings last week.

With recent national attention on road safety and with last week's launch of a new safety campaign for high-speed roads (many of them under the jurisdiction of ODOT), I've been taking a closer look at ODOT's traffic safety efforts. As part of my research, I did a phone interview with Costales last Thursday. Read parts of that conversation below... (more...)

Design drawing of Springwater Trail Spur
in Gresham. UTF-funded portion is in
green. Blue lines are Powell Blvd
(top) and Springwater Trail (bottom).

The Oregon Department of Transportation is likely to confirm Wednesday the first three projects to be funded through their new Urban Trail Fund (UTF) program. The UTF was established as part of the Jobs and Transportation Act (HB 2001) that passed the state legislature in 2009. There were $970,000 dollars available in the fund this year.

The following three projects have been recommended for funding by the Oregon Transportation Commission, a governor-appointed body that advises ODOT:

$300,000 - Springwater Trail Spur (Gresham)
The grant will fund an informational trail kiosk and 250 linear feet of an off-street trail that will eventually connect E Powell Blvd with the Springwater Corridor Trail through Main City Park in Gresham (total trail is 900 feet). According to Gresham's grant application, the trail will be 17-feet wide and will be constructed this fall.
(more...)

In their ongoing effort to make the biking and walking path adjacent to I-205 into a "world class facility," the Oregon Department of Transportation has just announced the "Equity Bike Ride" to show off what they've done and what's planned for the future.

Shelli Romero, ODOT's Public Policy & Community Affairs Manager, has been doing a lot of biking this summer and says she has "become passionate" about it. In an email announcing the ride, Romero notes that she has also "thought a lot about how bicycling and the issues of equity and creating/building and supporting communities intersect." (more...)

While standing on SE Hawthorne Blvd last night I looked up and saw an ad on the side of a TriMet bus that caught my eye...

(Photo © J. Maus)

(more...)

Gail Achterman at the 2008
Oregon Bike Summit.
(Photo © J. Maus)

The Oregon Transportation Commission is like the Jedi Council when it comes to setting statewide transportation policy. Its members are appointed by the governor and they have tremendous influence over funding, setting direction and priorities, and a host of other decisions that have a direct impact on our state's transportation system.

With Oregon on an exciting biking trajectory, it occurred to me that all our momentum could be stifled if ODOT (whom the OTC sets policy direction for) is not ready to handle it.

In other words, imagine a funnel with all the projects, programs and great ideas for biking at the top, and a very small hole on the bottom. The hole is ODOT. (more...)

People riding on the
Eastbank Esplanade.
(Photo © J. Maus)

The Urban Trail Fund, a new grant program that was included in the state transportation bill (HB 2001) passed in 2009, will officially open for applications today.

ODOT will award $970,000 this year to a maximum of four projects. Only one application is allowed per city and projects must be within the Urban Growth Boundary. According to the bill language the money must go to projects that: (more...)

ODOT's Betsy Imholt.
(Photo: Daniel Ronan)

The Obama Administration recently green-lighted money for development of a rail corridor between Eugene and Portland and the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) is hosting a series of open houses to discuss the project.

I recently spoke with ODOT's rail program study director Betsy Imholt and attended the open house in Eugene yesterday to learn more about how bikes might (or might not) fit into ODOT's passenger rail plans. (more...)

Detail of latest Oregon State Bike Map, now available online!

(more...)

Studded tires cause $50-60 million
in road damage across the state
each year -- like these ruts on
N. Rosa Parks Way in Portland.
(Photo © J. Maus)

With a lack of funding for transportation projects such a major issue in this town, it's not surprising that some activists are taking a serious look at studded tires. Why? According to the Oregon Department of Transportation, studded tires cause an estimated $50-60 million a year in road damage and ODOT spends $11 million a year fixing it.

Citizen activist Jeff Bernards has been trying to raise awareness of this issue for five years and says, despite contacting Governor Kulongoski's office and PBOT and ODOT officials, he's gotten "nowhere." Now, Bernards wants to pursue a ballot initiative to ban studded tires. He explained his interest in this issue in a recent email: (more...)

View of NE 82nd showing walkers and new barrier wall.
(Photo: Elly Blue/Flickr)

On Wednesday, we brought you news of the first "communique" from newly formed activist group The People's Department of Transportation (PDOT). Their video featured on-the-street interviews and commentary that was critical of a new wall erected by the Oregon Department of Transportation in the middle of NE 82nd street.
(more...)

ODOT grant will boost City's efforts
to tame dangerous roads.
(Photo © J. Maus)

The City of Portland Bureau of Transportation has received a $98,000 grant from the Oregon Department of Transportation that will go toward development of plans and processes to tame dangerous traffic corridors citywide.

According to PBOT traffic safety specialist Sharon White, the money is part of a new, three-year initiative that will focus on "high-crash corridors." City Council formally accepted the grant at their meeting on Wednesday.
(more...)

New funds will install crosswalks and other improvements.
(Photo © J. Maus)

The Portland Bureau of Transportation has just announced that their Safe Routes to School program has received a $495,000 grant from the Oregon Department of Transportation to build engineering improvements at seven local elementary and K-8 schools.

In a press release, PBOT Safe Routes program coordinator Gabe Graff said:

“We are excited and proud to have been selected for this funding... By bringing in this funding, Portland’s Safe Routes to School program will help make walking and biking a more realistic, safer option."

(more...)

A sign of things to come?

Will a new LEED-like road certification program help the Oregon Department of Transportation do more for biking and walking access?

According to the Daily Journal of Commerce, the ODOT is considering whether they should adopt The Greenroads Sustainability Performance Metric. Greenroads is a joint effort by the University of Washington and CH2M HILL, a large project consulting firm with offices in Portland and around the world.

According to the Greenroads website, the program gives points to road projects (new and rehab) and then gives them a rating from honorable mention to "Evergreen."

(more...)

ODOT wants input on transportation safety.
(Photo © J. Maus)

The Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) has announced two meetings where they will solicit public input on their Transportation Safety Action Plan.

Last updated in 2004, that safety plan is an important part of the Oregon Transportation Plan and it guides ODOT's safety budget. Anyone with ideas and feedback about how ODOT can improve their safety programs is encouraged to attend. The City of Portland's top traffic safety staffer, Mark Lear says these meetings are the best place to tell ODOT what you feel is important. Lear adds that PBOT "wants a strategy based on improving safety for all modes" and that he's most concerned about speed and alcohol related crashes. (more...)

Some Portlanders will resort to
anything to slow people down.
(Photos © J. Maus)

Excessive speed. It's a killer and it's on the loose on streets throughout Portland.

It's a problem and there are many ways to combat it. One of those is to reduce speed limits. But, as you'll find out below, that's far easier said than done.

Currently the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) holds the power to set speed limits in our state. Even on local roads, where they don't have jurisdiction in terms of maintenance or engineering, all speed change requests must go through ODOT. This process is a thorn in the side of our local Bureau of Transportation.
(more...)