(Full size image here)
The Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) has decided on their list of recommended projects to receive just under $21 million from their Federal Flexible Funds program. Among them is the Portland Bureau of Transportation’s $2.33 million “Going to the River” project.
Back in May, we reported that this project would “transform” Swan Island access — and that was before PBOT made it even better. To give you a sense of how exciting this project is, let me share one line from PBOT’s grant application:
“Once complete, the Going to the River project will provide a seamless route on Going St. from NE 72nd Ave all the way to the Willamette River.”
Sounds great right? But wait, there’s more. Here are the other elements (taken from PBOT grant, which you can download here (PDF)):
- Expanding Portland’s bicycle network 2.8 miles by extending the Going St. Neighborhood Greenway from N. Vancouver Ave to N. Interstate Ave, and on N. Michigan from N. Fremont to N. Rosa Parks Way.
- Planning for and building a twelve-foot wide shared-use path from N. Interstate Ave to N. Greeley Avenue on the north side of Going St.
- Completing trail work on N. Ballast St., a portion of the Willamette Greenway Trail between N. Channel and Lagoon Avenues, providing a multi-modal connection to Daimler Trucks North America.
- Building a sidewalk extension of Willamette Greenway Trail at N. Channel Ave. to Shipyard Commerce Center.
- Completing sidewalk gap on N. Basin Ave. and Willamette Greenway Trail from N. Lagoon and N. Ballast to the Waud Bluff Trail at the north end of Basin Ave.
- Aggressive and expanded TDM programming to residents and businesses in North and Northeast Portland (including Swan Island employers) promoting and encouraging use of the new facilities.
(Photo © J. Maus)
Making this project even better is a traffic modeling analysis from PBOT that showed a reduction of 22,000 vehicle miles traveled (VMT) and a reduction of 11 tons of greenhouse gas emissions per day once the project is fully built. That equates to about 456,000 gallons of gas saved every year (and $1.4 million in saved money that stays in our local economy).
major employer on Swan Island; and they’ve
got a growing biking culture.
(Photo © J. Maus)
Swan Island is home to 10,000 employees — all of whom will be much more likely to try bicycling if accessible facilities existed.
This project enjoys broad support from the community, including Vigor Industrial, the Multnomah County Health Department, the Swan Island Business Association, and others.
In total, the ODOT sifted through 115 applications for over $83 million before whittling the list down to 28 projects. The funds are part of a newly created Federal Flexible Funds Program that ODOT set aside solely for transit, biking, walking, and transportation demand management projects.
From here, the list of recommended projects goes to the Oregon Transportation Commission (OTC) where it requires final approval. There’s a public hearing on the projects slated for January 19th and the OTC will make their final approval of the list at their February meeting. If this project gets the green light, construction could start in September of this year and PBOT estimates it could be completed by May 2012.
Stay tuned. This will definitely be something to celebrate once it’s 100% official.