Youth activists have one message for President Biden: No more freeways

We’ve spent a lot of time talking about how President Biden’s Infrastructure Investments and Jobs Act (IIJA) is going to impact Oregon’s transportation system. Now, as Biden is traveling to Portland this week to hype up his landmark infrastructure bill, we’ll get to hear from the man himself.

Or, I should say, the lucky few who can afford a private donor luncheon with the president will get to hear from him.

For local climate activists, Biden’s visit is an opportunity to appeal to him using their common refrain: “no more freeways.”

Willamette Week reports the president will hunker down with donors at Portland Yacht Club on the Columbia River, which would give a potential speech a backdrop of the Interstate Bridge just as its backers press for a major federal grant to replace it.

Oregon will receive about $1.2 billion in federal funding, which the Oregon Transportation Commission will direct to various projects that have a range of support from transportation and climate activists.

One element of the IIJA that Biden’s paid a lot of lip service to is fixing the country’s ailing bridges, one of which is in our own backyard. In a January speech, he gave a shout out to the Interstate Bridge Replacement Program (IBRP): the plan to replace the bridge across the Columbia River that connects Vancouver to Portland, widening I-5 in the process. While it’s unclear exactly what Biden’s Portland agenda is, it’s likely he’ll echo recent comments from Washington Senator Maria Cantwell and say nice things about the freeway expansion/bridge replacement.

That we need a new bridge across the Columbia River isn’t controversial. The contention lies in what this bridge will look like: is it going to be a freeway expansion, or can we use this replacement as a chance to amp up our multimodal transportation game and encourage more responsible auto use? Lobbying for a greener IBRP took a huge step forward last week with the formation of the Just Crossing Alliance just as the picture of the project became a bit more clear.

Local climate activists who have been fighting against the Oregon Department of Transportation’s (ODOT) planned I-5 Rose Quarter freeway expansion and the IBRP want to take this opportunity to tell the President that not just any bridge replacement will do: Portland won’t stand for freeway expansions, and he shouldn’t either.

Adah Crandall, who organizes with youth climate activist and anti-freeway group Youth vs ODOT tells BikePortland the youth climate activists want to make sure Biden knows how strong the anti-freeway movement in Portland is – and that they have their eyes on him.

“President Biden needs to demonstrate bold leadership and invest in my generation’s future, not in more freeways,” Crandall says. “If Biden is truly a climate leader, he must hold ODOT and the OTC accountable by opposing destructive projects like the Rose Quarter freeway expansion and Interstate Bridge Replacement.”

Youth vs ODOT will hold a special rally this Thursday at 4:00 pm at Harriet Tubman Middle School dedicated to getting their message across to the most powerful person in the country.

“Youth activists will make our message clear yet again: Climate leaders don’t widen freeways. Biden must choose which side he’s on – futures, or freeways. Because he cannot be on both.”