New details have emerged this morning of a nascent infrastructure funding effort that aims to quench the thirst for sidewalks in east and southwest Portland.
As I shared Thursday, District 4 Councilor Mitch Green and District 1 Councilor Loretta Smith have seized on a shared interest in transportation infrastructure funding reform and a desire to deliver popular investments to create a new way to get more sidewalks built. They call it the “Sidewalk Improvement and Pavement Program” or SIPP. We’ve learned more details about the policy package in documents filed to the City Council T & I Committee website and comments made by Green on social media this morning.
According to Green, he and Smith have already solicited recommendations from Portland Bureau of Transportation staff. “From PBOT’s recommendations to Councilor Smith and me, we are considering a range of treatments in areas with constraints or opportunities where pedestrian facilities other than sidewalks are better for the context,” Green shared on Bluesky this morning in response to a post by BikePortland. “We’re generating input for this emerging policy concept for going bigger on sidewalks and paths and how we’re funding it. Potholes are included too.”
More details on the SIPP can be found in the draft resolution language posted to the T & I Committee agenda. The draft language gives us our first clues about how councilors will frame the program and what new revenue will be focused on. The SIPP, “aims to address sidewalk and pavement deficiencies, create safer pedestrian facilities, and improve roadway conditions.” Why will it focus on districts 1 and 4 only? “Of all streets lacking proper sidewalks or pedestrian access, over half of those streets are located in East Portland and Southwest Portland,” reads the draft resolution. :”Prioritizing investments in Districts 1 and 4 will ensure more equitable access to vital pedestrian pathways, enhanced climate resilience, and increased safer road conditions for all residents.”
An impact statement section of the resolution states that, “The City has deferred maintenance on our streets and sidewalks for many years – and far too long… While Portland’s central core benefits from walkable neighborhoods with good sidewalks, most streets in Districts 1 and 4 lack sidewalks entirely.”
As has already been reported by Willamette Week, funding for the SIPP could come from a variety of sources including: issuing bonds and allocating funds allocated to PBOT for sidewalk construction and improvements; federal funding from the Safe Streets for All (SS4A) program; funding from the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT); and funding from the Portland Clean Energy Community Benefits Fund (PCEF).
The resolution also lists anticipated benefits of the program. Beyond the usual like safety and environmental benefits, the councilors say new and improved sidewalks could be an engine for economic growth, job creation, and “opportunities to demonstrate the use and effectiveness of new and emerging green technologies and sustainable materials in transportation networks such as solar sidewalks and green cement.”
It’s an ambitious effort from two new councilors who say it, “will establish a system-wide effort that could serve as a model for similar construction and renovation projects across the City of Portland.”
If passed by the full council, the resolution would direct PBOT to explore the “full suite” of funding options and initiate a public engagement process that would result in a four-year project list complete with an implementation schedule and budget. In addition to the SIPP policy package, councilors Smith and Green want to pass a separate ordinance that would develop, “a jobs pipeline connecting existing internship, apprenticeship, and other training and education programs to good jobs that SIPP will create.”
A price tag for the program isn’t included in the draft resolution, but I’ve been told a starting point would be $100 million. How many miles of sidewalks that could create depends on many factors — from topography to permitting. The resolution does include a timeline: it’s expected to take about four years before it’s fully baked and sidewalks are ready to be built.
Stay tuned for Monday’s T & I Committee meeting where the SIPP will get its first hearing. You can read the resolution and submit written testimony here.
Thanks for reading.
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SW Scholls Ferry Road needs it in a joint project with Multnomah County. It has not been repaved between Highway 26 and SW Raleighwood Lane since at least the 1990s and it is a very busy road.
Is that $100 million going to fund the entire project and suite of needed improvements, or it just going to fund the concrete and expect the stormwater bureau to pick up the tab for the drainage needs? Without adding stormwater improvments, some of those project may never get done.