A slew of additional amendments to House Bill 2025 have been posted in the last 24 hours as lawmakers attempt to pass a major transportation spending package before the end of the session.
There are now a total of six amendments to the original bill. Some are very minor, while others are consequential. Yesterday I shared how lawmakers want to address an e-bike rebate program and a funding increase for the Oregon Community Paths Program — both of which were left out of the original bill.
Two new amendments seeks to address a major concern of may transportation safety advocates: a provision in the original bill that seeks to establish a minimum lane width of 12-feet on all major freight routes in Oregon.
This provision, likely inserted into the bill by a lawmaker at the behest of trucking industry advocates, would have codified into law a minimum lane width of 12 feet on “identified freight routes.” The trust deficit around this issue and ironclad, top-down rule about something as important as lane widths, raised many eyebrows. In a newsletter to her constituents in Albany and Corvallis, State Senator Sara Gelser Blouin said the impacts of the legislation would be “alarming”. Sources told BikePortland that even top planners and engineers at the Oregon Department of Transportation were opposed to the idea.
The two amendments — the “dash 13” introduced by Joint Committee on Transportation Reinvestment Co-chairs, Sen. Chris Gorsek and Rep. Susan McLain; and the “dash 15” introduced by Rep (and Joint Committee on Transportation Reinvestment member) Mark Gamba — seek a compromise: it would still call for 12-foot lane widths, but not if “safety or access considerations require otherwise.” The proposed new rule would also apply only to: newly constructed lanes, lanes that are officially designated freight routes on state highways, and lanes are located outside of an urban growth boundary.
The changes proposed in these amendments are clearly aimed at preventing the lane width provision from having a negative impact on bicycling, walking, and other road users whose safety is directly connected to crossing distances.
Gamba’s 95-page amendment (known as “dash 15” because it’s HB 2025-15) seeks many other changes to the original bill and it’s based on the same “SMART [Safe, Modern, Affordable & Accountable, Reliable Transportation] Framework” that he and a group of progressive Democrats released earlier this month.
The Joint Committee on Transportation Reinvestment held an informational meeting on HB 2025 Tuesday evening and is scheduled for a work session and possible vote Thursday (6/19). Learn more about the bill via the Oregon Legislative Information System (OLIS) or in the BP archives.
UPDATE, 12:54 pm: OPB reports that some Democrats are getting cold feet and may vote no on the bill, which would imperil its chances.
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Looks to me like both the -13 and -15 amendments would apply to new construction? HB 2025 draft version was “may not reduce the width of an existing” travel lane, proposed amendments are “may not construct a new … travel lane that is less than 12 feet.”
Either way the safety & access exceptions and limitation to routes outside of urban growth boundaries would resolve a lot of the safety concerns I have about the original draft.
Ah yes. Great catch David. I’ll edit.
The hand wringing over what comes to $5 a month in increased gas costs (1000 miles at 30 mpg) is so dishonest. Even if you drive 10,000 miles a month at 10mpg it’s still only $150. That may be a lot for some people but not the person currently spending $4,000 a month on gas driving their very inefficient vehicle a ridiculous amount.