A 24-acre natural area in east Portland next to bike paths, arterial roads, and transit access is poised to receive a $2.6 million investment for new trails and visitor amenities.
On Tuesday, Portland Parks & Recreation announced that Commissioner Dan Ryan has opted to inject an additional $560,000 in system development charges (SDCs) into Kelly Butte Natural Area, topping off the project budget and “ensuring its financial stability.”
Ryan sees the heavily wooded parcel in the Powellhurst-Gilbert neighborhood — nestled between I-205, Division and SE Powell — as a way to provide outdoor recreation access for east Portlanders. The big question on our minds is whether or not the city will create quality access for people on bicycles.
At this point the project will begin with development of a management plan that will lay out where trails might be built in the future. “Potential amenities, which will be determined through community engagement and design efforts,” reads the PP&R statement, “may include new trails, signage, and parking.”
Open Street Map Cycle layer with RideWithGPS heatmap overlay.
Riders say Kelly Butte is currently a very unpolished gem that would take a lot of work before it was appealing for a wide range of bicycle riders. The area is nearly undeveloped and only has a few rudimentary unpaved trails and one very steep climb.
“It would be awesome if we could get access from the Powell side and the Division side,” said nearby resident and frequent bike rider Jordan Norris. “It would be cool to do an up-and-over.”
Portlander Michael Mann told BikePortland he’s ridden them and they are, “rough and brushy.” “Homeless camps randomly appear here and there, but the potential is definitely there for some sweet riding and easy access in a part of town that could really use this kind of stuff.”
Ryan Francesconi, one of the founders of Our Mother Mountain, a riding club that focuses on unpaved routes and gravel riding, said Kelly Butte has “a lot of potential.” “We’ve been riding there for a long time, but it’s actually not that good, so I rarely bother.” Francesconi said existing trails are “meh.”
For Francesconi, the most interesting part is that Kelly Butte used to be a nuclear bunker. The site was immortalized in a 1957, Cold War-era film titled, “A Day Called X.” The film was set in Portland and recreates disaster from a nuclear bomb. It reveals the park’s history as a sixty-bed municipal hospital that isolated patients with infectious diseases.
Norris said you can still see parts of the bunker if you know where to look.
In the coming months, PP&R will start a community engagement process with opportunities to share feedback about the design, dreams, and goals for the site.
With memories of a rug being pulled from under them at Forest Park, River View, and most recently Rose City parks — local off-road cycling lovers are conditioned for disappointment from PP&R; but Mann won’t let past experiences prevent him from staying engaged this time around. “I’m choosing to see this as a positive. It might not be MTB Nirvana,” he said, “but it’s almost certain to be an improvement.”
Stay tuned for updates as the outreach process begins.
In this still from a video released by PPB, a man is seen shooting three rounds into an automated enforcement camera on SE Washington just east of 103rd.
A Portland driver has unlocked a new level of rage. In several acts of what the Portland Police Bureau are referring to as “gunfire vandalism,” someone is driving around and shooting at automated enforcement cameras.
In a statement Thursday, the PPB said the suspect has fired a handgun at “city equipment” at least seven times and caused hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage. While they didn’t mention what type of city equipment is being targeted, it’s very obvious what’s going on based on a video released by PPB in an effort to track down the shooter.
In a PPB video from May 27th around 5:10 am, a man is shown driving a black Subaru WRX eastbound on SE Washington through the intersection of 103rd. When he see the traffic camera just east of the southeast corner, he hits the brakes, swerves over and parks in the bike lane, hops out, draws his weapon, aims it high, fires off three shots, then runs back to his car and drives away.
There’s a Portland Bureau of Transportation “intersection safety camera” at that exact spot. The camera snaps photos and sends citations in the mail to folks who run the light and/or speed. It was installed within the last year and is one of 27 automated enforcement cameras currently operated by PBOT (with more on the way). The agency sees the cameras as a vital part of their Vision Zero effort that has zeroed in on speed as a main culprit of traffic deaths and injuries.
The camera that was shot at, as seen in an October 2023 Google image.
It’s a setback for a program that was beset by delays for years due to what city officials said were delays in procurement and problems with the vendor. It was only last fall when the logjam broke and a flood of new cameras were able to hit the streets. PBOT chooses camera locations based on crash history and law requires them to only be used on streets with an above average rate of collisions.
Most of the revenue from the citations (around 70%) goes to the State of Oregon. Of the money that does come to the City of Portland, most of it goes back into maintaining and operating the system. Anything left over is dedicated to safety projects on high crash corridors. Some violators are given an option to attend a safety class in lieu of payment.
When I shared a video about this on Instagram this morning, several commenters expressed concern about stray bullets. Others cheered the shooter, calling him a “hero.” “Why are we mad about this? These cameras suck,” someone wrote. This situation reflects an erosion of norms since the pandemic that has resulted in more reckless driving and wanton disregard among some drivers for courteous vehicle operation and compliance with traffic laws.
PPB are asking anyone with information about the suspect to email crimetips@police.portlandoregon.gov and put “Property Crimes Unit case number 24-134019” in the subject line.
— Learn more about PBOT’s enforcement camera program here.
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“When I hear talk about ‘no more highways,’ what you’re really saying is ‘no more Black people’.”
– James Posey, NAACP Portland chapter president
If you missed Tuesday’s big public hearing on the 2025 transportation bill and you don’t want to wade through the two-hour recording on the Oregon Legislative Information Service (OLIS) website, sit back and check out this video. I’ve put together an album of the greatest hits to give you a solid sense of what members of the Joint Committee on Transportation heard from Portlanders.
I didn’t include everyone and I did a lot of editing to only include what I felt was most salient/interesting/relevant (and yes it was totally subjective!).
I shared a broad diversity of opinions and people who I feel shared particularly notable words.
You’ll hear from a trucking business owner who want lawmakers to fully fund and complete the freeway widening portion of the I-5 Rose Quarter project. You’ll hear a few requests for a downtown MAX tunnel under the Willamette. You’ll hear legendary citizen activist Terry Parker make his infamous argument that bicycles should pay more to use the roads. You’ll hear from climate activists representing Extinction Rebellion and Sunrise PDX. You’ll hear from a bike advocate who help up a sign with the word “BIKE” on it for his entire two minutes.
The scene inside the hearing. After the first photo was taken, organizers told many people to leave the room and watch off-site due to fire code concerns. (Photos: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)
Some of the folks in the video who you might know include: northeast Portland environmental activist David Sweet, 18-year-old climate activist Adah Crandall, Portland City Council District 4 candidate Mitch Green, BikeLoud PDX board member Aaron Kuehn, Metro Councilor Christine Lewis, Portland Bridge Book Author Sharon Wood Wortman, Sarah Risser from Families for Safe Streets, No More Freeways Co-founder Chris Smith, and OPAL Bus Riders Unite Community Organizer Abby Griffith.
Another highlight worth watching is testimony (at the 5:00 minute mark) from James Posey, president of the Portland chapter of NAACP. Posey is a member of the I-5 Rose Quarter project’s History Albina Advisory Board (HAAB), the group ODOT assembled in 2020 to represent the Black community displaced by the freeway’s original construction and to help the agency reach its restorative and racial justice goals. Since the project won a $450 million federal grant back in March, Posey has become outspoken with his demands that Black people benefit financially from the vast influx of funding for the project.
Posey has also shared resentment about what he sees as white, anti-freeway activists who stand in the way of hundreds of construction jobs and millions of dollars for Black people in his community. At a March 12th HAAB meeting, Posey said, “[No More Freeways co-founder] Joe Cortright’s on here talking about ecological stuff. And I’m with some other people who say, ‘Where was he when they was building all this stuff and they took all this money and gentrified our community?'”
During his testimony Tuesday, Posey continued that framing of his concerns and added, “When I hear talk about ‘no more highways,’ what you’re really saying is ‘no more Black people’.” That comment garnered widespread attention when I shared it on X Tuesday.
It also elicited a response from Portlander Josiah Kelly (at 15:35), who grew up in the Albina area. “I would like to voice my opposition, specifically as a member of the African-American community,” Kelly said. “Given the historical context of the fact that many hundreds of African-Americans have been displaced by the construction of I-5,” he continued, and then said, in direct response to Posey, “So in essence it’s, more freeways, no more Black people.”
Unfortunately there were a lot more people signed up to testify that didn’t get an opportunity to speak. State Senator and JCT Co-Chair Chris Gorsek ended the hearing promptly at 7:00 pm, even though ODOT staff used up 30 minutes at the beginning of the hearing to share a presentation and video. Hopefully JCT members still read the many pieces of public testimony that have been submitted to OLIS.
Nomad Cycles PDX
5820 NE Sandy, Portland, OR 97213
503-806-1745
Service and Repair Specialist (E-Bike Mechanic) – (TEMPORARY Through September – Opportunity for permanent/full-time in the fall)
Summary:
We offer bicycle electric assist solutions for everyone in hopes of revolutionizing the way people think about transportation. Electric assist doesn’t see race, age, or gender, making it a human scale solution for a global transformation. In the ever-changing landscape of cycling, electric assist is the wave of opportunity we’ve all been waiting for, as we strive to create a healthier and more sustainable world.
Nomad Cycles strength is found in the individuals and businesses we serve. Our goal is to provide customer service that exceeds expectations, putting the needs of our customers first and carrying only quality products. We work to fulfill the personal and professional goals of anyone who chooses to electrify their ride.
One size doesn’t fit all and we strive to provide solutions for individuals. We offer a variety of electric assist options and strive to sustainably and locally source as many of our components as possible. We believe in supporting the local economy and doing business with real people.
To learn more about what we do, check out our website!
Qualifications:
A kind person with a desire to help people in our community.
Comfortable engaging with customers to ensure a welcoming environment for all.
Knowledgeable and passionate about bicycles and cycling culture, specifically electric bikes.
Prioritize teamwork.
Be self-motivated to deliver quality work.
Desire to continuously improve service and product knowledge.
Excellent attention to detail.
Minimum 1 year experience with working on bicycles, preferably e-bikes or other relevant experience.
Ability to successfully service e-bikes, document all repairs, and keep track of all parts ordered and used.
Effective time management skills.
Ability to manage multiple assignments and meet deadlines.
Effective communication skills, both verbal and written.
Proficiency in common technological business tools such as smartphones and apps.
Ability to utilize POS systems.
Must have the ability to bend, stoop and stand for long periods of time.
Must be able to lift 75 pounds.
Preferred Qualifications
Experience with Lightspeed Retail is a plus
ASL proficiency is a plus
Responsibilities:
Creating a warm and welcoming environment for all individuals to elevate the guest experience and exceed expectations through creative and efficient problem-solving.
Assisting customers by answering phone calls and responding to voicemails.
Responding to email inquiries and/or directing inquiries to the appropriate staff member.
Scheduling conversion and repair jobs based on availability and complexity of task.
Updating customers on status of service or repair.
Purchasing parts for a wide variety of projects.
Assess and quote repair work as it comes in the door and then perform work as workflow dictates.
Complete all service work to our quality standard and meet the repair timeframe for the customer.
Maintain a clean and safe work area.
Vendor relationship building and management.
Customer relationship building and management.
Learn, understand, and evolve with dynamic store IT systems, programs, and operational procedures.
Product inventory.
Pay and Schedule:
Pay is $25.00 per hour to start.
This is a part-time, (3-4, 8-hour days a week) contract position, with opportunity to move to full-time in the fall with increased wage.
Schedule is flexible within service hours (Tuesday through Saturday, 10am – 6pm).
How to Apply
Please email brad@nomadcyclespdx.com with your resume and cover letter.
A rebate could help more Portlanders get on the e-assist bandwagon. (Photo: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)
In September 2023, when Portland City Council voted to approve the five-year, $750 million Portland Clean Energy Community Benefits Fund Climate Investment Plan, they also gave a green light to using $20 million of those funds to implement an electric bike rebate program.
The rebate program lives in a part of the CIP known as Strategic Program 6: Comprehensive E-bike Access and Support (SP 6). In the past year, staff from the Portland Bureau of Planning and Sustainability have been building the framework for how the program will work and now we’ve finally got news of an important update.
On June 26th, Portland City Council will host the first hearing for the e-bike program. According to BPS PCEF Transportation Decarbonization Program Lead Seetha Ream-Rao, they’ll bring an outline of the program scope to council in order to release a Request for Proposal (RFP) from organizations who might administer it.
E-bike rebate programs have proven to be extremely popular across the U.S. Just yesterday, when the State of Minnesota launch their new program — that gives qualifying individuals up to $1,500 and is funded with $2 million a year for two years — the website that handles requests crashed due to a technical issue. It is widely believed that intense demand overwhelmed the server.
In addition to the e-bike rebate program, the PCEF CIP includes over $80 million for bikes and climate-friendly transportation. Learn more in the stories below or in the BikePortland archives.
A look inside the Cielo workshop in 2013. The brand was shut down by parent company Chris King Precision Components in 2017. (Photos: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)
Portland Congressman Earl Blumenauer wants to incentive a more robust bicycle industry. Today his office introduced the Domestic Bicycle Production Act to “reinvigorate bike manufacturing in the United States.”
Rep. Blumenauer, considered the biggest bicycling champion on Capitol Hill is founder of the Congressional Bike Caucus and ranking member of the Ways and Means Subcommittee on Trade. In a statement today, Blumenauer said, “Domestic manufacturing is the missing piece of the bike revolution. My legislation would give bike manufacturers the foothold they need to establish a thriving industry here in the United States.”
The move is inspired in part by a recent policy decision by the Biden Administration that will increase the price of bikes. A tariff exception on Chinese-made goods will expire next week and will result in a 25% tax on many products, including e-bike batteries and some kids bikes.
Here’s what the legislation would do:
Institute a 10-year tariff suspension on imports of bicycle components (i.e. electric motors, frames, wheel rims, hubs, brakes, saddles, pedals, gears, etc.) to incentivize bicycle assembly operations in the United States.
Create a transferrable electric bicycle production tax credit for bicycles manufactured in the United States to encourage companies to utilize domestic manufacturing.
Establish a U.S. Bicycle and E-Bicycle Manufacturing Initiative to make low-interest, 12-year loans to purchase capital equipment toward establishing or increasing capacity of domestic bicycle manufacturing facilities.
A one-pager prepared by Blumenauer’s office said the lack of domestic bicycle manufacturing is an illustration of “America’s industrial decline” since the 1970s when brands like Schwinn, Murray and Huffy drove a major renaissance for cycling in the U.S. The U.S. currently imports 97.8% of its bicycles, that’s down from the mid-70s when upwards of 10 million bikes were made here.
Blumenauer at his retirement announcement in October 2023.
“The bicycle market is one of the most overwhelmingly dominated import markets of all U.S. consumer goods. More than three-quarters of those imports are from China,” Blumenauer says. His office points to a bicycle making renaissance in Europe where production has gone up nearly 30% in the past decade thanks to a combination of trade policies and investment in manufacturing facilities. Blumenauer thinks there is a similar opportunity in the U.S.
Portland has been down this road before. Back in 2008, when Portland was the epicenter of a national renaissance in handmade bikes, our “bicycle industrial complex” was featured on the cover of Oregon Business magazine. With several high-volume bicycle makers in the region we seriously pondered whether a U.S. city like Portland could become a significant manufacturing hub. Since then, our local bike industry has become a shadow of its former self and the industry more broadly is suffering from a slowdown in demand and over-supply from the Covid bike boom.
Last fall, when Blumenauer announced he would not seek re-election, he said he’ll have more free time to pursue passion projects and has hinted since that he’ll lean into bicycle advocacy as a civilian. Helping reinvigorate America’s bike manufacturing heritage would be a fitting feather in Blumenauer’s cap. As the top House Democrat on trade, Blumenauer says he’s in position to frame this legislation as part of, “a pro-labor agenda that raises global environmental standards while leveling the playing field for American workers.”
There’s a beautiful road around Hagg Lake that’s calling you. Let the Cycle Cats lead you there Sunday. (Photo: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)
The weekend is right around the corner and here are a few suggestions for what to do with it.
But first, a big “Thank you!” to this week’s Event Guide sponsor, the 2024 Pacific Trike Fest coming to Portland on June 15th. This event is a great opportunity to learn more about three-wheeled trikes with test rides of high-quality models and advice and tips from friendly experts. Tickets and info here.
One quick note: with Bike Summer in full swing you’ll want to check the official calendar for all the options.
All Weekend
Ride the Dirt Wave – Klootchy Creek (Clatsop County Forest) Great trails, great support, and great people to enjoy it all with. Discover the fun trail system at Klootchy Creek with guided rides, a timed race event, food, drinks, music, and more. More info here.
Saturday, June 8th
Pioneer Century – 7:00 am in Canby (Clackamas County) Head out for a day in the saddle and enjoy a fully-supported ride and a route that will leave you breathless for its views and challenges. Organized by Portland Bicycling Club. More info here.
Heights Bike Garden Grand Opening – 10:00 am to 1:00 pm in Vancouver (WA) The huge and cool new traffic garden where kids can learn rules of the road in a carfree environment opens up just across the river. Check the BP story before you go. More info here.
Full Access with BCMS – 12:30 at Bridge City Montessori School (SE) This ride is sponsored by a club for deaf students at this school and led by the wonderful Chris Balduc. All rides will feature communication in spoken English and American Sign Language. More info here.
The Chocolate Ride – 3:00 pm at Ladds Circle Park (SE) Visit local chocolate shops with fellow cocoa cravers on this Willy Wonka-inspired ride. More info here.
Inner Eastside for All Ride – 4:00 pm at Tropicale on Glisan (NE) Bike and housing advocates will come together to learn and share knowledge about a campaign led by Portland Neighbors Welcome that seeks to encourage more housing types in inner southeast Portland. More info here.
Sunday, June 9th
Cargo-palooza Ep. 1 “To the Bins!” – 8:00 am at Splendid Cycles (SE) For all you cargo bike lovers, this is your call to represent and roll-out together to show off your stuff-hauling prowess. More info here.
Kiddo Rainbow Unicorn Ride – 9:30 am at Cook Family Park in Tigard (West Side) A flat, short ride that ends at an awesome newly renovated park that’s led by a 5-year-old who loves rainbows and unicorns. What’s not to love?! More info here.
Cycle Cats Do Hagg Lake – 10:00 am at Beaverton Public Library (West Side) This sounds like so much fun. Join a fun-loving group of serious pedalers for a 65-mile ride around the lake. Pack for the day and bring a sense of adventure. More info here.
Dog Gear Ride – 1:00 pm at Good Dog PDX (SE) Do you want tips on great products to help you carry your furry friend on your bike? Or just hang with other dog-carry-ers? Need advice on how to make your pooch comfy while you pedal? This is the ride for you. More info here.
— Did I miss your event? Please let me know by filling out our contact form, or just email me at maus.jonathan@gmail.com.
The milk processing building on the Alpenrose site. (Photo: Lisa Caballero/BikePortland)
By the time most people know what’s going on, the decisions have largely been made. At least that’s how things often go.
It applies to a lot of situations, but I happen to be thinking of development and land use, specifically the proposed housing project on the site of the 51-acre former Alpenrose Dairy, in the Hayhurst neighborhood of southwest Portland.
When BikePortland last wrote about Alpenrose a few months ago, preliminary plans for the site had just been made public, and word was out that the developer was about to initiate the Public Works Alternative Review (PWAR) process. What’s the PWAR? It might seem a bit in-the-weeds, but it’s also a key step in whether or not this development will have good bicycling and walking facilities. And just this week, the City of Portland made a decision that bodes well for those facilities.
Public Works Alternative Review decision
Alpenrose site on Portland Maps.
The news is that the City of Portland Public Works permitting group has released a decision in response to the developer’s request to submit frontage plans (sidewalks, bike lanes and trails) that differ from the “full standard frontage improvements” usually required by the city.
Lost yet? Briefly, new development is required by city ordinance to build improvements along all the places where the property abuts the right-of-way — the frontages. In some locations, however, the right-of-way is not wide enough, or there are topological constraints, making it difficult or overly expensive to fulfill the city’s frontage requirements. In these cases, the developer can request to build an alternative to the standard, and this request initiates the Public Works Alternative Review process.
That may seem like more than you want to know, but those frontage decisions are what determine whether you will have a safe place to walk or ride a bicycle.
What happened this week is that the city has written a positive decision in response to the developer’s proposed frontage requests, including the multi-use path on the west side of Shattuck Rd. And although I’ve been focused on plans for Shattuck, the decision also mentioned the Red Electric Trail to the north, and changes on Vermont St. That’s a big deal, often sidewalks and bike lanes die in alternative review. But, so far, it looks like the area immediately surrounding the property will be well-served by new facilities.
Here’s what the PWAR decision form says about the Red Electric Trail:
“Given the slopes, the presence of mature protected natural resources, and the proposal to build the Red Electric Trail as a through pedestrian and bicycle connection, the committee supports the applicant’s proposal. Building the paved public trail through the site instead of building disconnected improvements at the existing right of way grade will greatly reduce impacts to natural resources while providing a substantial public benefit for the city’s priority modes of walking and cycling.”
The decision has come with conditions. It is an approval of concepts, not of specific engineering, and further details will need to be worked out. But at this stage of the process, this is a good outcome for the bike lanes, sidewalks and paths which will border the property. That doesn’t mean everybody, or even most people, are going to be happy. Neighbors are very concerned about car traffic impacts, not only in the immediate vicinity, but further north at the intersections of SW Shattuck and Oleson with Beaverton-Hillsdale Highway (BHH). And even though the frontages of the site will have new facilities, those sidewalks and bike lanes will not continue past the boundary of the property. That means that the nice new multi-use path on Shattuck will end long before the road reaches BHH to the north.
We will cover more about neighborhood reactions (which are predominantly about traffic, but also concern the design of the subdivision) after a “Community Conversation” meeting later this month.
If you want to dive deeper into this important project, two community groups have been doing an outstanding job of tracking the planning process and keeping the public informed, the Hayhurst Neighborhood Association and the Friends of Alpenrose (FoA). To the extent that they are well-informed, neighbors can thank these volunteers. Friends of Alpenrose will be hosting a “Community Conversation about Transportation in Southwest Portland,” on June 24. Metro Councilor Duncan Hwang and State Representative Dacia Grayber will lead the conversation, with other regional and city officials present, and they will “talk about how the transportation planning process works.”
Being informed about what’s happening is much, much better than wandering down the road and wondering what the bulldozers are all about. For current information on how things are moving along, the Friends of Alpenrose provides timely updates. The City of Portland also regularly uploads permitting and other information which you can access through Portland Maps.
We’re keeping a close eye on this project as it moves along the process. Stay tuned.
Oregon Transportation Commission Chair Julie Brown (middle) with Oregon House Representative and Joint Committee on Transportation Co-Chair Susan McClain walk in downtown Portland yesterday. Behind them is OTC Vice-Chair and former JCT Co-Chair Lee Beyer and State Senator Kathleen Taylor. (Photos: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)
Yesterday was a big day for transportation in the Portland region. The Oregon Legislature’s Joint Committee on Transportation (JCT) came to town for the first stop on a 13 city, statewide tour to garner feedback on what’s expected to be a multi-billion dollar funding package in the 2025 legislative session.
Over the course of seven hours, an impressive assemblage of state lawmakers and agency leaders took a bus tour of Portland, participated in a two-hour roundtable discussion, and held a public hearing. The bus tour and roundtable were invite-only affairs and there was no livestream or official recording available to the public.
I took part in all three events (you can read my live updates on X if you’d like) and learned perspectives from across the political spectrum and got a good sense of the contours of the debate at the outset of this important process. The day was full unsurprising, disappointing and hopeful statements, relatively bold commitments from elected leaders, lines lightly drawn in the sand, emotional testimonies, and more. I’ll share more about the public hearing and public testimony in a separate post, but for now I want to focus on what I learned on the bus tour and roundtable discussion (which I recorded and might turn into a podcast soon).
Get comfortable and scroll down….
Clackamas County Commissioner and Chair of ODOT Region 1 Area Commission on Transportation Paul Savas (L) and Oregon Senator and Joint Committee on Transportation Co-Vice Chair Chris Gorsek on the bus tour.ODOT Region 1 Director Rian Windsheimer talking about the N Lombard Project.
Coming into these conversations, everyone wanted to know how ODOT is going to raise new revenue for transportation. We can debate why their finances are in such bad shape, but there’s no denying the fact that the agency (like many transportation departments) is in a hole that grows deeper by the year. The culprits are declining gas tax revenue, paying for commitments to expensive freeway expansion megaprojects, and soaring inflation.
ODOT says they have a $1.8 billion annual funding gap. And that’s just to pay for services and basic system investments. When they add three other projects they claim the legislature committed to in 2017 — the I-5 Rose Quarter Project and two phases of an expansion of I-205 (including a new Abernethy Bridge near Oregon City) — they add another $2.6 billion to the gap.
This funding hole is part of the reason why the 2025 conversation has begun with a clear message from ODOT, JCT members and other insiders: Beyond coming up with a funding plan for the “unfinished business” of those aforementioned megaprojects, there will be no new project spending in the next bill. The focus will be on “critical services,” operations and maintenance. So don’t send your senator or representative a wishlist of projects, because they probably won’t consider it.
I shared a seat on the bus with Oregon Transportation Commission Chair Julie Brown, one of five members of the OTC, a governor-body that has the unenviable task of setting ODOT’s budget. Brown said the focus on maintenance is due in large part because project costs have become “astronomical” due to inflation and budget overruns. “We’re sticker-shocked,” is how she put it to me.
Rep. Susan McLain led the discussion.PBOT Director Millicent Williams.Metro Councilor Juan Carlos Gonzalez.Evan Oneto and Jana Jarvis from Oregon Trucking Association.Zachary Lauritzen, Oregon Walks.Thomas Ngo, The Street TrustHouse Rep. Khanh Pham.There were 38 people invited to the roundtable and the room was packed.Oregon Transportation Commission member Lee BeyerSenator Lew Frederick
That being said, Brown (who has a deep background as a public transit system manager and advocate) shared that existing ODOT programs like the successful and popular Statewide Transportation Improvement Fund (STIF, created in House Bill 2017) could see a huge bump in funding if/when a new bill is passed. That program currently spends about $110 million per year on public transit infrastructure and services statewide. One source said the STIF allotment in the 2025 bill could go up as much as 500%.
How will the state fill their funding gap and fund the infrastructure so many Oregonians want? Yesterday’s conversations illuminated a few front-running ideas.
Metro, Portland’s elected regional planning authority, had two representatives at the roundtable, Councilor Juan Carlos Gonzalez (who’s also chair of Metro’s Joint Policy Advisory Committee on Transportation) and Councilor Christine Lewis. They were unified in a belief that it’s time to push forward on some sort of road usage charge (also called a vehicle miles traveled tax or VMT tax), something Oregon’s been working on in pilot-mode for many years.
“A road user charged should be our region’s future,” Gonzalez said at the roundtable. “I’m ready to personally say, let’s figure out the next steps to get there,” Lewis added.
Those steps will need to make sure the new fee doesn’t negatively impact people with low incomes. Everyone around the table is aware of this political pitfall around a road user charge. JCT Co-Chair Rep. Susan McLain voiced her interest in a “fair VMT”. Indi Namkoong with nonprofit Verde said they support a VMT tax, but only one that is, “Fair and accountable to the low income communities and communities of color that we work with.”
But cold water was immediately thrown on the idea by advocates for truckers and drivers. Oregon Trucking Association President Jana Jarvis said a road usage charge would be expensive, difficult to administer and wouldn’t net nearly as much profit for ODOT as the gas tax does. Jarvis also said her people aren’t in the mood for more taxes. “We took a 53% increase [in taxes] in 2017 and that was a huge increase,” she said. “We did it to pay for the Rose Quarter project and we don’t have the Rose Quarter project… and many of those funds were diverted to non-road projects.”
And Marie Dodds with 765,000 member strong AAA Oregon/Idaho isn’t into the idea either. “A road usage charge is going to be a long time coming and very expensive,” she said, adding that she too is disappointed promised highway projects haven’t been completed and making very similar talking points to trucking reps she sat next to.
But Dodds, and many other people around the table, seemed fine with another idea that’s likely to figure large in the 2025 package: Indexing existing revenue streams to inflation. There’s widespread agreement that indexing current fees to inflation is a politically feasible, short-term solution to help raise revenue.
What wasn’t mentioned at the roundtable was tolling. It appears Governor Tina Kotek’s move to mothball ODOT’s freeway tolling plan has put that concept on ice politically — right when Oregon needs it most.
On a more local level, Portland Bureau of Transportation Director Millicent Williams added to the chorus of support for basic maintenance funding. One of the bus tour stops was the intersection of SW Broadway and Jackson where Williams talked about failing pavement and the city’s lack of resources for street sweeping. “With sustainable funding, we can get to work on the backlog of deferred maintenance and stabilize the foundation of our system,” she said.
While Williams is clearly committed to her “back to basics” message of funding maintenance over new capital projects, she’s also a big supporter of ODOT’s I-5 freeway widening at the Rose Quarter. “It is an important artery, it is an important connection between Canada and Mexico,” she told a full bus as we rolled through the Rose Quarter. “We often say the only stop sign along I-5 is right here. And I don’t know if that’s the compliment that we want to receive, but it is certainly the comment that we hear.”
Williams’ support is notable because whether or not Oregon should continue investing in freeway expansions is a good example of just how far apart various factions of the debate around transportation funding are right now. Some believe “no more freeways” is the only answer and others believe that concept is untenable.
Oregon Walks Executive Director Zachary Lauritzen spoke up at the roundtable to say, “I want to say this very clearly: We cannot build our way out of congestion. We can build another lane, we can build another lane and another lane. We can do that. And then we’ll be Los Angeles or Houston.” Lauritzen was among several people who spoke about the need for a “holistic” approach to transportation that integrates land-use, housing, and other issues — not just freeway megaprojects.
Rebecca Sanders, a PhD and founder of Safe Streets Research, a consulting firm, added, “We shouldn’t be expanding highways for any reason.”
But those views drew a retort from JCT Co-Vice Chair Representative Shelly Boshart Davis, a Republican whose family owns a trucking company. “When we talk about not being able to build ourselves out of this problem, I categorically disagree. We can build ourselves out of some of this problem,” she said.
“When we talk about the Rose Quarter, that’s the only two-lane section of I-5 in an urban area from Canada to Mexico. It’s two lanes. I’m not asking for five. And it’s one of the top 30 bottlenecks in the United States, so I think that we can’t just say, ‘we can’t build ourselves out of this problem,’ we can, in some cases. We gotta get those trucks through if we want to lower emissions.”
Talk of needing more investment in biking, walking and transit in order change driving habits was well-represented at the meeting. The Street Trust Board Chair Thomas Le Ngo spoke up about the need to encourage less driving because, “The average cost of car ownership is about $12,000 a year and it’s going up.” Ngo pointed to The Street Trust’s free e-bike program as a “proven model for behavior change.”
But House Rep Tawna Sanchez, a Democrat who represents north and northeast Portland wasn’t comfortable with all the talk about driving less. She said poorer people often have no choice other than to drive:
“I’m a little frustrated with that sort of thing… While I appreciate the concepts of reductions of vehicles and multimodal and the whole thing, I still feel like I sit in a place where I work with people who are low income all day long in my real life job [Rep Sanchez is a social worker]. We still have food deserts in this city and in this state. When we’re building low-income housing, we’re building it without parking for the most part, and have an expectation that people will — somehow or another, miraculously be able to shop for their five, six kids or whatever, however many people they have in their home once a month or twice a month — and be able to bring that all back on the bus or something like that. This is not reality for poor people, let’s just be realistic… we all got here some kind of way and not everybody can ride a bike, or do all of those things, you know, keep it all on transit or whatever. It’s just difficult on some level so I want us to think about that too.”
Senator Lew Frederick, a Democrat whose north Portland district I-5 runs through, shared a similar sentiment:
“I’m not getting on a bicycle anytime soon [he’s 72]. I used to love riding, I rode a bicycle every day. But I know my balance won’t let me be on a bicycle. So I’m not going to be doing it. I’m also not going to be taking the bus, or the train to Salem, because there are only two trains. And so I need to be able to move around a lot of different ways. So we need to be looking at the needs of folks out there and figuring out how we can support what’s going on.
Every day, I get off the freeway at the Rose quarter. Every day, I get worried every time I get on the freeway at the Rose Quarter. The lanes are too narrow right now, nevermind trying to to make them even more narrow.”
It’s curious why folks make statements like this because there has never been a proposal to force everyone out of their cars and onto bikes and buses. Thankfully, Southeast Portland House Rep Khanh Pham made the point I was screaming silently in my head. She responded to Sanchez by sharing how her family has gone down to just one car — not just to save the earth but to save money. “It’s often not about a conversation about never driving, but we have to balance… the data shows if we were to build a transportation system that allowed people to reduce their miles driven by 20% — so 80% could continue but just a 20% reduction in driving — it would save the average family over $1,450 a year. And that’s a huge that’s a huge savings for working families.”
These comments led to an interesting discussion of behavior change. Rep. Sanchez said “We are not Europe” [one of three people in the meeting who uttered that unfortunate phrase] as a way to explain how she thinks Oregonians are simply too stubborn to change behaviors. “We don’t want to change. We don’t want to do things differently. We have loads of stubborn individualism.”
JCT Co-Chair Senator Chris Gorsek added that people haven’t changed because the system hasn’t changed “We’ve been trying to get people to use alternative forms of transportation for years. For years! We’ve done transit oriented development, and then it fails. So I think it’s a good idea, but we have to find a different mechanism for inspiring people to actually do those things… We have to think of a new model, a new way of thinking about what we’re doing with transportation, I would argue a new and bold way of thinking…”
“New” and “bold” isn’t what politicians are typically good at, so I’m not very hopeful that Gorsek or anyone else can encourage significant behavior change.
I thought how ODOT Director Kris Strickler posed a question in his closing comments at the roundtable was very interesting. According to ODOT calculations, Strickler said, the average Oregonian spends about $350 per year in taxes and fees for their use of the transportation system (per vehicle). “So what do you want to do with that $350?” he asked, rhetorically. “And would you spend more to provide some of the outcomes we’ve been talking about around the table?”
All this talk must lead to somewhere, but the destination isn’t clear yet. Strickler said Oregon is in a “no fail moment,” but politics only cares about votes. With differences on the merits of freeway spending and concerns about new taxes even among the same party and a listening session tour that won’t be over until October, there’s a long road ahead before a package comes together.
And Kelly Brooks, the transportation and infrastructure advisor for Governor Kotek, wasn’t exactly optimistic in her remarks. While she said the Governor “cares a lot about the issue,” her cool outlook on the discussion was notable. “We have to acknowledge that time is a pretty limited resource right now,” she said. “We have a lot of work to do and not much time to do it.”
Senator Brian Boquist, a Republican who represents rural counties and was one of the architects of HB 2017 said he doesn’t think anything will pass in the coming session. He doesn’t see a package getting hammered out in time or the votes to pass it if it did. “I’ll just say I’m the naysayer. I think it’s going to be really tough to do anything big in 2025. It’s going to be 2026… It’s a long road ahead and you’ve got to convince a bunch of people.”
The scene at last week’s BHH. (Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)
Bike Happy Hour — Every Weds, 3:00 to 6:00 pm — Gorges Beer Co (2705 SE Ankeny) — 4:00 free fries, 5:00 open mic. — Event website
It’s a beautiful day in Portland and the weather will be perfect for hanging out on the patio at Bike Happy Hour (BHH, yes we have an acronym now). The 61st edition of our weekly tradition will take place from 3:00 to 6:00 today at Gorges Beer Co. on Southeast Ankeny at 27th and we hope to see you there.
Tonight should be really fun because it’s our first BHH since the start of Bike Summer (Pedalpalooza) and we’ve got a special guest and at least one group ride leaving from the event.
Read on to find out what’s in store for this afternoon…
Timur Ender at Glenwood Park, February 8, 2024. (Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)
Our special guest tonight is Portland City Council District 1 (East Portland) candidate Timur Ender, a smart guy who knows the route to victory in November must include bike lovers and free french fries. Timur is one of the top candidates (in terms of donor support) in the race and his transportation credentials go way back. I actually met Timur at one of our Wonk Night events in 2013 when he was a bright-eyed law student at Lewis & Clark College and had just moved to Portland from San Diego. Since then I’ve watched Timur move through activism roles, then a job with the Portland Bureau of Transportation, and now his run for council. For more about Timur, check out his appearance on the BikePortland Podcast back in February.
At BHH you’ll get a chance to meet and chat with Timur. He’s also offered to buy you french fries as part of our “Free Fries at 4:00” tradition (if you haven’t had them yet, the folks at Ankeny Tap & Table who serve us our food at Gorges, make amazing fries). As always we’ll jump on the mics around 5:00 (and we might do another round of fries if you missed the first one) so show up around that time for the Timur Ender Show (kidding Timur!).
And one last thing… Today is the opening day of the Oregon Active Transportation Summit, taking place at Leftbank Annex in the Lloyd district. So if you’re in town for OATS, roll over after all the workshops and speeches and relax on the patio with fellow transportation nerds and tell us all about your day at the summit.
See you tonight!
Note: There’s always something fun cooking at Bike Happy Hour! I love having special guests and theme nights centered around a specific topic or issue. I’ve got some fun and interesting things planned this summer, but the weeks are filling up! So if you have something in mind, please reach out. But also remember that this is a community space open to anyone and everyone, so just show up whenever you want if that’s more your style. The reason I like to know about special guests ahead of time is so I can include it in pre-event promos. Thanks. – Jonathan.
Joint Committee on Transportation at their meeting in Salem last week.
In a few minutes I’ll leave the Shed and roll over to Portland Community College to begin a seven-hour assignment. It’s the first stop on the Oregon Legislature’s Joint Committee on Transportation Transportation Safety and Sustainability Tour (JCTTSST, just kidding).
As I’ve been sharing recently, this is a big deal because this is the first stop on a statewide tour where lawmakers will learn about local issues and listen (notice I didn’t say “hear”) to what Oregonians think about transportation. It’s also rare for lawmakers and JCT members to hold a public hearing.
Before I head over there, I wanted to share the schedule and a bit more info about what will happen.
The first event is an invite-only infrastructure tour that begins at 12:00. We’ll stop at four spots: Multnomah County’s Bridge Shop on SE Water Ave, the intersection of SW Broadway and Jackson, the DMV in downtown Portland, and N Lombard Ave. Various agency leaders will speak at each stop to discuss specific issues.
After that there’s a roundtable discussion from 2:30 to 4:30 back at PCC Cascade. I just received the list of people who will be around the table:
Mayor Ted Wheeler, City of Portland
Commissioner Mingus Mapps, City of Portiand – Bureau of Transportation
Millicent Williams, PBOT Director
President Lynn Peterson, Metro Council
Councilor Juan Carlos Gonzalez, Metro/JPACT Chair
Commissioner Lori Stegmann, Multnomah County
J.C. Vannatta, TriMet
Dave Roberson, Port of Portland
Pia Welch, FedEx
Sumi Malik, IC Environmental Justice
Zack Culver, Laborers 737
Mayor Anne McEnerny-Ogle, City of Vancouver
Greg Johnson, Interstate Bridge Program Administrator
Jana Jarvis/Evan Oneto, Oregon Trucking Associations
Marie Dodds, AAA Oregon/Idaho
Dan McFarling/Doug Allen, AORTA
Courtney Graham/Alberto Gallegos, SEIU 503
Robert Camarillo, Building Trades
Don Loving, Amalgamated Transit Union
Jenny Dressler/Megan Desalvo, Oregon Chamber of Commerce
Sharla Moffett, Oregon Business and Industry
Kirsten Adams/Dee Burch, Associated General Contractors
Charlene McGee, Multnomah County Health Department
Tina Adams, Casso Consulting
Jennifer Dill/John McArthur, Portland State University – TREC
Jeanette Shaw, Forth
Cassie Wilson/indi Namkoong, 1000 Friends of Oregon
Jacqui Treiger, Oregon Environmental Council
Brett Morgan, Climate Solutions
Victor Duong, Housing Architect
Thomas Le Ngo, APANO The Street Trust
Ariadna Falcon Gonzalez, Getting There Together
Rebecca Sanders, Pedestrian Safety Expert
Zachary Lauritzen, Oregon Walks
Melvin Norman, Western States Carpenters
Kelly Brooks, Office of the Governor
At 4:00 there will be a rally outside the venue hosted by Sunrise PDX. And then from 5:00 to 7:00 will be the public hearing where folks can sign up and testify.
OK, gotta get packed and run over there. Stay tuned for coverage over on my @Jonathan_Maus X account.
NOTE: The list of names above originally had Thomas Le Ngo as a representative of APANO, but that was an error by organizers. He was actually at the roundtable as a rep for The Street Trust (where he’s board chair). I regret any confusion.
