Metro candidate Mary Nolan’s record on freeway expansion projects
“I trust ODOT to deliver the plan… They’ve made compromises. And I think we should move on.”
— Mary Nolan on I-5 Rose Quarter project (5/5/20)
Mary Nolan
chris smith
Election open thread: Chris Smith or Mary Nolan for Metro District 5?
(Detail from official Voter’s Pamphlet)
After OTC vote, Metro candidate Chris Smith calls for new highway governance model
Chris Smith.
(Photo © J. Maus/BikePortland)
Chris Smith is outraged by what just happened.
The Portland Planning & Sustainability Commissioner member, transportation activist, and Metro Council candidate watched this morning as the unelected, five-member Oregon Transportation Commission brushed aside considerable concerns about the I-5 Rose Quarter project and voted unanimously to let the Oregon Department of Transportation move forward without any further objective analysis.
In response, Smith wants to strip the OTC of its powers to oversee urban highways. Here’s the statement he just shared with us:[Read more…]
Regional leaders greenlight $129 million for I-5 Rose Quarter project
PBOT Director Chris Warner re-affirmed his agency’s support of the project.
(Photo © J. Maus/BikePortland)
We’re at that awkward stage in a highway mega-project when the agency in charge is under a cloud of controversy and still (after years of planning) doesn’t have an official endorsement to start construction, but still wants money to keep the project moving forward.
Of course I’m talking about the Oregon Department of Transportation and the I-5 Rose Quarter Project. And it seems whenever I do, there’s growing skepticism and concern from regional leaders about it.
Here’s the latest…
[Read more…]
Governor Brown asked about I-5 Rose Quarter project at City Club event
Governor Brown and moderator Colin Jones at the City Club event today.
Governor Kate Brown spent about an hour with members of the City Club of Portland today. At the event, a preview of the 2020 legislative session, Brown fielded two questions about the controversial I-5 Rose Quarter project.
As we reported Thursday, the Oregon Department of Transportation and their bosses at the Oregon Transportation Commission (OTC) are facing an intense barrage of questions and concerns from elected officials and community groups over their plans to expand I-5 between I-84 and I-405.[Read more…]
Guest post: Biking away (some of) my Amazon Prime guilt
The author on his Benno e-bike.
(Photo: J. Maus/BikePortland)
This story is by northwest Portland resident, Planning & Sustainability Commissioner and devoted civic activist, Chris Smith.
I confess, I’m a heavy user of Amazon Prime. Not in the “I’m too lazy to go to the grocery store” way, but more of a “there’s so much selection, I can get exactly the thing I’m looking for!” way. If I can buy what I need locally, I definitely do.
I’m aware of the potential negative impacts of this convenience: exploitation of workers at Amazon warehouses, impact on local retail and — especially given the focus of my activism — last mile impacts on the local transportation system.
I think I have an answer for that last point: Amazon Lockers.[Read more…]
City of Portland wants to make side guards mandatory on all garbage and recycling trucks by 2022
Side guards installed on a garbage truck during a City of Portland pilot project.
It’s been a long time coming, but Portland is finally about to take a big step forward in road safety. The Bureau of Planning & Sustainability (BPS) announced today they’ll propose a change to the City’s administrative rules that would require all garbage and recycling contractors to fill gaps in the sides of their trucks by 2022. The new mandate would apply to about 195 vehicles that currently don’t meet federal safety standards.
[Read more…]
Planning Commission finds ‘missing middle,’ votes for more housing citywide
A 1905 duplex on SE 33rd Avenue in Portland. Like many other cities, Portland made these illegal on most lots in the mid 20th century. Photo by Portland for Everyone.
“What do the neighbors have to be afraid of? It’s buildings, people or cars.”
— Chris Smith, Planning Commissioner
An earlier version of this post was published by the Sightline Institute. It’s by BikePortland’s former news editor, Michael Andersen, who started covering the need for “missing middle” housing — especially in Portland’s most bikeable neighborhoods — for us in 2015. We last covered this issue in May, just before the crucial public hearings described here.
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The most provocative housing policy event of this week in the Pacific Northwest started happening four months ago.
[Read more…]
Planning commissioner forces City to defend I-5 widening project
Chris Smith thinks widening I-5 in Portland is a big mistake.
(Photo: J. Maus/BikePortland)
(Photo: J. Maus/BikePortland)
Noted transportation activist and Portland Planning and Sustainability Commissioner Chris Smith made a bold move Tuesday night that could have thrown a wrench in the works the State of Oregon’s top transportation priority.
Smith put forward a motion at a work session meeting of the Planning Commission that would have taken the I-5 Broadway Weidler Facility Plan out of the City of Portland’s Transportation System Plan. The TSP is Portland’s road investment guidebook and any major project that wants funding must be listed in it. As we reported yesterday, this $450 million (estimated) project is one of three freeway mega-projects lined up to receive significant funding in the transportation package currently being negotiated in Salem.
Smith was the sole PSC Commissioner to vote against the project when it was passed as part of the N/NE Quadrant Plan (a component of the Central City 2035 Plan) back in 2012. Judging from his pointed remarks about the project Tuesday night, he still hasn’t warmed up to the idea.
[Read more…]
