Note: I'm currently on a family trip and not working normal hours. Email and message responses will be delayed and story and posting volumes here and on our social media accounts will not be at their usual levels until I return to Portland August 12th. Thanks for your patience and understanding. - Jonathan Maus, BikePortland Publisher and Editor
If Metro wants federal funds for active transportation projects, they’ve got to adjust their approach.(Photo © J. Maus) With the US Department of Transportation’s announcement of TIGER II, a $600 million extension of the stimulus funded TIGER grant program, local active transportation advocates are considering another round of applications. Our regional Metropolitan Planning Organization, Metro, … Read more
Dar k blue = cycle tracks.(Graphic: Metro) U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has announced that funding decisions for their stimulus minded Transportation Investments Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) program will be made no later than February 17th. To refresh your memory, last fall Metro submitted a TIGER grant request for $98 million in active … Read more
This 7.2 mile stretch of the Springwater should be much smoother by summer 2010.(Map: City of Portland) A project to repave the popular Springwater Corridor Trail that was green-lighted by Metro back in March is now scheduled for completion by early June 2010. The $1.8 million project will overlay asphalt on top of the original … Read more
Project will improve lighting on I-205 path.(Photo © J. Maus) Thanks to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (a.k.a. the federal stimulus bill), the bike and pedestrian path that runs along Interstate 205 will be getting a $2.5 million makeover. Most of the money will go toward new lighting on a 3.6 mile stretch of … Read more
This graph shows a modal breakdown of ODOT’s recommendation for how to spend the state’s remaining $101 million dollars in federal stimulus money.(Graphic: J. Maus/BikePortland)
TriMet requested (and received) $1 million in federal stimulus funds to build secure bike parking facilities (like the one shown above) at their Beaverton and Sunset Transit Centers.(Drawing: Steve Durrant/Alta Planning + Design)
The Springwater Corridor Trail will get some much-needed TLC this summer.(Map of project boundaries courtesy of the City of Portland)
(Lots of talk about stimulus funds around here lately. Hope you’re staying with me). The Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) may get the largest chunk of federal stimulus money (about $232 million last time I checked), but Metro also gets a piece of the pie — $38 million to be exact. That’s a much smaller … Read more
“The OTC also recognizes the need to balance highway needs with other modal needs.”— From a statement released by ODOT today The Oregon Transportation Commission (OTC), acting on behalf of the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT), has announced the application process and more details on how they’ll allocate their remainder of federal stimulus funds. The … Read more
State transportation planners are scrambling to get their “shovel ready” projects in order and they’re waiting eagerly by their inboxes this morning. That’s because any day now, the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) is expected to release the application forms for what they’re calling “Phase II of the Federal Economic Stimulus”. I spoke with ODOT’s … Read more
“What went wrong?… The Transportation Commission got heavy pressure from pro-highway legislators, road builders, and Washington County and other local governments looking for road-building money.”— excerpt from a statement set to go out to supporters of Transportation for Oregon’s Future Transportation for Oregon’s Future — a “network of organizations and businesses supporting transportation choices for … Read more
“[The OTC showed a] cautious willingness to consider the possibility that local bike, pedestrian and transit projects might just be as “shovel ready” as ODOT’s existing list.” — Bob Stacey, 1000 Friends of Oregon The Governor-appointed Oregon Transportation Commission (OTC) was set to make a decision on how Oregon would spend it’s federal economic stimulus … Read more