This week leaders from Metro and the City of Portland will make a decision on whether or not to support the multi-billion-dollar megaproject that would widen I-5 between Portland and Vancouver and replace the aging Interstate Bridge. They are being asked to endorse the project’s Locally Preferred Alternative (LPA), a major milestone in the federally-required … Read more
Note: This piece was submitted by a close observer of the Portland – Vancouver I-5 freeway project (a.k.a. Interstate Bridge Replacement Program) who asked to remain anonymous. Project managers, listen up! You’re reviving a mega-project that failed to secure funding a decade ago. Do you go back and re-examine the original assumptions? Absolutely not! You … Read more
We’ve spent a lot of time talking about how President Biden’s Infrastructure Investments and Jobs Act (IIJA) is going to impact Oregon’s transportation system. Now, as Biden is traveling to Portland this week to hype up his landmark infrastructure bill, we’ll get to hear from the man himself. Or, I should say, the lucky few … Read more
“All of these accommodations to special user groups belie the fact that the bridge was designed to move traffic and freight.”— Betsy Johnson, candidate for governor
As the clock ticks down toward the self-imposed deadline for the Interstate Bridge Replacement Program to select a “locally preferred alternative”, a number of elected officials are concerned they aren’t being given access to the information they’ll need to sign off on a project design. As soon as next month, the project team will be … Read more
