Fact and Fiction in Oregon’s Department of Transportation

The Interstate 5 Rose Quarter Improvement Project in Oregon is the poster child for how departments of transportation deceptively package harmful highway expansion projects.

Top StoryAsia MieleszkoFebruary 6, 2024end highway expansion, oregon, department of transportation, freeway widening, highways

The Latest Cities To Repeal Costly Parking Minimums

#BlackFridayParking is approaching, and we want to share some of the latest cities in North America that have challenged decades-old parking requirements that have wasted productive land on automobile storage.

#BlackFridayParking, Top StoryAsia MieleszkoNovember 21, 2023parking minimums, end parking mandates and subsidies, #blackfridayparking, success stories, texas, virginia, oregon

Bike Parking Requirements Kill Housing Opportunities in Seattle, Portland

Wanting to encourage people toward using bikes for transportation is all fine and good, but not when it makes it harder for developers to build much-needed housing.

Top Story, TrendingVictor DuongNovember 10, 2023bikes, Incremental Housing, oregon, washington, local regulation

A Safer Intersection in 80 Minutes

Armed with paint and traffic cones, this Local Conversation group in Portland, OR, made a dangerous intersection safer to cross…in only 80 minutes!

Community Stories, Top Story, BradleySeairra JonesOctober 16, 2023safe and productive streets, Street Design, tactical urbanism, intersections, success stories, local conversations, oregon

ODOT: You Need To Fund Portland’s Billion Bollards Club

A billion bollards! That’s what we called for back in 2021—and one Strong Towns Local Conversation is answering the call. Now the Oregon Department of Transportation just needs to get onboard.

Marohn, Top StoryCharles MarohnAugust 28, 2023safe and productive streets, oregon, local conversations, department of transportation

Why Is This Freeway So Expensive? (Hint: Because It’s Too Damn Wide!)

The I-5 Rose Quarter project is proving to be extremely costly, and those costs are directly related to the excessive width of the project—something that ODOT has gone to great lengths to conceal.

Top StoryJoe CortrightJuly 13, 2023DOT, freeway widening, end highway expansion, oregon, infrastructure

ODOT’s Rose Quarter Tolling Contradiction

ODOT maintains it will use tolls to pay for the I-5 Rose Quarter Freeway widening project, but that it doesn’t need to evaluate tolling as part of the project’s environmental assessment, because tolling isn’t “reasonably foreseeable.”

Top StoryJoe CortrightMay 23, 2023freeway widening, freeways, highways, highway spending, toll roads, environment, end highway expansion, oregon

The Reconnecting Communities Program Isn’t Undoing Highway Expansions—It’s Decorating Them

For some, the Reconnecting Communities Program symbolizes an auspicious reversal of values that have characterized the past 70 years of transportation planning. For others, it's business as usual.

Top StoryAsia MieleszkoMarch 23, 2023highways, freeway widening, federal funding, federal government, DOT, transportation spending, department of transportation, end highway expansion, oregon, louisiana

ODOT Proposes That Commuters Pay $600–2,200 per Year for Highway Expansion

ODOT’s expansion of I-205—and subsequent tolling—might make it so that the average household will be spending 8.7% of their household income on transportation needs.

Top StoryJoe CortrightFebruary 28, 2023highways, highway spending, transportation, transportation spending, toll roads, freeway widening, end highway expansion, oregon, infrastructure

What’s Behind PBOT’s $4.4 Billion Street Maintenance Backlog Excuse?

The maintenance backlog excuse should not be the end of the conversation—it should be the start of a new one.

Top StoryJonathan MausFebruary 2, 2023maintenance, infrastructure maintenance, street repair, transparent local accounting, safe and productive streets, oregon

Portland’s Cully Neighborhood To Use “The One Ring” for Good

In the past, urban renewal projects have displaced people and destroyed neighborhoods, yet Portland’s Cully neighborhood aims to launch an urban renewal plan…but this time, in a good way?

Podcast, Top StoryStrong TownsFebruary 1, 2023podcast, neighborhood revitalization, upzoned, urban renewal, oregon, neighborhoods

McGilchrist Still Isn’t an Improvement, but Here’s the Math

We've said it'll take 39 years for Salem, OR, to recoup the money they're spending on the McGilchrist Street “Improvement” Project, and you've asked us to provide more proof for this assertion. So, let's do the math.

Marohn, Top StoryCharles MarohnNovember 2, 2022transportation, transportation spending, traffic engineering, projections, end highway expansion, transparent local accounting, safe and productive streets, oregon, local economy

Why I Started Reading the Local Newspaper

Sometimes, it’s worth it to take a step back from national news and pay attention to the things that are happening in your own community.

Top StoryJohn PattisonJuly 20, 2022local conversations, politics, localism, local government, small towns, community, oregon

Affordable Housing in Oregon Is About To Catch a Big Break From Parking Mandates

Finally, homes for people will no longer be conditional on car parking.

Top StoryCatie GouldJuly 13, 2022parking minimums, affordable housing, housing, housing cost, housing crisis, housing policy, housing affordability, zoning, end parking mandates and subsidies, oregon

Oregon Nears Green Light for Big Parking Reform

Oregon’s statewide land use board declared its support Thursday for rules that, among other things, reduce or remove parking mandates in 53 jurisdictions in the state’s eight largest metro areas.

Top StoryMichael AndersenJune 21, 2022success stories, parking minimums, parking maximums, minimum parking requirements, Land Use, local government, state government, end parking mandates and subsidies, oregon

Freeway-Fighting Tide Has Turned

The halting of three in-city freeway expansions highlights a new momentum on reversing the damage of highways through urban areas.

Top StoryRobert SteutevilleJune 17, 2022urban freeways, freeway widening, freeway removal, highways, highway spending, DOT, colorado, transportation, infrastructure, success stories, end highway expansion, cnu, new york, oregon

Flying Blind: Why Public Leaders Need an Investment Grade Analysis

Portland and Oregon leaders shouldn’t commit to a $5-billion project without an investment grade analysis (IGA) of toll revenues.

Top StoryJoe CortrightJune 17, 2022infrastructure, infrastructure cost, infrastructure spending, DOT, washington, transparent local accounting, oregon

Yet Another Exploding Whale: ODOT’s Freeway-Widening Cost Doubles

The Oregon DOT has experienced massive cost overruns on all of its largest construction projects…and has systematically concealed and understated the frequency and scale of those cost overruns.