Mayor Sam Adams

Portland Seeking New Members for the City’s
Bicycle Advisory Committee 

• Interested in knowing first-hand about issues affecting bicycling in Portland?
• Want to work to make Portland a better bicycling city?
• Want to be in a position to officially advise City Council and City staff on matters relating to bicycling?

If yes, then consider applying to be a member of Portland’s Bicycle Advisory Committee.

EQUITY Bike Ride
Thursday, August 26th at 6:30 p.m.

The ride will be about six miles and begins at IRCO, the Immigrant and Refugee Center of Oregon.

Join ODOT, PBOT, Audubon Society of Oregon, Community Cycling Center, Bicyclists of Color, East Portland Action Plan and Friends of Trees on a ride along the I-205 Multi-Use Path and surrounding neighborhoods.

Learn about local efforts underway that address economic, racial, environmental, and geographical equity such as these projects from ODOT:

• Planting thousands of trees in land adjacent to the I-205 path, in partnership with Friends of Trees and with funding from Metro's Nature in Neighborhood Capital Grant program and the community, neighbors and volunteers.
• Added lighting from the Lents area south to Clackamas Town Center, making good use of federal stimulus funding.
  

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

As leaders of two jurisdictions highly dependent on Interstate 5, we have been working for several years to get a new bridge built across the Columbia River. We believe the right bridge must do more than provide a temporary fix for today’s traffic woes. It must serve as a transit and highway crossing that tackles those traffic problems with 21st-century tools and policies.

Next Monday, August 9, local elected officials involved in the Columbia River Crossing (CRC) project will vote on several key decisions. These decisions include the width of the new bridge, the interchange design on Hayden Island, and ongoing management of the project during design, construction and operation.

 
We plan to vote in favor of the joint recommendation developed collaboratively by staff from our two agencies and their colleagues at the City of Vancouver, Clark County, C-Tran, and TriMet, with input from the Ports of Vancouver and Portland and technical support from CRC project staff. This recommendation is to build a highway bridge that can accommodate up to 10 lanes, with a new design for a Hayden Island interchange. 

On Hayden Island, we now have an alternative that has broad support from community stakeholders – one that provides non-freeway access for island residents and visitors, has a smaller footprint than previous designs, and allows for long-term redevelopment on the island. 

Regarding bridge width, we now have data from a leading national engineering firm demonstrating that a10–lane bridge functions as well as a12-lane span at a lower cost. Preliminary analysis suggests it could be striped for 8 lanes at opening. We will advocate strongly for this approach.

We are glad to see these decisions moving forward. But we must stress that the only reason these two important matters have reached resolution - and earned our confidence and support - is that over the past three months, problem-solving has been shared between the local and state agencies. This is a marked change from previous practice, where the CRC project staff (working with the two state Departments of Transportation) made decisions without meaningful local involvement.

During the past three months, our local jurisdictions have commissioned independent engineering studies and spent countless hours to move the issues of bridge width and Hayden Island impacts from acrimonious stalemate to innovative resolution.  

We believe these breakthroughs, as well as last week’s critical report of the Governors’ expert review panel, contain lessons for successfully managing this project. When local jurisdictions are a meaningful part of the problem-solving team, problems get solved.  When local officials and staff are excluded, as documented in the experts’ report, problems fester. Therefore, on Monday we will insist that this success be accelerated by expanding the role of the Project Sponsors Council.

We appreciate the support of Henry Hewitt and Steve Horenstein, the co-chairs of the Project Sponsors Council, as well as excellent technical support from project staff acting as partners in this mutual effort. We believe that to move forward, the CRC must build on this success and re-align the project management structure so that collaboration and shared responsibility become the norm, not the exception. 

Monday’s vote does not end the conversation about how the bridge will look, how it will operate, and how it will be funded. Local involvement and oversight will continue to be essential. Project management -- from planning and construction to design and operation -- must remain broadly accountable. Ultimately, when this bridge opens, it must be governed by a bi-state entity whose explicit mission is to manage the crossing over time in a way that ensures minimum traffic congestion and environmental impact, and maximum return on investment.

In addition to these immediate actions, we have set out our vision for what needs to be accomplished over the coming months to ensure project success. We look forward to rolling up our sleeves and getting to work on the tasks to come.

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Check out the NWCPHP interview with Ellen Vanderslice, from the Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) and Project Manager of Portland's bicycle "master plan." The plan, the Portland Bicycle Plan for 2030, was unanimously adopted by the Portland City Council on February 11, 2010.

Thanks, Ellen! And thanks to Jonathan Maus & BikePortland.org for providing NWCPHP with some great images!

Today, the Governors of Oregon and Washington released the report on the Columbia River Crossing (CRC) project prepared by an independent panel of experts convened to review the project. 

When the panel was convened earlier this year, I feared it would be a whitewash. It is not. The report of the Independent Review Panel (IRP) on the Columbia River Crossing Project is a thoughtful analysis.

As a member of the Project Sponsors Council, which provides oversight for the CRC, I have given serious consideration to the report and its recommendations. What follows is a summary of several of the report's "findings," along with my comments in italics.

Finding: "The apparent consensus reached in 2008 actually reflected a very low level of agreement between the parties..."

Finding: "Since [adoption]...the LPA (Locally Preferred Alternative decision) has been modified considerably. Most significant is the change in structure type for the main bridges across the Columbia River...Current cost estimates are for a previous bridge type and may not reflect the actual cost..."

Finding: "Clearance issues linked to the river traffic and aviation associated with Pearson Field and Portland International Airport present constraints that make reasonable bridge solutions difficult."

Finding: "Consensus on a specific plan regarding land use, commercial development, and community concerns on Hayden Island must be in place before the right transportation solution can be developed."

Finding: "Tolling is seen by the IRP as essential to the viability of the suggested plan. However, many tolling issues remain including overall philosophy, how and when tolls are imposed, and whether their purpose is project finance, travel demand management or some of both."

Finding: "No provision was presented to the IRP about project phasing. The IRP finds this to be unrealistic given the final cost of the CRC..."

Finding: "The risk of not seeing far enough into the future on this project is a concern; the new CRC bridges will last for 100 years or more... In the context of the current 10 lane versus 12 lane discussion, the IRP believes the greatest risk in the decision-making process is not over-sizing the bridges but not building enough capacity for the next 100 years."

Finding: "CRC governance and management has been difficult to date due to the bi-state nature of the project and the diverse ownership and sponsorship relationships...decision-making appears to be cumbersome due to management, in effect, "by committee." ....A number of ideas have emerged around the concept of a bi-state commission, interstate compact, a bridge authority or mobility council as the model that should be implemented to address this critical need..."

Finding: "Performance measurement is an important strategy... This is an important long-term strategy that deserves attention from all parties..."

I agree!

As I have suggested in my responses above, I would add two key recommendations to the IPR's list. I believe it is critical, if the CRC project is to move forward, that the Project Sponsor Council's process continue through design and construction of the project. I will make this recommendation to next Project Sponsor Council meeting on August 9, 2010, where I will also recommend that before the new project opens, a bi-state Columbia River Crossing District be created to manage it for the greatest long-term value to the region, the state, and the entire I-5 corridor.

At the August Project Sponsor Council meeting, I will also make other recommendations for moving the project forward. In the meantime, I commend and sincerely appreciate the work of the CRC Independent Review Panel. 

Sam Adams

Mayor, City of Portland

By Greg Raisman

East Portland Sunday Parkways was a hit. Thousands of people came out into the streets to walk, bike, and play. We heard local residents say that it was the most fun they've had in their neighborhood. Lots of neighborhood visitors said it was a great way to have their first introduction to this family-oriented part of our city.

A highlight of the Sunday Parkways was the East Portland Expo in Ed Benedict Park. Kudos to the excellent team that organized this celebration of East Portland. The weekend in Ed Benedict Park was full of local food, great music, and information about community organizations and city efforts in East Portland. 

There was also a full line up of music and fun in Bloomington and Lents Parks. The Cascadia Circus was a huge hit in Lents Park with children of all ages learning to walk on stilts or ride a unicycle. Bloomington Park featured the great music of Ethos Music Center's Rocket Surgeons and a small animal petting zoo from the Oregon Zoo.

Thanks to everyone in East Portland for partnering with the city to make this great event happen. We look forward to doing it again! Check out more photos for a view of East Portland Sunday Parkways.  

This morning, Portland City Council adopted an electric vehicle strategy report entitled Electric Vehicles: The Portland Way and an accompanying resolution directing the City's bureaus to implement the identified strategies.

Click here to view the presentation of the report.

In the late fall of 2009, Mayor Adams asked his staff and the Portland Development Commission to develop policies to position Portland as a leading electric vehicle (EV) city in the United States in advance of anticipated market availability of all electric vehicles in the fall of 2010.

The multi-bureau approach reflects that electric vehicle adoption and deployment is as much about meeting Portland's sustainability goals and addressing anticipated transportation issues as it is about economic development. Adoption of this report lays the foundation of good public policy as a key step toward economic development in this area.

In addition to tracking developments in the electric vehicle industry and planning around charging station deployment, the working group identified ways to successfully position Portland as an early adopter market, and to seamlessly integrate electric vehicles into our city. The result of this work is contained in the report to council (Electric Vehicles: The Portland Way).

The crafting of this report was an internal process. The mayor's office and PDC staff convened and led a weekly Electric Vehicle Working Group, which included representatives from the following City bureaus: CityFleet, the Bureau of Development Services (BDS), the Bureau of Planning and Sustainability (BPS), and the Bureau of Transportation (PBOT).

Successful adoption of electric vehicles can be achieved only with private-sector partners, particularly the City's partnership with ECOtality, which is managing the EV project.

Individuals interested in learning more about the EV project as well as business owners who would like to have charging stations installed at their place of business, or government entities, utilities and organizations interested in becoming project partners can visit www.TheEVProject.com and sign up to receive regular updates.

If you wish to nominate a general location or wish to host a site in the Portland area, please contact David Mayfield at dmayfield@etecevs.com or call (503) 919-0304.

Special thanks to City staff who helped put this report together, specifically James Mast with PDC, Dan Bower & Alex Bejarano with PBOT, Michele Crim & Michael Armstrong with BPS, Don DePiero & John Hunt with CityFleet, and Janette Silleck with BDS.

Reminder! The Broadway Bridge will be completely closed to the general public, including bicycles and pedestrians, from Monday, July 19, through Friday, September 3 due to streetcar construction.

Please be aware that construction schedules are subject to change. The latest updates can be found by visiting Portland Streetcar on their Web site or Twitter. 

Broadway Bridge Bike and Pedestrian Detour Routes

Click image for larger view.

Broadway Bridge Vehicle Detour Routes

Click image for larger view.   

Please follow #PDXtrsp on twitter for general PDX transportation related info. 

Still have questions about Green Streets? Unclear about how saving from sewer dollars can be used to fund bike lanes? Not sure what bioswales even are? Take a listen to The Bike Show on KBOO with guests Mark Lear with PBOT, Catherine Ciarlo, Transportation Director in Mayor Adams' office and Sarah Mirk of the Portland Mercury. They give examples of Green Streets that can be found in your neighborhood and explain how exactly your tax dollars can and cannot be spent. 

Some highlights:

• Did you know that investing in bioswales can often save money?

"The Tabor to the River Project is a great example," says Mark Lear. "The estimated cost of expanding the existing sewer pipes was $144 million but taking an integrated approach, one that utilizes a mix of pipe expansion and bioswales would cost $81 million."

• How can sewer rates be increasing while there are savings on sewer projects?

Catherine Ciarlo explains: "Sewer rates were set to increase as a response to a directive from the Environmental Protection Agency to clean up our water treatment system. The City is working on separating out our storm water system from our septic system, which will keep our rivers clean, but costs a lot of money. The savings are due to the declining economy. A large number of projects that were put out to bid came back under budget, resulting in extra dollars. This sum is not large enough to keep the rates from rising, but it is sufficient to put it towards sewer projects that need financing." 

This spring, Mayor Adams asked for independent analysis of several key questions about the Columbia River Crossing to see if it was possible to develop an alternative that provides the same benefits as the "Refined LPA" proposal on the table, but at lower cost and with fewer impacts. That request resulted in a City of Portland contract with URS Corporation to produce this report on July 7, 2010.

The URS report has been a successful starting point from which to re-examine several assumptions about the planned new bridge. Work continues on creating a Hayden Island interchange that provides better connections to other North Portland neighborhoods and more opportunity for future redevelopment on the island. In addition, the report shows that a 10-lane permanent bridge design will function as well as a 12-lane bridge, at a price tag that is $50 million cheaper.

As of mid-July, URS continues to look at a few key questions for the City, including the possibility of phasing in lanes across the bridge and long-term management to ensure that we get maximum value out of this major investment.

View/Download the report (PDF 5MB)