Update: Project list approved by the Metro Council
The Metro Council unanimously approved JPACT's project recommendations Thursday, Feb. 2.
Learn more
A walking and biking bridge over Interstate 5 in Wilsonville, industrial area road connections in Tigard and Tualatin and new sidewalks in Oregon City, West Linn and several Portland neighborhoods were on the list Thursday, as the Joint Policy Advisory Committee on Transportation gave its blessing to a set of 12 transportation projects targeted to receive $30 million in federal funding.
The committee, whose members include representatives of Portland-area cities, counties, special districts and other agencies, recommended nine walking/biking projects and three freight projects advance for funding. The Metro Council must approve the recommendation before it is final.
But the committee left a final $3 million on the table for further debate between two projects in Gresham, seeking more time to dig into a question of whether local or regional priorities should have more influence on their choice.
Some leaders from east Multnomah County have expressed a preference for new sidewalks, turn lanes and bike lanes on Cleveland Avenue, a two-lane road near downtown Gresham that only has narrow shoulders to walk on for much of its length. They note that the project, in a largely residential area, has been promised for years.
But other regional leaders have said filling in sidewalks and bike lanes on a half-mile stretch of Division Street in Gresham is more important, because that investment would improve safety on a high-crash corridor and support the Division Transit Project.
More needs than dollars
The projects will be paid for by a collection of federal transportation dollars known in greater Portland as regional flexible funds, because JPACT and the Metro Council have some flexibility for how to allocate them. The funds are intended to improve air quality, relieve congestion, create more transportation options and improve transportation system performance. Generally, Metro leads a process for determining how to spend the dollars every three years.
Last spring, JPACT and the Metro Council reserved roughly $97 million of the funds to pay off transit bonds, advance the Southwest Corridor light rail project and Division Transit Project, prepare projects to address three highway bottlenecks and regionally significant biking and walking projects, and fund regional programs to promote travel options, transit-oriented development and manage existing transportation systems, among other things.
With $33 million left for other projects JPACT and Metro councilors targeted about $26 million for projects that make biking and walking safer and easier, and $7 million for projects that make it easier to move goods. Local governments, parks districts and other public agencies were invited to apply for projects in their communities.
Unsurprisingly, not everyone can get everything they want. There simply isn't enough to go around.
Metro received far more applications than available money. Communities around the region submitted more than two dozen applications totaling almost $92 million for active transportation projects, and five applications totaling nearly $9 million for freight.
The Transportation Policy Alternatives Committee, a technical review committee, whittled the list down using several factors, including evaluations of potential project benefits, public comments and making sure every part of the region saw some priorities advanced.
Have your say: Public hearing Feb. 2
The Metro Council held a public hearing before deciding to adopt JPACT's recommendations:
Thursday, Feb. 2, 2 p.m.
Metro Regional Center
600 NE Grand Ave., Portland
Go
What we heard
Read a summary of more than 3,000 public comments received:
Regional-Flexible-Funds-RFFA-Engagement-Report-120216.pdf
Ultimately, a third of the proposed projects were recommended for funding this cycle.
Public weighs in
Public comment played a major role in getting some projects included on the short list. Residents and students in Southeast Portland's Brentwood-Darlington neighborhood sent Metro hundreds of postcards, left more than 350 comments on an online map and packed an Oct. 27 Metro Council public hearing to implore leaders to complete sidewalks on streets kids use to get to schools in the neighborhood.
"Please help this historically underserved neighborhood within Portland," wrote one commenter on the online map. "It is in Southeast Portland, but has East Portland issues with no infrastructure. Due to its location, it is often overlooked and is not included in East Portland improvements like it should be."
Other projects with considerable public comment that made the funding list included walking and biking improvements along Highway 43 in West Linn, Molalla Avenue in Oregon City and Portland's Jade District, Montavilla and Cully neighborhoods.
Metro Councilor and JPACT chair Craig Dirksen expressed appreciation Thursday for hard work between regional and local partners to make adjustments to projects' scope, increase local contributions and use other strategies to get more projects funded with the limited amount of money available.
Update, March 16
On March 16, JPACT approved a final $3.14 million for adding sidewalks, bike lanes and turn lanes to Cleveland Avenue in Gresham, on the condition that Gresham commit $2 million in future development fees to complete sidewalks and bike lanes on Division Street from Birdsdale to Wallula. Learn more
Gresham projects left for another day
Although there was general consensus of the value of every project on the list, leaders were unable to come to agreement Thursday between two potential projects in Gresham. The fundamental question: Should regional or local priorities prevail in a regional funding decision when there is not enough money to go around?
The Cleveland Avenue project would build sidewalks, turn lanes and bike lanes on a narrow street, but the benefits would be focused very locally, said Metro Councilor Shirley Craddick, who represents east Multnomah County.
Completing sidewalks along the length of Division Street would improve safety on a high-crash corridor that has seen three deaths in the last year and would provide direct access to the Division Transit Project, a $175 million rapid bus line expected to open in 2021. That, she said, would be a better use of money allocated by the region.
“This is a really good example of the challenges we face in funding transportation in our region," Craddick said. "While Cleveland is important to the city (of Gresham), it doesn't rise to the same degree, from my perspective, as a regionally significant project. Regional funds should be used in local jurisdictions for regional projects that benefit us all."
Craddick noted that both projects are in Gresham city limits, but Division is a street of greater regional significance.
Gresham proposals: Learn more
JPACT leaders chose to wait on making a recommendation for which of two potential projects in Gresham should receive $3.1 million in regional flexible funds.
More information about these projects may be found in these applications:
“The city of Gresham benefits both ways,” she said.
Gresham Mayor Shane Bemis, who represents the cities of east Multnomah County on JPACT, was not on hand for Thursday's discussion.
But Wood Village Mayor Tim Clark pointed out that a committee of elected officials from east Multnomah County voted unanimously last week to prioritize the Cleveland Street project, noted Wood Village Mayor Tim Clark.
"It's been promised to them for 40 years and something we'd like to see happen," Clark said.
TriMet general manager Neil McFarlane noted that if the Cleveland Avenue project is chosen instead of Division, the Division Transit Project could open in 2021 without complete sidewalks and bike lanes along its whole length.
"The Division Transit Project will not have the funds to fix this stretch," McFarlane said. "That has just got to be understood."
An anticipated Federal Transit Administration grant of $100 million to build the project will help complete sidewalks near stations but not along the whole 14-mile project, he said.
But with time running out Thursday morning, leaders shied from making a final decision without further discussion. Instead, acting on a motion from Craddick, they advanced the other projects to the Metro Council while leaving the door open to determining which Gresham project should be funded this round.
The Metro Council will act on JPACT's partial recommendation on Feb. 2, following a public hearing.
Update: Project list approved by the Metro Council
The Metro Council unanimously approved JPACT's project recommendations Thursday, Feb. 2.
Learn more
List of projects
Here is a list of the projects that JPACT recommended advancing for funding. Find a clickable map at the bottom of this page. Applications with more details about each project are available here.
Active Transportation/Complete Streets
| Project name |
Agency |
Funding recommendation |
|
Beaverton Creek Trail
|
Tualatin Hills Park & Recreation District
|
$3,693,212
|
|
Brentwood-Darlington Safe Routes to School
|
Portland
|
$2,200,000
|
|
Cully Walking and Biking Parkway
|
Portland
|
$2,200,000
|
|
Halsey Street Safety and Access to Transit
|
Portland
|
$2,400,000
|
|
Herman Road Walking and Biking Improvements
|
Tualatin
|
$625,000
|
|
Highway 43 Walking and Biking Improvements
|
West Linn
|
$3,000,000
|
|
I-5 Walking and Biking Bridge
|
Wilsonville
|
$1,550,000
|
|
Jade and Montavilla Connected Centers
|
Portland
|
$3,200,000
|
|
Molalla Avenue Walking and Biking Improvements
|
Oregon City
|
$3,800,632
|
Freight projects
| Project name |
Agency |
Funding recommendation |
|
Basalt Creek Parkway extension
|
Washington County
|
$2,803,605
|
|
Central Eastside Access and Circulation Improvements
|
Portland
|
$2,805,879
|
|
Hunziker Road Industrial Area
|
Tigard
|
$1,730,516
|
|
Regional Freight Studies
|
Metro
|
TBD*
|
*Regional Freight Studies will receive up to $210,000 based on cost savings identified in Portland's Central Eastside Access and Circulation Improvements project.