Several members of Westside Economic Alliance's transportation committee received a briefing Wednesday morning from Kim Ellis, principal regional planner at Metro, on the draft of the Regional Transportation Plan currently under consideration by the Metro Council, the Joint Policy Advisory Committee on Transportation and the Metro Policy Advisory Committee. The RTP, which is updated every four years, is a 25-year blueprint for investments in various transportation projects throughout the region.
Ellis emphasized that the latest draft of the RTP is focused on a set of performance measures aimed at achieving six desired outcomes for a successful region, which were adopted by MPAC and the Metro Council in 2008. Those outcomes relate to economic prosperity, reducing global warming, protecting clean air and water, providing transportation choices, and distributing the benefits and burdens of growth equitably across the region.
Discussion at the meeting focused on specific projects and initiatives that the alliance has been heavily involved with in recent years, including the Highway 217 corridor study adopted in 2006, the Interstate 5/Highway 99W connector project and others.
Frank Angelo, principal of Angelo Planning and the chair of alliance's transportation committee, inquired as to why all of the projects identified in the Highway 217 corridor study were not included in the RTP. Ellis commented that given funding limitations, Oregon Department of Transportation, like all other public agencies, was asked to identify priorities among several projects in the region, and not all of the Highway 217 projects were included on the project list.
The financing of transportation projects was also a focus of conversation at the meeting. Ellis noted that there are about $20 billion worth of projects in the RTP, but not all of the money has been identified to pay for them between now and 2035. Angelo asked if the RTP identifies any potential sources of funding to pay for projects that are needed but not covered with available revenues. Ellis noted that the RTP begins to identify potential sources of new funding, including congestion pricing, street utility fees and other revenue sources, but further discussion is needed at the local, regional and state levels to identify which new or different transportation funding mechanisms should be pursued and which governments should administer them.
Mark Fryburg from Portland General Electric asked where Alternative 7 -- the proposed alignment of an Interstate 5/Highway 99W connector between Tualatin and Sherwood recommended by the project's steering committee -- stood in the RTP given the concerns raised by the Clackamas County Board of Commissioners at JPACT last week. Ellis noted that Alternative 7 remains on the project list and, following the close of the public comment period this week, Metro staff will consider this and other comments received to prepare a set of recommendations for modifications to the draft RTP which will be considered by the Metro Council, JPACT and MPAC.