I-5 Delta Park Freeway Improvement Project Moves Forward
Sam Adams
These have been my goals in representing Portland on the I-5 Delta Park freeway improvement project:
• Remove the freeway bottle neck in the Delta Park area in North Portland;
• Provide for better northbound access to I-5 from North Columbia Blvd;
• Get trucks and traffic trying to get on the freeway out of Kenton neighborhood; and,
• Obtain new neighborhood mitigation resources for North Portland.
Today, for the most part, we have moved forward these goals. The freeway will be widened by one lane. Alternative 2 “Argyle on the Hill” is the most cost effective method of improving northbound I-5 access while keeping more trucks out of the heart of Kenton. This allows for redevelopment of key blocks at the N. Denver and N. Interstate intersection. A neighborhood mitigation fund in the amount of $1 million has been established to build trails along the Columbia Slough.
Today the Portland City Council approved the resolution unanimously. This is a summary of some of the testimony I heard today...
“These challenges are not Oregon or Washington’s alone, they are the nation’s, this is a vital link to connect to industrial land,” said Vancouver Washington Mayor Royce Pollard. “This addresses along a standing problem. This is not a cure all for rush hour traffic but it will provide more reliable connections.”
“We recognize that we have made some mistake in the past coordinating with the city and in providing enough citizen involvement, on this project we implemented a very open and transparent process for this process.” Charlie Sciscoine, ODOT Deputy Region 1 Manager.
“Truly groundbreaking in a collaborate effort, we have been invited to the design process…we were heard, “Jeri Sundvall Williams, of the the environmental justice action group. “We are lucky to live in this area where we have these open processes.”
“This vital freeway link that is operating at overcapacity, Tracy Whelan, member of the Portland Freight Committee. “We support this proposal.”
“We strongly support this proposal,” said Doretta Schrock, of the Kenton Neighborhood Association. “We concluded there was not a perfect alternative but we appreciate the process that got us here.”
“We respectfully disagree with hearing panels decision, we feel alternative 4 has larger benefits,” Jim Howell, assn of rail and transit advocates. “Option 4 allows for an arterial connection between Kenton and Vancouver. It would also begin to remove the railroad bottle neck by replacing the Kenton railroad over pass on Colombia Boulevard.”
Posted by Sam Adams on May 24, 2006
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Filed Under Front Page, North Portland, Transportation
Comments by site visitors
Seriously, get a privatized entity to build 2-3 new bridges (they could support themselves) and toll the suckers. Get private industry to invest initially via bonds and pay those back with tolls.
There you've solved the problem, expanded the industrial area massively and the respective transportation choices, and not spent a cent of taxpayer money except to front the initial bonds.
Wow, it'll be almost as self sufficient and independant, based on market demand as the freight railroad industry.
Imagine that, private companies, individuals, and businesses being aloud to take care of issues like they used to be able to.
:o wow the simplicity of how things CAN work.
Posted by: adron | May 25, 2006 12:19:16 AM
Sam,
please note that with the widening of I-5 southbound, freight off Columbia Blvd. onto I-5 will lose its add-lane. The clear winner here are Clark county commuters; the losers are trucks heading south off Columbia.
Further, as the current metering effect is lost at Delta Park, I-5 will congest in the heart of N. Portland...adjacent to homes and hospitals...and the key freight connection between the Columbia Corridor and Swan Island will be impacted negatively.
I hope City Council will seek guarantees from ODOT that freeway access (i.e. ramp meeter times) at Columbia Blvd., Going Street and Greeley Avenue will not be restricted. The only way to truely insure freight access at these points is to provide heavy truck bypass lanes at these on ramps.
Posted by: Lenny Anderson | May 25, 2006 9:41:41 AM
Nice try, adron. But, no government agency will ever cede their power-base to *gasp* private industry.
Can you imagine a project costing 25% less than usual because it's built by non-union laborers getting paid market wage?
Public employee unions (ergo: the government) will never let that happen.
Posted by: Chris McMullen | May 25, 2006 10:10:04 AM
Sam,
Why does there appear to be no plans to extend MAX to Hayden Island and build a Hayden Island-Portland bridge. It seems one of the problems with I-5 area around Delta Park is that there is no way to reach the island other than I-5 (or by boat, I guess). Alternatives to I-5 to go to and from the island are needed in addition to improving I-5 for interstate traffic. A Denver Ave. or MLK Blvd. extension to the island seems worth considering.
Posted by: Eric Berg | May 25, 2006 5:10:12 PM
Now the next steps are to make all of the I-5 freeway lanes available to all highway stakeholders at all times by getting rid of the lanes of discrimination, and develop a Hayden Meadows-Expo Center circulation plan
First, removing the HOV only diamonds is a must do to relieve I-5 congestion. Not only are there times during the period of operation when these diamond lanes are almost empty, but stop and go congestion is created in the other two regular travel lanes because the diamond lanes create a bottle for regular taxpaying motorists. Semi-trucks in the regular travel lanes also have a significant negative impact the congestion because they start up much slower after stopping in traffic. The stop and go traffic created by reserving by one restricted lane of operation also has a larger negative impact on air quality than if all three lanes on I-5 were for regular traffic and adds to the fuel consumption of motorists.
The diamond lanes are also unsafe. In the I-5 corridor there are multiple exits and entrances between their start of operation and the Columbia River crossing. Vehicles are cutting in and out and across the regular travel lanes to make their way between the diamond lane and the on and off ramps. Undoubtedly this creates a greater number of freeway crashes. The only reason the diamond lane is even there is purely political, not operational. The diamond lanes are just another example of Portlanders paying a high (and unsafe) price tag for politicians tinkering with social engineering. To have the highest potential of vehicle capacity, none of the lanes on I-5 should be restricted as HOV lanes.
Second, a plan needs to be developed such that vehicles waiting to enter I-5 on surface streets behind ramp meters do not block traffic circulation between Kenton, Hayden Meadows and the Expo Center. Currently, evening rush hour traffic backs up on Whitaker Way creating a negative impact to the businesses at Hayden Meadows. At the same time, the traffic back up on Denver completely chokes off access to both Hayden Meadows and the Expo Center from Kenton. If the current plan as adopted does not remedy this congestion, then it should not move forward until the surface street congestion is addressed and resolved as part of the plan.
Posted by: Terry Parker | May 25, 2006 6:31:07 PM
I'm all for the arterial bridge w/ light rail and no additional capacity for I5. As a recent commentor on this and other blogs made me aware, any additional capacity to I5 will not solve the congestion. It will just move it to another place. So what we will have if the bottleneck is removed is all those cars jammed up trying to get off at the Rose Quarter or other downtown access points. Then we will have to solve the traffic there by widening bridges and adding additional parking garages. It was really stupid for WADOT (WSDOT?) to dump all their highways onto I5 in the first place, now we have to fix it?
If 1/3 of all the traffic is local, then let's get those drivers onto their own bridge (arterial + light rail) which has been needed for decades anyway. And yes, you can toll them (and the I5 bridges). Problem solved.
Posted by: Isaac | May 25, 2006 10:41:14 PM
Lenny Anderson please note that with the widening of I-5 southbound, freight off Columbia Blvd. onto I-5 will lose its add-lane. The clear winner here are Clark county commuters; the losers are trucks heading south off Columbia.
Further, as the current metering effect is lost at Delta Park, I-5 will congest in the heart of N. Portland...adjacent to homes and hospitals...and the key freight connection between the Columbia Corridor and Swan Island will be impacted negatively.
JK: A good case for continued capacity upgrade further South to improve traffic flow. Hopefully Portland can avoid the distinction of having the nation’s worst increase in traffic congestion again. Houston actually built their way out of congestion - we can too.
Thanks
JK (who receives no income form city planning, city policy, city projects or smart growth, social engineering, or driving people out of their cars)
Posted by: jim karlock | May 26, 2006 8:26:08 AM
Eric,
This project does not include Hayden Island. I'm pushing for the McLoughlin lightrail project to include consideration of another segment of lightrail to Hayden Island. By that time we will know the Columbia River Crossing project outcome.
Sam
Posted by: Sam Adams | May 29, 2006 7:30:16 PM
Sam:
McLoughin light rail? The same rail that was voted down twice?
No wonder the FBI has been sneaking around city hall.
Posted by: Anthony | May 29, 2006 11:43:10 PM
Adding capacity to freeways to improve freight travel does not in the end improve freight travel. It is instead consumed by commuters in the 'urban leak' of Vancouver. Until we can get Clark County residents to get jobs in their own state, or carpool (the only option with no reasonable public transit) our freeways will forever be consumed by single occupancy vehicles (like Mr. Parker) rather than the more heavily needed freight. Why not limit the new lane for trucks and commercial vehicles only.
BTW-a single vehicle with a single occupant traveling at 40 mph consumes 30,000 sq. ft. of space which is the size of some homes.
Posted by: Aaron | May 31, 2006 12:28:18 AM
Hello, hello
A new corridor is needed with multi- use. Yep, Newinterstatebridge.com..... How do we get out of congestion? ...Look on my web site under Why do we have roads, ending congestion in Portland and Limited Motorized Corridors..... Web site electnasset.com. Any way we travel we take up space... Every thing we consume traveled from outside your home. Where is the math showing how much "road" space we need to move freely and safely?..... A city of X size, with X amount of business, X amount of people need “X “ amount of capacity.
West of I-5 is what is need right now. East of I-5 all arterial are to capacity and cannot handle any more traffic. The traffic must flow thru an area. The first chance to the east is 192nd. West is the best.....
The Economic Transportation Alliance is gearing up for big meetings again. Come join us... remember if your not part of the solution, your the problem.
Please,let me know what you think.
Peace
Sharon Nasset
Posted by: Sharon Nasset | May 31, 2006 5:50:50 PM
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This is something to look forward to: Within the next 20 years a 3-mile section of I-5 will be brought from the needs and capacity of 1950 to the needs and capacity of 1960.
I wonder how many "studies" will take place before a scaled down version of this project is actually built? How many more MAX lines? Pearl districts? Trams?
I am proud to live in a place where everyone "thinks ahead."
Posted by: Anthony | May 24, 2006 6:30:23 PM