There might, indeed, be room for improvement in Oregon’s plans for the Interstate 5 corridor through the Rose Quarter; after all, the proposal has not been finalized. But the guess is that assertions from two environmental think tanks are driven by ideology rather than by realistic analysis.
The most important thing about the issue is that the corridor through the heart of Portland is essential to improving transportation, commerce and livability throughout the metro area. As many a critic — including The Columbian’s Editorial Board — has pointed out, the impact of improving the I-5 Bridge will be lessened if the Rose Quarter corridor is not also upgraded. Freely crossing the bridge but coming to a standstill a few miles down the road does not solve the problem.
The Oregon Department of Transportation has declared that stretch of road the second most congested in the Portland area, with OregonLive.com writing: “The three miles from Rosa Parks Way to the Rose Quarter mimics a parking lot much of the day, when you calculate for the morning and evening commute, for a grand total of 9 hours, 15 minutes.” Considering that much of that commute is inhabited by drivers from Washington, this is a concern for Clark County residents.
So, it is interesting to learn that the Frontier Group and U.S. PIRG Education Fund have chosen the proposal as one of the nation’s nine worst highway boondoggles. The proposed $500 million project would widen the freeway to add merging lanes and shoulders.
According to Webster’s, a “boondoggle” is “work or activity that is wasteful or pointless but gives the appearance of having value.” We certainly would not want our neighbors to the south to spend a half-billion dollars — some of which might come from proposed tolls to be paid in part by Washington drivers — on wasteful or pointless work. So we feel compelled to point out the benefits of improving the Rose Quarter corridor.
As Don Hamilton, spokesman for Oregon’s transportation department, told OregonLive: “It will add new highway crossings for people walking and riding bicycles, remove seismically deficient overpasses, improve community access to transit, improve connections for neighborhoods divided for a half century by I-5, add new safety shoulders and auxiliary lanes on I-5, reduce freeway crashes, and reduce congestion by an estimated 2.5 million hours per year.”
Phew! That sounds pretty valuable. And it is an essential piece of improving the commute for Southwest Washington residents.
Meanwhile, we are encouraged by developments regarding the I-5 Bridge. The Washington Legislature this year approved $35 million for planning, including the reopening of an office. And Rep. Brandon Vick, R-Vancouver, told the editorial board last week that Washington lawmakers have met with Oregon House Speaker Tina Kotek and that she plans to appoint members to a bistate bridge committee.
That still leaves us a long way from a replacement project, but any weakening of the gridlock that has been entrenched since 2013 is encouraging.
The need for a new bridge — and improvement to the Rose Quarter corridor — is built upon an immutable fact: Residents and businesses throughout the region will continue to rely on cars and trucks and roads. Improving mass transit systems should be part of any comprehensive plan, but light rail is inadequate for transporting, say, a truckload of electric cars for delivery to an auto dealer.
All of which means that, if done right, the Rose Quarter project will be neither wasteful nor pointless.
