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Transportation
Posted inNews

Portland Has a New Plan for the Future of Urban Freight

City planners look to cargo bikes, improved rail crossings, and dedicated bike and truck lanes for improved safety and sustainability to move goods around Portland.
Avatar photo Taylor Griggs

The Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) is not only tasked with managing how people get around the city, it also oversees how commercial goods and services flow through Portland. With a new plan, PBOT envisions a greener, safer future for urban freight movement in Portland. Last week, the Portland City Council adopted the 2040 Freight […]

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Pete Buttigieg’s Tour of 82nd Avenue Underscores Opportunities, Ultimatums For One of Portland’s Busiest Corridors

With $80 million in federal funds, transportation leaders must move quickly to enact projects before a 2026 deadline. They’ll also need to hash out a greater vision for transforming the corridor.
Avatar photo Taylor Griggs

East Portland boosters and transportation advocates celebrated when 82nd Avenue was transferred to the city of Portland last year. The move enabled work to begin on a plan to turn the major arterial into a “civic corridor” complete with improved transit service, active transportation access, housing development, and landscaping. The idea? Fix longstanding safety issues […]

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Without Tolling Revenue, ODOT Puts the Brakes on Two Portland-Area Freeway Projects

As state transportation agency stretches to find funding alternatives, watchdogs rejoice over reevaluation of plans to widen I-205 and I-5.
Avatar photo Taylor Griggs

The Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) has been relying on plans to toll Portland-area highways in order to pay for large capital projects on its roster. In particular, ODOT has counted on future tolling revenue while planning the I-5 expansion at the Rose Quarter in Portland and the second phase of its plan to widen […]

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Skaters Renew Pressure on Portland City Leaders to Build Steel Bridge Skatepark

With a quarter million dollars for design from Prosper Portland set aside, skatepark advocates say new park could play key role in downtown revitalization.
Avatar photo Taylor Griggs

In honor of this year’s international Go Skateboarding Day, some of Portland’s most dedicated skating advocates took a message to City Council: It’s time to build the Steel Bridge Skatepark.  “Skateboarding is about taking risks and embracing the dance between pleasure and pain. And more than that, it’s about community,” Portland skate enthusiast Katherine Rose […]

Posted inTransportation

Four-Month Pause on MAX Red Line Service to PDX Starts This Weekend

TriMet plans shuttle service from Gateway Transit Center to the airport, but asks passengers to plan extra time in their commute.
Avatar photo Taylor Griggs

The longest service interruption in TriMet’s history is set to start Sunday, June 18. The public transit agency will halt MAX Red Line service between the Gateway Transit Center and Portland International Airport (PDX) for 126 days. The closure will leave PDX and three other Red Line stops—Mt. Hood, Cascades, and the Parkrose/Sumner Transit Center—without […]

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Freight Train Pain: City Will Study Solutions for Frequently Blocked Eastside Railroad Crossings

Portlanders have griped about problematic railroad crossings in the Central Eastside for years. Now, a federal grant will allow the city to work on fixes. 
Avatar photo Taylor Griggs

Anyone who frequents inner southeast Portland is familiar with the persistent—yet unpredictable—freight train bottlenecks near railroad crossings in the area. Union Pacific freight trains rolling into town via the Brooklyn Intermodal Rail Yard cause such notable logjams in Portland’s Central Eastside that more than 1,500 people signed a Change.org petition asking the Portland Bureau of […]

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“PBOT Is on Life Support”: Inside Portland’s Transportation Budget Crisis

An 11th-hour city budget amendment proposed by Mayor Ted Wheeler has revealed the depths of the transportation bureau’s woes.
Avatar photo Taylor Griggs

Mayor Ted Wheeler’s last-minute city budget amendments left Portland transportation stakeholders feeling like they’ve had the rug pulled out from under them. Now, they want every Portlander to know: The city’s transportation system is in trouble and the effects will have far-reaching impacts.  Wheeler’s plan to reduce utility fee increases and halt plans for a […]

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Transportation Justice Advocates Plan Rally Against TriMet Fare Hike

TriMet’s board of directors is expected to approve a 30-cent fare increase on Wednesday. Opponents say it’s the wrong way for the transit agency to fix its budget woes.
Avatar photo Taylor Griggs

When TriMet leaders first floated the idea of raising bus and MAX fares last November, they said it would be a necessary measure to solve the transit agency’s financial shortfalls. The current price of a two-and-a-half-hour adult transit pass is $2.50, which TriMet board members said is not sufficient to stave off the agency’s budget […]

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Traffic Cops are Back—But Advocates Still Want More Speed Cameras

Portland Police are bringing back the traffic enforcement team, but advocates point to traffic light cameras as the best way to slow drivers and reduce racial bias in policing.
Avatar photo Taylor Griggs

Portland Police are bringing back the traffic enforcement team, but advocates point to traffic light cameras as the best way to slow drivers and reduce racial bias in policing.

Posted inTransportation

Traffic Deaths in Portland Remain Record-High For a Second Year

Speeding, dark conditions, and persistent traffic exposure played a role in the 63 fatalities in 2022.
Avatar photo Isabella Garcia

Sixty-three Portlanders were killed in traffic crashes in 2022, the second year in a row Portland has seen a 30-year high in traffic deaths. According to the Portland Bureau of Transportation’s (PBOT) 2022 fatal crash report released Monday, excessive speed, dark conditions, and traffic exposure continue to play a significant role in fatal traffic crashes […]

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