I-5 Delta Park Open House and Hearing Today


This afternoon from 3:30 to 6, there is an open house on the I-5 Delta Park widening project, followed by a public hearing at 6:30. Both are being held at:

Oregon Association of Minority Entrepreneurs
4134 N. Vancouver Ave, Portland

This afternoon from 3:30 to 6, there is an open house on the I-5 Delta Park widening project, followed by a public hearing at 6:30. Both are being held at:

Oregon Association of Minority Entrepreneurs
4134 N. Vancouver Ave, Portland

more details…

We’re at the tail end of the public input process on this project. If you have an opinion, now is the time to voice it.


5 responses to “I-5 Delta Park Open House and Hearing Today”

  1. Widening I-5 will happen, regardless of what anyone says tonight.
    There are clear winners and losers…
    Winners…Clark county commuters in their private vehicles. They have been hating this spot since they fled Portland for low taxes across the River.
    Losers…a semi loaded with product climbing up the ramp on to I-5 southbound from Columbia Blvd…he will lose his add-lane.
    Other losers…residents of N. Portland along I-5. Congestion…now held back by the two lane stretch…will ooze south, so ramp meters will be adjusted…10 second waits will become 30 second waits to get on I-5 at Lombard, Portland, Alberta.
    Last, all the freight coming off Columbia Blvd, Going Street and Greeley Avenue…the busiest freight arterials in the region… will also be held up at the freeway by ramp meters.
    This project is for the benefit of Clark county commuters and at the expense of residents of N. Portland and freight coming out of Columbia Corridor and Swan Island.
    But you think this is bad…wait till the new Columbia Crossing dumps 20K new cars per day into Portland’s already crowded arterial network.
    Welcome to the ear of Peak Oil and Global Warming, indeed.

  2. while i am generally skeptical of widening freeways, removing this bottleneck makes a lot of sense…
    3 lanes go down to 2 lanes then less than a mile later are back up to 3 lanes

  3. Jon,
    According to the I-5 Task Force report, 1/3 of the trips over the Columbia on I-5 are local and folks exit the freeway at Hayden Island, Marine Dr., MLK and Denver for destinations in N. and NE Portland.
    The third lane southbound goes away with the Denver Ave exit.
    ODOT makes the “narrows” worse with the Victory on ramp, but the important thing to note is that the third lane returns as an Add-lane off Columbia Blvd…one of the busiest freight arterials in the region. So there is some logic to the narrows, and the widening project will take away an edge that freight enjoys with the loss of the add-lane. It may better accommodate commuters from Clark county, but mainly push the congestion down into the heart of N. Portland adjacent to two regional hospitals and gum up the works at two other important freight access points, Going Street and Greeley Avenue.
    So much for putting Freight First!

  4. Lenny, I’m not sure if I understand the crux of your post. (Exept for the last line, of course) Are you saying that Jon’s skeptical endorsement of addinga 3rd lane is good, or bad?

  5. Scott,
    my point is that by widening I-5 to 3 lanes over the Columbia Slough, you take away the current add-lane at Columbia Blvd, making freight movement from that key freight arterial onto southbound I-5 more difficult. With the widening, trucks will have to merge; today they don’t.
    I know that Clark county commuters hate the narrowing…at least those who are continuing south on I-5, and this project is being done to appease them. These is no data that I know of to show the volumes of truck traffic coming onto I-5 at Marine Dr that will benefit compared to the volumes off Columbia who will be hurt. But this is not a freight project…its a commuters alone in their cars project. Same old, same old.

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