Update: 10/9/06
The poll results were published in this week’s edition. While I-5 came in first with 48%, the second highest-rated category was ‘other’, with a number of comments about alternative modes. Highway 26 and I-84 trailed with 15% and 7% respectively.
Original Post: 9/28/06
The Business Journal is conducting a poll on the region’s highest transportation project. They only listed road projects, so I voted “other”.
I’m not sure how long the poll is running.
7 responses to “Business Journal Poll”
So, given that you voted other… what do you think is the highest priority project?
Being an advocate of a balanced system, I entered “rail transit” to balance the highway options.
I was gratified to see that I was not the only one who had done so!
Id agree, rail freight should be the highest priority. All the other projects are about commuter times and will only increase commute distances while solving none of the frieght issues.
How does dumping hundreds of millions into rail projects alone solve the Metro area’s transportation issues?
As I stand waiting for my bus along the side of Highway 99W in the sliver of Tualatin that extends to the highway, I see plenty of trucks; extremely few that would be considered railroad freight. Lots of local delivery trucks, construction trucks, distribution trucks – but nothing that would benefit from rail. As I get closer to I-5, the highway only becomes more congested, not by trucks but by cars.
Even if we were to still consider rail freight – what are the bottlenecks? What would be built? We’ve already built the Rivergate tracks, the Rivergate yard, the Mississippi overpass leading into the Albina river district. UP has double-tracked its former Southern Pacific mainline from East Portland to Willsburg Junction. Beaverton-Wilsonville is getting its commuter rail project that will likely benefit freight more than passengers. The only people that showed any interest in the “starter intermodal yard” in Troutdale was the Port of Portland – every other interested party wanted nothing to do with it; nor is there a lack of intermodal access (there are in fact three TOFC/COFC intermodal yards, two railroad-operated auto-rack intermodal yards, and several manufacturer-owned auto-rack yards, and one COFC/steamship facility in Portland.)
So, if we are to spend on rail – what’s the plan, how much will it cost, and where is the benefit to the 80% of vehicles on the road that cause the congestion?
When I said “rail transit” I was not referring to freight, but to the range of tools from Streetcar to LRT to Commuter Rail.
Not that rail freight couldn’t use a little help, but rail transit is going to help shape the development of a region in which travel patterns are more sustainable.
I find it interesting how cities around the world will spend tens of billions of dollars on rail transit – for instance, the $6.5 billion London Jubilee line subway extension which opened in 1999 – which added 11 new stops to London’s east side, including the Canary Wharf station.
Meanwhile, we spend less than $2 billion on rail infrastructure in the entire Portland Metro area, and people are claiming that we have nothing to show for it. Yet the amount of money invested is proportional to how much traffic it carries – if you don’t build much, don’t expect to get as much useage as a city such as London, which has sunk (literally) hundreds of billions of dollars over a period greater than 100 years into its rail transit.
Although it would be impossible to accurately calculate, I would love to know how much money has been spent on all road projects in Portland for the past 100 years, including maintenance and the freeways. Just for comparisons’ sake – I would be willing to bet that it far outstrips rail.
We have a long way to go – 20 years has been a good start. Rome wasn’t built in a day.
The freight rail consultants for the Governors’ I-5 TF did a very detailed study of freight rail needs for the next 20 years. Their list was a bunch of little fixes that came in at something over $100M. Some are already being done. I think figuring out how to spend public dollars on private systems is a hang-up. These fixes did not include more trackage over the Columbia…as with the highway, the problem is not the bridge, but the approaches.