http://www.oregonlive.com/opinion/in...ter_bypas.html
The effort to erect a new Columbia River bridge has underscored the difficulty of planning, financing and building major infrastructure projects.
The task can be particularly complex in Oregon, a state that demands citizen involvement in political process and strives to be a national leader in both sustainability and land-use planning. So, one wonders what Hillsboro Mayor Jerry Willey was thinking when he decided to initiate discussion about a major westside transportation initiative while the Columbia River Crossing is still being tossed about in the political mosh pit.
Give Willey points for courage. Then, take a deep breath and join the discussion. The region's economic future is at stake.
Last year, Willey started building support for some type of westside transportation project after commissioning a white paper on "Transportation Infrastructure and the Westside Economy." Willey and Hillsboro officials have been careful to avoid use of the word "bypass," which carries negative connotations connected to a 1989 effort to build a westside freeway.
The 1989 effort ran into a dead end, and the latest effort likely will, too, if it is perceived as just another attempt to build a multi-lane highway. So it is encouraging that when Willey met with The Oregonian editorial board in late December, he said that he wants the process to be open to all solutions to make it easier for workers and freight to get to and from the growing westside employment centers anchored by Nike and Intel.
"We're trying not to fast forward to the finish line," Willey said. "We want to bring in the experts and we want to be told what would work."
Finding a solution won't be easy even if everyone involved adopts that attitude. But the timing is right to try.
In the past three months, both Nike and Intel made commitments for significant expansion beyond their already impressive growth of the past two decades. Gov. John Kitzhaber called a special session of the Legislature to pass a Nike-requested bill providing tax assurance to companies that meet spending and hiring thresholds with expansions.
Neither Nike nor Intel asked for an infrastructure bill. But make no mistake, current transportation options are not adequate to accommodate the growth at these companies and the spillover effect on surrounding employers and neighborhoods.
Hillsboro officials would like the 2013 Legislature to direct the Oregon Department of Transportation to evaluate westside infrastructure options. Few would argue with that. Finding agreement on a plan, and a way to pay for it, will be much more challenging.
To have any chance at success, a plan must embrace these goals:
It needs to be multimodal, covering everything from bicycle lanes to highway corridors capable of handling heavy freight.
It should avoid the ideological extremes. A single freeway, even if there were a way to design and pay for it, won't solve the problem alone. It's equally impractical to think mass transit could be improved enough to get a majority of workers to leave their cars in the garage.
Private employers and government must cooperate, including sharing costs.
Solutions that fit within those parameters could range from adding TriMet park-and-ride locations and express routes to expansion of shuttle services already operated by Nike and Intel to a series of new or improved north-south roads rather than one expressway.
Willey has begun the tedious process of consensus building, meeting with representatives of local and state agencies and governments. If nothing else, most agree that the recent announcements at Intel and Nike increase the urgency for developing a long-term westside transportation plan.
"This is a great opportunity to think about this growing jobs, retail and residential community and how to serve it with transportation," said TriMet General Manager Neil McFarlane.
Ultimately, any ambitious project will require cobbling together money from multiple funding sources. And it almost certainly will have to be done in stages. But waiting will only make the task more difficult. ODOT, TriMet and westside governments should heed Willey's call and start taking a serious look at what is possible.
Prev
Linear Mode
