Infrastructure for all
Infrastructure investments get more expensive over time, which means it’s cheaper for the City to improve infrastructure now instead of later. It also saves Portlanders money, because unaddressed potholes make us pay more for maintaining or repairing our cars and bikes, pedestrian safety is reduced, and transit becomes more expensive to operate, increasing costs for riders.
Portlanders want functional infrastructure that we can rely on. However you choose to travel - mass transit, car, bike, walking - you deserve to get there safely. Portlanders want to keep our fire stations open. And this community wants new, well-paying jobs in Portland - and specifically here in North and Northeast Portland.
We share the same goals:
Paved roads with safe, walkable sidewalks
Fixing potholes
Open, functional fire stations and other City facilities
Functional, reliable bridges
Economic development that is focused locally and benefits all of us
Here’s how I will help us get there:
Maintenance and Upkeep across Portland
Portland has aging fire stations, a fleet maintenance garage that is physically falling apart, and a transportation maintenance backlog measured in the billions of dollars. We must ensure that no fire station needs to close because we can’t afford to maintain it, or because we’re using maintenance money to pay for operating costs that should be funded in the City budget. We need a permanent solution for the Kerby Garage, the facility in District 2 where much of the City’s fleet is maintained. This building is falling apart, risking the health of our workers, the safety of its neighbors, and our ability to maintain the city’s vehicle fleet. The backlog of maintenance on our roads costs us money, makes us less safe, and impedes commerce - and it affects you whether you’re walking, biking, driving, or riding transit. The City must clear that backlog, and ensure current maintenance needs are met to avoid playing Whack-a-Mole with our roads’ upkeep.
Infrastructure is a basic responsibility of government, and collectively, our federal, state, county - and yes, the City - governments have failed us over the last several decades. We need to start delivering for Portland.
Interstate Bridge Replacement
We all want to avoid a tragedy like the recent Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse in Baltimore. The possibility of a bridge collapse in our regions carries with it an unthinkable cost of lives lost and people injured. It also would bring our regional economy grinding to a halt. The I-5 crossing from Vancouver into Portland - into District 2 - is too important to lose. Yet it is past its intended lifespan, with one of its two spans now over 100 years old, and with federal support for its replacement yet to materialize.
I will fight to ensure that we don’t see commuters, maintenance workers, truck drivers, and more endangered by the possibility of a bridge collapse. I support a fully-funded replacement for the I-5 bridge that moves cars, trucks, light rail, buses, bikes, and pedestrians. This is a complex effort that requires collaboration among the cities, counties, and states on either side of the bridge, with support from the federal government and other partners.
I have relationships on both sides of the river - I’ve built relationships with City leaders in Vancouver, and I’ve worked for Washington Governor Jay Inslee. These relationships have helped prepare me for the complex work of building consensus around a shared vision for the future of the bridge that connects us all.
Also:
Designate certain streets as bike and pedestrian arterials, especially east-west streets near to major thoroughfares, which would prioritize design improvements focused on movement and safety when biking and walking.
Build and expand bike and pedestrian trails along with bike/pedestrian arterials to create an urban trail network.
Study expansion of the Portland Streetcar network into inner Northeast Portland, to connect Albina to the downtown core if it would promote economic vitality without displacement.
Work with Trimet to expand light rail service to North and Northeast Portland, prioritizing East-West connectivity along the Lombard/Columbia corridor from St. Johns to the airport
Rose Quarter Improvement Project and the Albina Vision Trust
EThe Rose Quarter Improvement Project centers on building a lid over I-5. This project will create jobs, develop new buildable land, promote environmental health, and reconnect communities. I strongly support Albina Vision Trust’s plans, and its work to make them a reality - including acquiring $450 million in federal dollars to fund this project. (I oppose the Oregon Department of Transportation’s plan to double the width of the freeway before building the lid.)
Reconnecting the historic Albina neighborhood, a historically Black neighborhood, is an economic, environmental, and racial justice issue. The lid will be strong enough to support buildings that can provide support for affordable housing, as well as businesses, particularly Black-owned businesses.
This project will benefit all Portlanders, in particular those in North and Northeast Portland, through economic development, expanding our construction workforce as the lid is built and cultivating new jobs for the small businesses that will be built there. Having new ways to get across I-5 will benefit everyone in District 2.