No Freeway Widening Platform

Created with input from the Just Crossing Alliance,

part of the 350PDX Climate Justice Platform 2024

Context

State Departments of Transportation (DOTs) have for decades insisted that the proper response to urban congestion is continued widening of freeways. Both experience and academic research have built a solid case that expanding freeway capacity leads to an equal growth in traffic within a few years—it does not reduce traffic congestion.

At the same time, transportation is the leading cause of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States (“Carbon Pollution from Transportation”).

Congestion is never solved—but the environmental impacts of air toxins, noise, particulates from tire and brake wear, coupled with displacement of homes and businesses just continues to escalate if we widen interstates. Portland has at least two upcoming freeway projects in the Rose Quarter and the I-5 Bridge Replacement. The positive aspects of these (and other) projects, such as reducing pollution, connecting neighborhoods, and seismic upgrades, can be achieved without adding more lanes.

Actions

Maintain current roadways and Interstates with a focus on equitable public health and economic outcomes, encourage alternative transportation, and do not expand freeways. In order to ensure accountability for freeway projects that encourage safety, public health, and emissions reductions, the City of Portland must:

1. Scrutinize all freeway expansion proposals to determine necessity and climate impact.
   • Any proposals must be subject to rigorous induced demand analysis and must be thoroughly vetted by the city.
2. Prioritize non- or low-emissions alternative transportation.
   • Alternative methods of transportation like transit, biking, and walking must be the foremost preferred modes to absorb increased mobility requirements.
3. Ensure that safety investments do not compromise climate and environmental health.
   • Safety and resilience investments like seismic upgrades are important to ensure the stability of current infrastructure and the safety of people who use roads, but they must not be used as an excuse to add additional lanes to expand freeways.
4. Consider equitable pricing and transportation demand management programs before freeway expansion.
   • Pricing and Transportation Demand Programs can effectively reduce traffic congestion, lower greenhouse gas emissions, and promote more sustainable transportation options by encouraging the use of public transit, cycling, and walking. These must be heavily considered before any freeway expansion proposal.
   • Ensuring that public transit is affordable and accessible is a necessary component.

Citations

“Carbon Pollution from Transportation,” Environmental Protection Agency, https://www.epa.gov/transportation-air-pollution-and-climate-change/carbon-pollution-transportation#:~:text=%E2%80%8BGreenhouse%20gas%20(GHG)%20emissions,terms%20than%20any%20other%20sector.

Laura Bult, “How highways make traffic worse,” Vox, February 12, 2021, https://www.vox.com/videos/22280067/highways-traffic-worse-congestion-expansion.

Michael Manville, “Is congestion pricing fair to the poor?” Medium, https://medium.com/100-hours/is-congestion-pricing-fair-to-the-poor-62e281924ca3.