State Funding of Bike Pedestrian Programs Op-Ed

The Problem:

When we look at the current trend of the Federal Government they have gotten out of the business of funding large infrastructure project in United States. The current US Secretary of Transportation has had pressure put on him to make the budget for infrastructure funding even smaller at the state level. Programs like “safe routes to schools” and “National Transportation Alternative Clearinghouse” have been cut back drastically and are leaving the majority of the free money for investment in the programs that support bike and pedestrian infrastructure gone. This brings into to question whether our growing population of bikers in Portland will slowly begin to decline and our goals of becoming “Bike City, USA” will disappear as well.

The Modern Freeway: A Thing of the Past?

As walkable and bikeable development continues to gain popularity, many cities, developers, and organizations have forced cities to consider tearing down inner-city freeways.  While a freeway teardown isn’t an easy feat, the process offers many benefits including the opening of land for real estate development, the addition of parks and open space, and, above all, the creation of a place for people. 

Seoul, South Korea tore down a 14-Lane Elevated Freeway Running through Downtown, credit: SDOT blog

Op-Ed: Increasing Funding for Infrastructure Replacement in Rural Areas

The recent collapse of the I-5 Bridge over the Skagit River in Washington State has brought further attention to aging and failing infrastructure throughout the country.  The bridge was actually collapsed due to a collision with a truck carrying drilling equipment higher than the posted clearance of the bridge, but nevertheless, according to the 2013 Infrastructure Report Card from ASCE, the American Society of Civil Engineers, 4.7% of the 7,840 bridges in Washington are structurally deficient.  21.6% of Washington’s bridges are functionally obsolete, meaning that they are narrower than currently standard, have a load limit imposed, and are usually beyond their theoretical design life.  According to the Federal Highway Administration, 30% of the nation’s bridges are beyond their 50-year design lives, and the average age of bridges across the country is 42 years old.