New particulars have emerged this morning of a nascent infrastructure funding effort that goals to quench the thirst for sidewalks in east and southwest Portland.
As I shared Thursday, District 4 Councilor Mitch Inexperienced and District 1 Councilor Loretta Smith have seized on a shared curiosity in transportation infrastructure funding reform and a want to ship fashionable investments to create a brand new solution to get extra sidewalks constructed. They name it the “Sidewalk Enchancment and Pavement Program” or SIPP. We’ve discovered extra particulars concerning the coverage bundle in paperwork filed to the Metropolis Council T & I Committee web site and feedback made by Inexperienced on social media this morning.
In response to Inexperienced, he and Smith have already solicited suggestions from Portland Bureau of Transportation workers. “From PBOT’s suggestions to Councilor Smith and me, we’re contemplating a spread of remedies in areas with constraints or alternatives the place pedestrian services apart from sidewalks are higher for the context,” Inexperienced shared on Bluesky this morning in response to a submit by BikePortland. “We’re producing enter for this rising coverage idea for going larger on sidewalks and paths and the way we’re funding it. Potholes are included too.”
Extra particulars on the SIPP could be discovered within the draft decision language posted to the T & I Committee agenda. The draft language provides us our first clues about how councilors will body this system and what new income shall be targeted on. The SIPP, “goals to deal with sidewalk and pavement deficiencies, create safer pedestrian services, and enhance roadway situations.” Why will it concentrate on districts 1 and 4 solely? “Of all streets missing correct sidewalks or pedestrian entry, over half of these streets are positioned in East Portland and Southwest Portland,” reads the draft decision. :”Prioritizing investments in Districts 1 and 4 will guarantee extra equitable entry to important pedestrian pathways, enhanced local weather resilience, and elevated safer highway situations for all residents.”
An impression assertion part of the decision states that, “The Metropolis has deferred upkeep on our streets and sidewalks for a few years – and much too lengthy… Whereas Portland’s central core advantages from walkable neighborhoods with good sidewalks, most streets in Districts 1 and 4 lack sidewalks solely.”
As has already been reported by Willamette Week, funding for the SIPP may come from quite a lot of sources together with: issuing bonds and allocating funds allotted to PBOT for sidewalk development and enhancements; federal funding from the Protected Streets for All (SS4A) program; funding from the Oregon Division of Transportation (ODOT); and funding from the Portland Clear Vitality Group Advantages Fund (PCEF).
The decision additionally lists anticipated advantages of this system. Past the standard like security and environmental advantages, the councilors say new and improved sidewalks might be an engine for financial progress, job creation, and “alternatives to display the use and effectiveness of latest and rising inexperienced applied sciences and sustainable supplies in transportation networks equivalent to photo voltaic sidewalks and inexperienced cement.”
It’s an formidable effort from two new councilors who say it, “will set up a system-wide effort that might function a mannequin for related development and renovation initiatives throughout the Metropolis of Portland.”
If handed by the complete council, the decision would direct PBOT to discover the “full suite” of funding choices and provoke a public engagement course of that may end in a four-year undertaking checklist full with an implementation schedule and funds. Along with the SIPP coverage bundle, councilors Smith and Inexperienced need to go a separate ordinance that may develop, “a jobs pipeline connecting present internship, apprenticeship, and different coaching and teaching programs to good jobs that SIPP will create.”
A price ticket for this system isn’t included within the draft decision, however I’ve been advised a place to begin could be $100 million. What number of miles of sidewalks that might create will depend on many elements — from topography to allowing. The decision does embrace a timeline: it’s anticipated to take about 4 years earlier than it’s absolutely baked and sidewalks are able to be constructed.
Keep tuned for Monday’s T & I Committee assembly the place the SIPP will get its first listening to. You’ll be able to learn the decision and submit written testimony right here.
