As part of reversing the current economic downturn and facilitating long-term economic growth, Oregon will need to address its numerous surface transportation chokepoints, TRIP says.  Enhancing critical segments of Oregon’s surface transportation system will boost the state’s economy in the short-term by creating jobs in construction and related fields.  In the long term, these improvements will enhance economic competitiveness by improving access and mobility, which will stimulate sustained job growth and improve the quality of life in Oregon. 

In 2009, the Oregon legislature approved the Oregon Jobs and Transportation Act (HB 2001), which increased funding for local and state roads, highways and public transit systems, as a result of increased state registration fees, licensing fees and motor fuel taxes.  The Act will provide $100 million for non-road transportation improvements, including public transit and, by 2011, when all fee increases are implemented, will provide an additional $300 million annually for local and state road and highway improvements. 

A number of the chokepoints identified in this report, including the I-5/I-205 Interchange, widening of US 26 from Cornell to 185^th Avenue, Newberg-Dundee Bypass in Yamhill County, US 97/Murphy Road Interchange in Bend, I-5 Steep Grade Bottlenecks in southern Oregon, and I-84 Spring Creek section, may be significantly improved by funding allocated to specific projects under HB 2001.

“In addition to causing a headache for motorists, Oregon’s transportation chokepoints stifle economic development and growth at a time when it is desperately needed. Oregon can’t get where it wants to go – in both a literal and an economic sense – without an efficient transportation system,” Will Wilkins, executive director of TRIP, says in a press statement.

–Tina Grady Barbaccia