On Monday, May 12, Multnomah County and several east County mayors will hold a press conference, sending a collective message to the Oregon Legislature to sustainably fund transportation statewide. Local jurisdictions urgently need funding that would come from the passage of a transportation funding bill to create and maintain safer roads and bridges for our communities.
Who:
- Multnomah County Commissioner Vince Jones-Dixon
- Gresham Mayor Travis Stovall
- Community Member Bob Thomas
- Wood Village Mayor Jairo Rios-Campos
- Troutdale Mayor David Ripma
- Fairview Mayor Keith Kudrna
When: Monday, May 12
Where: Donald L Robertson City Park, 24300 NE Halsey Street, Wood Village
Time: 12:00 p.m.
Visuals: Directly across the street, news outlets will be able to get footage of a recent crosswalk project that shows what agencies can do with current funding. Not far down the road on Halsey, there are examples of the road in poor condition and the work that still needs to be done if there was more funding available.
Please RSVP to: pressoffice@multco.us
Call to action
City and County roads are crucial links for our community every day. County roads are most used by communities in our local cities. Whether urban or rural, our roads connect people to work, friends and family and services like the doctor’s office or grocery store. The Oregon Legislature must take action this legislative session to sustainably fund transportation and fix the funding deficit that all local governments, including Multnomah County, have been facing for decades.
What a transportation bill could mean for Multnomah County and City partners
Maintenance is a safety issue. In a recent survey for the Urban East County Transportation Safety Action Plan, participants identified maintenance as the number one barrier for walking and biking.
More funding could help the County upgrade roads that are deteriorating in local cities. The County could replace more curb ramps and make them ADA accessible. The County could also add more crosswalks in east County cities and do more routine vegetation management.
Multnomah County roads are often the focal point of local cities. The County works closely with the Cities to build and maintain those County roads to meet the needs of their residents. Passing a transportation funding package would give the County and Cities the ability to meet the community’s expectations for safer roads and bridges, alleviating the need for bandaid maintenance fixes.
The need is great, but even a small amount of funding can help. Leveraging state and federal grants will improve safety - particularly in urban East Multnomah County where the County maintains 30 miles of high volume roads with sidewalks, bike lanes, signals and ramps. The County could also replace broken rural roads with additional funding.
In 2023, the County used $5.1 million to overlay and repair seven miles of E. Larch Mountain Road, the highest road in Multnomah County’s jurisdiction, reaching an altitude of 4055 feet in east county. It's heavily used for recreation in the Columbia River Gorge. The project paved and repaired seven miles of E. Larch Mountain Road between milepost 7 and 14. A contractor also replaced old guardrails and restriped the road. This investment means the County won’t have to send maintenance out for spot repairs for decades.
Public hearing
The Joint Committee on Transportation will be holding a public hearing on the transportation package sometime in May. Dates are being finalized. Stay tuned for updates on how you can sign up to voice your support for sustainable transportation funding statewide.
Multnomah County maintains 269 miles of roads. For information, visit: https://www.multco.us/roads.
This press conference is a multi-agency effort between Multnomah County, Gresham, Troutdale, Fairview and Wood Village.