Thanks to BikePortland.org for this great re-cap of this week's Transportation Forum--it was one of my favorites! I was struck by how many smart, passionate people were on that stage, how much consensus there was among us about transportation priorities, but most of all by the fact that under my leadership Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) is already doing most of what was suggested by the various participants. The city clearly needs to do a better job communicating with the public (I'm working on that), but my opponents might want to brush up on what PBOT has done since I assumed oversight of the bureau 18 months ago.
Safety, racial equity, and meeting our climate goals inform every project we undertake. We've made historic investments in East Portland. And we've laid down more miles of bike lanes in a single year since the 90s! I'm proud of the great work my staff has done, especially Jamey Duhamel who was the driving force behind the Rose Lane Project, and the amazing team at PBOT from Chris Warner and the leadership team to the planners and engineers to our maintenance workers making it all happen on the ground and everyone in between. It is such a pleasure to work with this bureau! Keep your eyes peeled for more street lights in East Portland, new parking setbacks at intersections, a new approach to Neighborhood Greenways that will fill gaps and improve safety, and round two of Fixing Our Streets pending the renewal of the Gas Tax.