The Oregon Transportation Commission is moving forward with a $795 million Interstate 5 improvement project in Portland, Ore.
The project will widen and improve the freeway that runs through Portland’s Rose Quarter, reducing congestion, improving safety, and allowing new transit facilities in the area, according to commission chair Robert Van Brocklin.
Van Brocklin went on to call the Rose Quarter Freeway “the worst traffic bottleneck in the state and one of the most congested freeway corridors in the country.”
The commission recently agreed unanimously not to have the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) conduct a full environmental impact statement, which could have delayed construction up to two years past the scheduled 2023 date, according to Oregon Public Broadcasting. On April 2, the Commission directed ODOT to continue to work with local government partners on a set of
