Ask Portland to reduce congestion in the West Hills, comment by 5pm Friday

Portland needs another nudge to implement long term solutions for congestion in the West Hills (including Cornell Road), and they’ve provided the perfect opportunity. Last year’s online petition asked the city to reduce single occupant vehicle commuters, who are mostly from outside our area, by implementing a Transportation Demand Management (TDM) program. Portland is currently taking comments on their new Transportation System Plan (TSP), and while the draft calls for this type of program the city hasn’t shown any interest, so far, in implementing it in our area. The new TSP is very good, overall. It seems that our congestion and this program simply aren’t a high priority for them. If you want Portland to make this program a priority for our area, here’s how: Implementing a TDM study and program in the west hills would provide commuters with new options, reducing single occupant vehicle commuting and resulting congestion. ---> Send comments by 5PM on Friday July 21 on the draft Transportation System Plan (TSP) Update: Stage 3 to: TSP3@portlandoregon.gov The link to the TSP should be below. Suggested language: "Add a new Objective in the Western Hills Pattern Area (pages 3-12 and 3-13 in the draft TSP): Objective XX: TDM Program. Implement a Transportation Demand Management (TDM) study and program in the West Hills to provide effective options for commuters on all through roads over the west hills north of Hwy 26 to reduce congestion and carbon emissions, improve neighborhood livability and cycling safety, and protect important natural resources. Explore innovative solutions suited to this unique situation." ----------- Here’s the background (you don’t need to send this part with your comments to the city): We need to persuade Portland to work with Multnomah County to implement a TDM study and program to evaluate and implement options that would effectively help commuters (and locals) get around without driving in single occupant vehicles. Those options might include, for example, employer shuttle buses and Lyft or Uber type car pools. Those are both popular in the Bay Area, and some cities there subsidize car pool rides. These options are often inexpensive, they don’t require expanding roads, and some can be implemented fairly quickly. Forest Park, NW Heights, and Linnton neighborhoods are requesting that Portland work with Multnomah County on a TDM study. Individual comments on the TSP will help persuade the city to commit to this project and make it a priority. In most parts of Portland, the city encourages people to use transit, cycling, and walking instead of driving a car. But the West Hills are geographically constrained and have many important natural resources. There are only a few “through” roads, none of which can be easily expanded. Biking and walking aren’t viable options for most people in the area due to long distances, narrow winding roads and steep hills. These roads are choked with single occupant vehicle commuters on long commutes who use these roads to avoid congested highways. The resulting long periods of congestion diminish neighborhood livability and health, increase carbon emissions, limit freight mobility for North Portland, and harm the environment and Forest Park. We need to explore some of the innovative solutions available for our unique situation. A TDM study and program would determine which options for drivers would be most effective and then implement them. Parts of these roads are in the city, other parts are in the county, so the jurisdictions need to work together on a TDM program. The county supports doing a TDM study, but Portland has not yet agreed. This TSP comment period is an opportunity to let the city know that there is strong support for a TDM study and program to help reduce congestion on the roads over the west hills. Reducing the number of vehicles on these roads will also make them safer for cyclists, and will reduce air and water pollution in Forest Park. The West Hills are not like other parts of the region – the through roads used by commuters are lined not with dense homes, schools, and businesses, but with parks and natural resources. Our roads aren’t like the busy Southwest or Powell/Division corridors. Most commuters through this area are driving long distances from Scappoose, Vancouver, and Portland to or from Washington County. Our roads, to commuters, are more like long bridges – long point-to-point drives. These unique characteristics require different approaches than urban corridors. Want to read the TSP? You can review the document here: Review the updates here: https://www.portlandoregon.gov/transportation/article/640080?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery