Those damn highway design manuals strike again!!

I'm honored to have been chosen last night by my colleagues to serve as Chair of Portland's Planning Commission for another year. We also chose our Youth Commissioner as one of our two Vice Chairs, which I believe is a first for our body.

We are sorry to hear what is going down in NJ. In Oregon, one bright light on the transpo front. Micromobility Network and @thestreettrust.org testified in support of our pro e-bike, anti E-Moto legislation. We got the session off to a good start, and the stars should be aligned for passage.

Worse, high-power e-mopeds/e-motos aren’t actually e-bikes, but they’re fueling a general backlash against battery-powered two-wheelers. Also a problem: Janky imports prone to catching on fire.

if you want some background about why "more BAT lanes will increase daily traffic diversion by 2%" is not a statement you should take that seriously, @nerd4cities.bsky.social has you covered

This is insanity. Our bedrock American institutions are being torn apart. This will permanently harm all Conservative and Liberal Americans. Our Congress has the power and duty to stop this. Now. Tonight.

It’s geometry.

Planners for the Interstate Bridge Replacement openly lied to lawmakers last month when they said they couldn't state how much the costs for the new bridge would be. Good records work.

The highway building industrial complex is so broken. The good news? now we actually can't afford to keep shoveling this kind of $$$ into a bottomless road wideing pit.

I think we need to go back to the drawing board and consider the alternative replacement schemes that don't involve a dozen miles of new freeways and several rebuilt interchanges.

I will forever contend that a lot of our worst freeway traffic in Portland is because we have too many on and offramps too close to each other, and the ramps have awful 60s-80s geometry with no merging space.

NEWS ALERT The Interstate Bridge Replacement team has known the cost of the project has doubled since August, but didn't tell legislators at September/December committee meetings The IBR now is projected to cost more than the entire pricetag of HB 2025, last year's statewide transportation package

Notable that Oregon Transportation Commissioner Phil Chang is suggesting the legislators need to decide whether or not they want to keep pushing forward on the portland area megaprojects instead of backfilling ODOT maintenance needs in a hometown paper op-ed bendbulletin.com/2026/01/07/g... #orpol

"The “redirect”: Passing a bill to free up money within ODOT’s budget that is currently dedicated to specific projects. That money could instead go toward basic road maintenance." www.opb.org/article/2026...

The WES was built for ~$166M in 2009. That's ~$250M in 2025. The Interstate Rose Quarter project is projected to cost $2 billion, or 8 times what the WES cost. Meanwhile, a WES extension to Salem was killed in committee last year. The problem isn't the money. It's how we choose to spend it.

The legislature did a grave disservice when we failed to secure long term funding for transit service. I'm heartbroken to read the scale of cuts TriMet is now proposing. I hope you'll hold me accountable to prioritizing working with my colleagues to find a solution. #orpol https://loom.ly/pmos-0k

“It’s pretty devastating. It’s not like there’s not some money out there. We’re just spending it on cars.” - NMF co-founder @chrissmith.us in @wweek.com, on @trimet.org’s cuts, and the failure of Oregon th prioritize existing bus service over freeway expansion www.wweek.com/news/2026/01...

Billions of dollars to ODOT for continued endless polluting freeway expansions, while TriMet and other transit agencies across the state prepare for massive service cuts. A profound public policy failure of Oregon government. #orpol #orleg

Oh hi, we're on Bluesky now 👋👋👋

HNY! Top billing from @oregonian.com for pugs on @thestreettrust.org New Years Day Ride 😂 Had the weather been better, I’d have spent more time playing w/ the pugs, too. However, it allowed me the opportunity to chat more w/ @councilortkl.bsky.social—silver lining! www.oregonlive.com/portland/202...

“E-bikes and scooters displace 4x as much demand for oil as all of the EVs in the world”

Join us for the first #farmersmarketride of 2026 tomorrow: www.shift2bikes.org/calendar/eve... I promise it won't rain 🤞

"car owners interested in car-free living are a diverse group, with few significant associations between interest in car-free living and key socioeconomic or demographic variables" Those wishing to drop the car are "rich and poor, old and young, and of various races and political opinions".

I'm begging the public to understand two things: E-motorcycles aren't e-bikes When anyone whines about the danger to the public e-motorcycles (or any motorcycle) presents, please compare it to the astronomical death toll of the automobile including public health. @peopleforbikes.bsky.social

Setting 🚦timing to the speed of cycling on one-way streets is an overlooked part of #invisibleurbanism #VisionZero

This account’s most popular traffic-related post of 2025:

“At the end of the day, No More Freeways is a grassroots movement that believes Portland will be a healthier, happier, more prosperous, more equitable, and more livable city if we stop spending billions of dollars widening freeways.” - NMF co-founder @chrissmith.us www.nomorefreewayspdx.com/donate

Connor was a mainstay of the effort to save the diverters in NW. He could use a helping hand.

Just wow. @pluralistic.net.web.brid.gy came out swinging in this article. He's right though and that's the coolest part.

I had not anticipated that my retirement job would be corralling lawyers, but if that’s what it takes… Would appreciate any help you can offer!

My god. From Sharyn Alfonsi’s email to her ‘60 Minutes’ colleagues, posted by the NYT Michael Grynbaum:

That feeling when your entire rapid transit system converges on one easily disrupted segment — like, say, a 123-year old bridge that lifts for tall boats. Portland needs an rail tunnel under downtown. It’s the only megaproject in our region that excites me at this point.

The Coast Guard wants to hear from a very specific segment of the population.

What does it take to move 1000 people? Smart infrastructure supporting choices that don’t take up so much space (or produce so much emissions/pollution, cost so much public money etc). Mobility in cities is about space. Graphic via @seattlesubway.org based on a Sydney graphic I spread years ago.

This is literally one of the most pathetic things I’ve ever seen, anywhere.

As someone who commutes by e-bike from St Johns throughout PDX several times a week, I have become crazy passionate about SAFE lanes for micromobility. It's the future. I see so many kinds of people trying to use bikes, trikes, e-scooters, bikeshare, e-bikes, electric mobility devices

I regularly get asked if I’m hopeful. Or optimistic. My answer is always the same. What I am, is determined.

Hey Portland friends!!! Trimet just dropped this survey for 82nd Ave. If you care about safe streets and/or improved transit, please consider taking a few minutes and give your feedback! Thanks!!

ngl i had already made my peace that we were gonna lose sophia to the expansion side. Fantastic news to get her back next year #baonpdx

a timeline, as covered above: Jan 2024: IBR cost update will be out in six months June 2024: announces it'll be June 2025 April 2025: not until September 2025 September: not until December 2025 December 2025: not until coast guard weighs in, which could be as late as march #orleg #orpol #walege

a little friday ews dump for y'all: ODOT/WSDOT announce today via posted materials ahead of Monday's bi-state IBR committee meeting that we apparently *won't* be getting an updated cost estimate for the Interstate Bridge Replacaement next week after all. olis.oregonlegislature.gov/liz/2025I1/D...

Quite notable that the Mayor of Portland and the Metro Council President signed a letter to the Oregon Transportation Commission saying they supported continued status quo funding of the Rose Quarter Freeway Expansion - without actually consulting the rest of the Metro/City Council!

Northwesterners will receive an update Monday on costs to replace the Interstate Bridge between Oregon and Washington. That new price tag could add billions.

Recommendation from the 2005 Freeway Loop Study: "Complete Master Plan Before Major Investment." (Maybe we should do that?)

Another important piece of this "can they build caps w/o freeway widening" question is: That option was never studied by ODOT and that's why one lawsuits from @nomorefreewayspdx.com wants a full EIS so that ODOT would have to study whether or not it's possible to build caps w/o fwy widening.

If the Rose Quarter project dies, there’s gonna be a lot of hurt in our Black community. It’s important that we work to repair, and then build a vision for Albina’s restoration that builds space, Black wealth, and a healthy economy and climate for all. It’s possible. We should commit to it.

If you're in Oregon and you care about being able to go places, this needs your attention THIS MORNING. nomorefreewayspdx.com/option3/

Oregon: Should we keep on trying to build an unpopular freeway widening in Portland, or fix potholes and keep snowplows going all over the state? Seems like there might be space for some urban-rural consensus here. nomorefreewayspdx.com/option3/

Every time I’m forced to drive south on I-5 through the Rose Quarter, I stay in my lane, drive slowly, give ample space, and zipper merge at exit 302A like god intended And then I get home and write Santa another strongly worded letter asking for more funding for public transit

I read this story while preparing a recent talk examining what robotaxis mean for biking. Really puts the "AVs are bicyclists' best friends" claims in perspective. www.jalopnik.com/1895643/cycl...