Portland Mercury requests small monthly contributions to sustain news reporting, arts coverage, event calendar, and hosted events. Hot spell eases with mid-80s forecasted and cooler weather anticipated. The Oregon Department of Transportation quietly began the first phase of the I-5 Rose Quarter project without ceremony. The initial work is a roughly $75 million maintenance segment, while the full project—including freeway expansion and caps reconnecting Albina—would cost more than $2 billion. Lawmakers will return for a special legislative session on transportation funding, though decisions on the Rose Quarter are unlikely during that session.
The Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) quietly started work on the first phase of its I-5 Rose Quarter project earlier this week. After nearly a decade of preparation for this very moment, it's notable that there was no ribbon-cutting or groundbreaking ceremony for the event. That's probably because ODOT leaders read the room, and the room is a little wary of the state transportation department spending tens of millions of dollars to begin a freeway megaproject while Oregon experiences a massive transportation funding crisis.
To be clear, ODOT has only started on a small portion of the Rose Quarter project, set to cost about $75 million and consisting of some kinda boring maintenance work. But the agency wants to complete the project in its entirety, including expanding the freeway and adding caps to reconnect the Albina neighborhood, and that's going to run the state more than $2 billion.
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