Portland Transportation Commissioner Mingus Mapps announced today that he will bring a third round of the popular Fixing Our Streets program to the City Council in January, for referral to voters on the May 21 ballot.
If voters renew Fixing Our Streets in 2024, the 10-cent gas tax would generate an estimated $70.5 million over four years.
PBOT's proposal allocates these funds in three areas:
- Smoother Streets Projects, $23.5 million: paving busy streets, neighborhood greenways and residential streets.
- Safer Streets Projects, $23.5 million: building safety improvements on busy streets and residential streets, as well as Safe Routes to School.
- Community Street Services, $23.5 million: filling potholes, maintenance for traffic signals and street lighting; funding for Portland Gravel Street Service, base repairs, upgrading bike lanes by replacing temporary infrastructure with harder, more permanent materials; making intersections safer for pedestrians and more accessible for people with disabilities; funding to continue PBOT's hotline for responding to traffic safety concerns for the public and funding for speed bumps on residential streets.
For full details, see the Fixing Our Streets DRAFT Proposal (2024-2028) that was posted on the PBOT website today.
"We need Fixing Our Streets to help address critical maintenance needs such as paving our streets and filling potholes," Commissioner Mapps said. "We need Fixing Our Streets to address safety needs that can save lives, like funding Safe Routes to School improvements and retrofitting and enhancing bike lanes. That's why I'm so excited to bring this program to City Council next month. I am confident and hopeful that they will strongly endorse this and send it to voters for the May election."
Commissioner Mapps and PBOT Director Millicent Williams toured a Portland Gravel Street Service work site today on Southwest Arnold Street to get a firsthand look at the work funded by Fixing Our Steets.
"This neighborhood street is just one example of how Fixing Our Streets makes a difference all over Portland," Director Williams said. "Across the city you can see the impact of Fixing Our Streets as it improves our streets and makes it safer for Portlanders of all ages to walk, bike, and roll to where they want to go."
Source: Portland City Commissioner Mingus Mapps