On Aug. 31, 2023, climate activists from all walks of life gathered in Laurelhurst Park to celebrate the indefinite pause of Phase 2 of Oregon Department of Transportation’s (ODOT) Interstate 205 (I-205) freeway expansion and the delays facing the Rose Quarter Improvement Project (RQIP).
Speakers at the event, including Oregon State Representatives Khanh Pham and Mark Gamba, reviewed the timeline of their activism and emphasized this momentous outcome of their ongoing fight. Snacks and treats filled picnic tables and people joined in song as attendees felt a communal sense of pride.
Since Phase 2 of the I-205 expansion and the RQIP were announced, climate activist groups across the state have continuously protested the projects. Amoung these groups are Youth vs. ODOT, Sunrise PDX, No More Freeways and Neighbors for Clean Air.
Among these activists were students, some as young as 13, who held meetings during and after school hours to discuss the impacts these projects would have on their futures.
Phase 2 of the I-205 expansion included plans to retrofit eight bridges, improve off-ramps, add bike lanes and pedestrian routes and widen I-205 from two to three lanes for an over-six-mile stretch in Clackamas County.
The RQIP, which ODOT plans to continue, promises to reduce traffic congestion by adding two auxiliary lanes to a stretch of Interstate 5 (I-5), implement stable infrastructure for earthquake safety and add a highway cover to reconnect the historically Black Albina neighborhood that was decimated in 1950 by the Oregon State Highway Department when the freeway was first constructed.
In addition to federal support from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, ODOT was planning to use toll roads across Oregon to fund these projects. However, in May 2023, Governor Tina Kotek instructed ODOT to pause the implementation of tolls until 2026. Without this additional funding, ODOT was forced to abort Phase 2 of the I-205 expansion.
Students at Harriet Tubman Middle School, which sits directly adjacent to I-5 and feeds into Grant High School, will be acutely affected if ODOT moves forward with the RQIP.
A 2018 study conducted by Portland State University (PSU) found that Tubman experiences high levels of pollutants due to nearby freeway emissions. Exposure to these pollutants can lead to greater risks of ADHD, asthma and lung cancer, which adolescents are at an even greater risk of developing.
According to 2018 data from Willamette Week, over 100,000 passenger vehicles and roughly 18,000 highly-polluting diesel-powered trucks drive past Tubman every day. On days with particularly severe traffic, former Tubman students and staff recall visible smog permeating the air during recess.
“Just seeing students play next to a freeway, something’s not right,” says Gerald Scrutchions, a Grant High School teacher who taught at Tubman from 2018 to 2020.
In the winter of 2019, Adah Crandall, a former Tubman student and Grant alumna, started the middle school’s environmental justice club.
Through intensive research and presentations from numerous climate organizations, including Neighbors for Clean Air, the club members soon discovered that the freeway looming directly outside their tightly-sealed classroom window was not only negatively impacting their environment, but their own physical health as well.
“I remember sitting in that classroom as a 13 year old and just feeling so scared, and also angry that the school district and the state and the city (were) just letting this happen,” recalls Crandall. “Students at my school deserve(d) to breathe clean air.”
Fueled by fear and anger, Crandall and her peers took action. As ODOT moved forward with its plan for the RQIP, Tubman student activists attended numerous legislative meetings, giving testimony to their regional government in opposition to the freeway expansion.
When COVID-19 hit, Crandall joined Sunrise PDX — the Portland chapter of a nationwide, youth-led organization fighting climate change. Soon after, Youth vs. ODOT, a Sunrise PDX campaign focused on the decarbonization of Oregon’s transportation system, was created. Two of the campaign’s main goals were the cancellations of the RQIP and Phase 2 of the I-205 expansion project.
In 2021 and 2022, Youth vs. ODOT members frequently stationed themselves outside the doors of the regional ODOT office at 4:30 p.m. every other week. The group eventually became so large that they were labeled a fire hazard by ODOT employees. Youth vs. ODOT would often write and illustrate cautionary messages in chalk outside the building and even drove to Salem, Oregon, to rally outside of then-Governor Kate Brown’s house.
Regarding the trip to Salem, Crandall says, “That made it a lot more up close and personal. Suddenly we’re not standing at the Portland ODOT office. We’re standing outside (Brown’s) driveway.”
For the next two years, Youth vs. ODOT, No More Freeways and other organizations across Portland consistently combated the RQIP and Phase 2 of the I-205 expansion. No More Freeways focused on the behind-the-scenes, technical side of the fight, while Youth vs. ODOT worked to shift the public narrative and mobilize students.
In June 2023, after years of persistent lobbying, the climate activists’ goals were realized: That month, ODOT released its Urban Mobility Strategy Finance Plan, which stated that without funding from tolls, the RQIP would be delayed and “I-205 Phase 2 will be indefinitely postponed.” In an updated description of the RQIP on the state of Oregon’s official website, ODOT states, “At this time, funding for construction is not available.” The currently allocated $158 million will be used to complete the environmental review, construction plans and design of the RQIP until ODOT can find additional funding.
These cancellations and setbacks were primarily credited to issues with funding. “They don’t want to give credit to the activists because then, of course, it’s gonna encourage more activism,” says Suzanna Kassouf, a 9th Grade Inquiry teacher at Grant, and the co-founder of Sunrise PDX.
Over time, ODOT has also shifted the purpose of the RQIP by tying it to the revival of the historic Albina neighborhood. Now the project is not just a freeway expansion, but a commitment from ODOT to revitalize one of Portland’s once-thriving Black communities.
During the late 1950s and early 1960s, the Albina neighborhood was destroyed due to the construction of I-5 and other urban renewal projects. Thousands of residents were displaced as their homes were demolished and their community was physically divided. Hundreds of millions of dollars in generational wealth were lost.
Today, immense gentrification has dramatically changed the area.
According to ODOT, the solution is a highway cover. The latest RQIP plans, created in partnership with the Historic Albina Advisory Board (consisting of numerous organizations and representatives from Portland’s Black community), include a cover capable of supporting six-story buildings. This would reconnect city blocks, providing safe sidewalks and accessible transportation as well as increased economic development and community spaces for BIPOC Portlanders.
However, ODOT has yet to find funding for these plans which would significantly increase the RQIP’s cost. Their most promising funding source would come from road tolls on the Abernethy Bridge. However, due to Governor Kotek’s recent decision, it would not be possible to implement such a tolling system until 2026.
Moreover, Portland’s climate activists note, this does not absolve the negative climate impacts of expanding I-5.
As ODOT moves forward with the RQIP, an overwhelming sense of worry persists among climate activists regarding the sustainability of Portland’s future infrastructure and transportation systems.
In a call for a greener future, Kassouf says, “It’s imperative to me that we transform the way that we think as a whole and start to imagine a more collective way of living for our own survival.”
