Congressional delegates visit Portland’s Albina district, celebrate funding wins
An Oregon congressional delegation on Friday affirmed their commitment to rebuilding Lower Albina, promising to stick with the project for as long as it takes to redevelop the historically Black Portland neighborhood destroyed half a century ago by the construction of Interstate 5.“Let it go out far and wide that Oregon’s delegation is all in on this project, and we’ll stay on it until we reach every bit of potential,” said Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon.Wyden, Sen. Jeff Merkley, Rep. Earl Blumenauer and Rep. Suzanne Bonamici on Friday stopped by the offices of Albina Vision Trust, the nonprofit that’s working to redevelop the community and return it to the residents who were once displaced from there.They celebrated the group’s recent successes, chief among them securing a $450 million grant to build freeway covers that would reconnect a portion of the neighborhood that was razed for the development of the freeway, destroying hundreds of home and taking generational wealth away from thousands of Black Portlanders.In addition to the federal funding and a $25 million state allocation, the Albina Vision Trust also in recent weeks has inked a tentative agreement with the Portland Public Schools board to buy the district’s headquarters. The nonprofit plans to eventually redevelop the property and build more than 1,000 homes there.The group on Thursday also made an agreement with the Oregon Department of Transportation to move toward obtaining the right to build on the future freeway covers.Blumenauer, D-Portland, talked about the long-term efforts to rebuild Albina and right historical injustices imposed upon the community.“I feel like I’ve been chasing the ghost of Robert Moses for 50 years,” he said, referring to the urban planner who in the 1940s the city of Portland commissioned to modernize the city’s infrastructure, and who was the primary architect of the plan to build what would become I-5.But amid the recent successes for Albina Vision Trust, questions remain about the future of the freeway project to which it’s linked.An expansion of Interstate 5 through Portland’s Rose Quarter has been paused as ODOT has said it doesn’t have the funds to move forward. The project would add lanes to the section of I-5 that connects to interstates 84 and 405. The cost of the project has steadily climbed and is now projected to cost nearly $2 billion.Congressional leaders visited Portland's Lower Albina neighborhood and affirmed their commitment to its redevelopment. From left: Sen. Jeff Merkley, Rep. Suzanne Bonamici, Rep. Earl Blumenauer, Sen. Ron Wyden, AVT Director Winta Yohannes, AVT board chair Mike Alexander.Jayati RamakrishnanThe federal lawmakers on Friday didn’t directly answer questions about what would happen to the Albina redevelopment project if ODOT doesn’t secure the funds to expand the freeway. But they said they’re searching for more ways to fund the project.“We’re not done yet,” Blumenauer said. “There will have to be a lot of work underneath, but I’m confident we can work on those extraneous pieces.”And Oregon state lawmakers present, including Sen. Lew Frederick, D-Portland, and Rep. Tawna Sanchez, D-Portland, said they plan to address Oregon’s transportation funding woes during the 2025 legislative session.Lawmakers also said they’ll prioritize environmental justice as part of the project, with Bonamici, a Democrat from Beaverton, citing record-breaking temperatures every summer and urban heat islands.But some have raised concerns that the project’s connection to a freeway expansion will negate those efforts.Some environmental activists, including the climate justice group No More Freeways, have pushed for the state to build the freeway covers without expanding the interstate, citing increased air pollution and congestion that would result from a wider freeway.“ODOT’s insistence on a costly project that doubles the width of the highway and likely violates environmental standards is delaying the opportunity to heal this neighborhood,” the group said in a statement on Monday.Two days earlier, however, the federal government announced that it had found that the proposed Rose Quarter freeway project would not have a “significant” negative impact on the environment.But the project’s future is still up in the air after Gov. Tina Kotek blocked one of the main anticipated sources of funding for the freeway expansion — tolling.Lawmakers also didn’t address the feasibility of building the freeway covers without expanding the freeway.Winta Yohannes, the executive director of Albina Vision Trust, said the organization has always been focused on one thing: the freeway covers.But she said she trusts that ODOT and the federal government will hold up their end of the bargain and secure the funds to make the rest of the project happen.“This project has always depended on everyone playing their best role,” Yohannes said.Yohannes and Michael Alexander, the chair of Albina Vision Trust’s board of directors, said they’re excited about building a community that doesn’t just focus on past traumas but reflects the joy and resilience of the people who once lived there.“The primary rule was that we weren’t going to be constrained by reality,” Alexander said. “And we were also going to be surrounded by folks who may have played a role in the destruction of this community.”He said he was heartened by the commitment of local, state and federal authorities.“We’re not where we used to be, and we’re not where we’re going to be. But we’re on the path,” he said.—Jayati Ramakrishnan reports on Oregonians’ access to housing, transportation and mental health care. Reach her at jramakrishnan@oregonian.com.Our journalism needs your support. Subscribe today.
Ron Wyden, Sen. Jeff Merkley, Rep. Earl Blumenauer and Rep. Suzanne Bonamici on Friday stopped by the offices of Albina Vision Trust.
An Oregon congressional delegation on Friday affirmed their commitment to rebuilding Lower Albina, promising to stick with the project for as long as it takes to redevelop the historically Black Portland neighborhood destroyed half a century ago by the construction of Interstate 5.
“Let it go out far and wide that Oregon’s delegation is all in on this project, and we’ll stay on it until we reach every bit of potential,” said Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon.
Wyden, Sen. Jeff Merkley, Rep. Earl Blumenauer and Rep. Suzanne Bonamici on Friday stopped by the offices of Albina Vision Trust, the nonprofit that’s working to redevelop the community and return it to the residents who were once displaced from there.
They celebrated the group’s recent successes, chief among them securing a $450 million grant to build freeway covers that would reconnect a portion of the neighborhood that was razed for the development of the freeway, destroying hundreds of home and taking generational wealth away from thousands of Black Portlanders.
In addition to the federal funding and a $25 million state allocation, the Albina Vision Trust also in recent weeks has inked a tentative agreement with the Portland Public Schools board to buy the district’s headquarters. The nonprofit plans to eventually redevelop the property and build more than 1,000 homes there.
The group on Thursday also made an agreement with the Oregon Department of Transportation to move toward obtaining the right to build on the future freeway covers.
Blumenauer, D-Portland, talked about the long-term efforts to rebuild Albina and right historical injustices imposed upon the community.
“I feel like I’ve been chasing the ghost of Robert Moses for 50 years,” he said, referring to the urban planner who in the 1940s the city of Portland commissioned to modernize the city’s infrastructure, and who was the primary architect of the plan to build what would become I-5.
But amid the recent successes for Albina Vision Trust, questions remain about the future of the freeway project to which it’s linked.
An expansion of Interstate 5 through Portland’s Rose Quarter has been paused as ODOT has said it doesn’t have the funds to move forward. The project would add lanes to the section of I-5 that connects to interstates 84 and 405. The cost of the project has steadily climbed and is now projected to cost nearly $2 billion.
Congressional leaders visited Portland's Lower Albina neighborhood and affirmed their commitment to its redevelopment. From left: Sen. Jeff Merkley, Rep. Suzanne Bonamici, Rep. Earl Blumenauer, Sen. Ron Wyden, AVT Director Winta Yohannes, AVT board chair Mike Alexander.Jayati Ramakrishnan
The federal lawmakers on Friday didn’t directly answer questions about what would happen to the Albina redevelopment project if ODOT doesn’t secure the funds to expand the freeway. But they said they’re searching for more ways to fund the project.
“We’re not done yet,” Blumenauer said. “There will have to be a lot of work underneath, but I’m confident we can work on those extraneous pieces.”
And Oregon state lawmakers present, including Sen. Lew Frederick, D-Portland, and Rep. Tawna Sanchez, D-Portland, said they plan to address Oregon’s transportation funding woes during the 2025 legislative session.
Lawmakers also said they’ll prioritize environmental justice as part of the project, with Bonamici, a Democrat from Beaverton, citing record-breaking temperatures every summer and urban heat islands.
But some have raised concerns that the project’s connection to a freeway expansion will negate those efforts.
Some environmental activists, including the climate justice group No More Freeways, have pushed for the state to build the freeway covers without expanding the interstate, citing increased air pollution and congestion that would result from a wider freeway.
“ODOT’s insistence on a costly project that doubles the width of the highway and likely violates environmental standards is delaying the opportunity to heal this neighborhood,” the group said in a statement on Monday.
Two days earlier, however, the federal government announced that it had found that the proposed Rose Quarter freeway project would not have a “significant” negative impact on the environment.
But the project’s future is still up in the air after Gov. Tina Kotek blocked one of the main anticipated sources of funding for the freeway expansion — tolling.
Lawmakers also didn’t address the feasibility of building the freeway covers without expanding the freeway.
Winta Yohannes, the executive director of Albina Vision Trust, said the organization has always been focused on one thing: the freeway covers.
But she said she trusts that ODOT and the federal government will hold up their end of the bargain and secure the funds to make the rest of the project happen.
“This project has always depended on everyone playing their best role,” Yohannes said.
Yohannes and Michael Alexander, the chair of Albina Vision Trust’s board of directors, said they’re excited about building a community that doesn’t just focus on past traumas but reflects the joy and resilience of the people who once lived there.
“The primary rule was that we weren’t going to be constrained by reality,” Alexander said. “And we were also going to be surrounded by folks who may have played a role in the destruction of this community.”
He said he was heartened by the commitment of local, state and federal authorities.
“We’re not where we used to be, and we’re not where we’re going to be. But we’re on the path,” he said.
—Jayati Ramakrishnan reports on Oregonians’ access to housing, transportation and mental health care. Reach her at jramakrishnan@oregonian.com.
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