The Case for FreightGREATESTNEEDS–OREGON

Increasing capacity on our nation’s transportation system will:

•UnlockGridlock,•GenerateJobs,•DeliverFreight,•AccessEnergy,•ConnectCommunities

Did you know?

•Theamountoffreightmovedinthiscoun-try—frommilk,tooth-pasteandtoiletpapertosparkplugs,wheatandwindturbines—isexpectedtodoubleinthenext40years?

•TheInterstateHigh-waySystemrepre-sentsonly4percentoftotalmilesbutcarries70percentofcommer-cialtrucktraffic?

•Eachofthetoptenworstfreight-truckbottleneckscauseoveronemillionhoursofdelayayear?

“Across the state, Oregon DOT is building transportation infrastructure

to serve new industrial developments to support the nation’s economic

recovery and create family-wage industrial jobs. By expanding

interchanges that serve industrial lands and fixing bottlenecks that slow

trucks, we are securing a healthier transportation infrastructure and

helping Oregon companies create jobs and get their goods to national

and international markets.”

—Matthew Garrett, Oregon Department of Transportation Director

FreightCapacityNeedsInterstate 5 Southern Oregon Truck Climbing Lanes Interstate 84 Troutdale Interchange Interstate 5 Kuebler Boulevard Interchange U.S. 26 Brookwood Interchange

Interstate 5 Southern Oregon Truck Climbing Lanes

Interstate5istheWestCoast’smajortradecorridorandoneofthetopfreightroutesinthenation.AsitpassesthroughDouglas,Josephine,andJacksoncountiesinsouthernOregon,I-5travelsthroughruggedmountainterrainwithsteepgrades.AccordingtoarecentreportfromtheFederalHighwayAdministration,fiveofthetop25steep-gradetruckbottlenecksonthenation’sfreewaysareonthisstretchofI-5.Together,thesesteepgradescausenearly1.3millionannualhoursofdelayfortrucks.

A number of steep grades on Interstate 5 in southern Oregon—including this 6% grade—force heavy trucks to travel at a crawl. Traffic jams and crashes occur when slow-moving trucks pass even slower-moving trucks.

For more information: http://expandingcapacity.transportation.org/

TruckstravelingonI-5insouthernOregonaresloweddownsignificantlyastheydriveupthesesteepgrades,oftento20mphorless.Sincethissectionoffreewayhasonlytwolanesineachdirection,manytruckschoosetousetheshouldertocrawlupthemountains,whichisnotlawfulandcausessafetycon-cerns.Othertrucksremainintherighthandlaneandslowtrafficbehindthem.Stillotherslow-movingtrucksgetintheleftlanetoattempttopasstrucksthataremovingevenmoreslowly,whichcanleadtosignificantdelaysforothervehiclesstuckbehindthetrucks.Thesesectionsoffreewayalsosufferfromacrashrateabout40%higherthanthestatewideaverageforI-5.WithtruckvolumesexpectedtosignificantlyincreaseonI-5by2025,anumberofthesesteepgradesareexpectedtoproducecongestionthatwillrivalurbanfreeways.

OregonDOTandtheFederalHighwayAdministrationhaveidentifiedtheneedfortruckclimbinglanesatmultiplelocationsinsouthernOregon.Theseprojectswilladdathirdlanetotheuphillsectionoffreeway,allowingpassengervehiclesandtruckstopassslow-movingtruckswithoutbringingfreewaytrafficnearlytoahalt.Theseprojectswillalsoallowtheshouldertobeusedasintendedfordisabledoremergencyvehiclesandaddresssafetyproblemsattheselocations.Thecostofaddressingalloftheseneedsexceeds$100million.

Interstate 84 Troutdale Interchange

TheinterchangeatInterstate84and257thAvenueinTroutdaleisamajorcrossroadsfortheeasternportionofthePortlandmetropolitanregion.TheinterchangeisamajorcenterfortrucktraffictravelingthroughtheColumbiaRiverGorge.

FreighttrafficthroughtheinterchangewillincreaseastheTroutdaleReynoldsIndustrialProperty,ownedbythePortofPortland,isdeveloped.Thissite,whichhasgoodaccesstotheUnionPacificrailline,I-84,andtheTroutdaleAirport,isexpectedtoattractthousandsoffamily-wageindustrialjobswhenitisfullydeveloped.Onemajortenant,FedExGround,hasalreadybegunconstructionofafacilityattheReynoldsIndustrialPropertythatwillemployhundredsandbringadditionaltrucktraffictothearea.

Troutdale Reynolds Industrial Park is located between the Columbia and Sandy Rivers and bordered by the Troutdale Airport and Marine Drive. The 350-acre property has direct access to Interstate 84 and close prox-imity to I-205 and Portland International Airport. The former Brownfield site is being transformed into a thriving jobs center for a mix of industrial uses

The Case for FreightGREATESTNEEDS–OREGON

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The Case for FreightGREATESTNEEDS–OREGON

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However,theinterchange’sdeficienciescouldhamperjobcreationattheindustrialpark.Theinterchangeareaishighlycongestedinthepeakhours,andtheinterchangedesignrequirestruckstotraveloutofdirec-tiononalongcongestedloopbeforetheycanaccessthecommercialandindustrialpropertiesnorthofI-84.Theinterchangealsohasserioussafetydeficiencies,particularlywhentrafficbacksupontothefreeway,causingahighnumberofcrashestotakeplaceintheinterchangearea.

OregonDOTisworkingwiththePortofPortlandandcityofTroutdaletoaddresstheseproblemsatthein-terchange.Improvementswillenhancesafety,reducecongestiononI-84andattheinterchange,andprovidebetteraccesstotheReynoldsindustrialsitetofacilitatejobcreation.

Interstate 5 Kuebler Boulevard Interchange

TheMillCreekCorporateCenterinsoutheastSalemisthelargestundevelopedindustrialsitealongtheentireI-5tradecorridor.ItrepresentsoneofOregon’sbestopportunitiestocreatealargenumberoffamily-wageindustrialjobs.Thecenterisa514-acrebusinessparkthatisbeingdevelopedonlandnearthecon-fluenceofI-5andOregon22,makingitideallysituatedneartheWestCoast’smostimportantnorth/southrouteaswellastheMid-WillametteValley’smajoreast/westconnection.

Becauseofthisexcellentaccesstothetransportationsystem,thecenterisexpectedtobecomeamajorwarehousinganddistributioncentersupporting5,000jobs.FedExGroundhasalreadyopenedadistribu-tioncenterandeconomicdevelopmentofficialsrecentlyannouncedadealtobuildahalf-million-square-footHomeDepotwarehousinganddistributionbusinessthatisexpectedtoemploy175peoplelaterthisyear.

Giant cranes load and unload containers from a container ship at the Port of Portland’s Terminal 6. Terminal 6 is the Columbia River’s only deep-draft container terminal. Container ships like this one carry hundreds of thousands of containers to and from our region’s businesses each year.

WhiletheMillCreekCorporateCenterwillbenefitfromcloseproximitytomajorhighways,themaininter-changeconnectingtheindustrialparktoI-5atKueblerBoulevarddoesnothavesufficientcapacitytosup-porttheadditionalfreightvolumesandautomobiletrafficthatwillbegeneratedbythedevelopment.Theinterchangeiscurrentlyalow-capacityinterchangewithjusttworampsprovidingaccesstoI-5.Asaresult,trafficseekingtogetonI-5fromeastofthefreewaycan’tefficientlyaccessit,andtrafficturningontothefreewaycancontributetobackups.

The Case for FreightGREATESTNEEDS–OREGON

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OregonDOTiscurrentlybuildingarampconnectingwestboundKueblerwithnorthboundI-5,whichwillal-lowfreeaccesstonorthboundI-5fortruckscomingfromthecenter.TheOregonJobs&TransportationAct,whichwaspassedbythe2009OregonLegislature,allocatedmostofthefundingneededtomakeadditionalimprovementstotheinterchange.TheseincludebuildingarampfromwestboundKueblertosouthboundI-5thatwillallowtruckstoavoidhavingtoturnleftagainsttraffic.

U.S. 26 Brookwood Interchange

ThecityofHillsborohasbeenafocalpointforindustrialdevelopment.Ithasexperiencedgrowthinthreesignificantindustrialclusters:electronic/computer,biopharmaceutical,andgreenenergyphotovoltaicsolarmanufacturing.Hillsboroispoisedtoabsorbsignificantadditionalindustrialdevelopment.

TheU.S.26interchangewithHelvetiaRoad/BrookwoodParkway,constructedinthe1980sasalow-capacityruralinterchange,nowservesasthekeygatewaytoHillsboro’sindustrialhigh-techemploymentcenter.Theinterchangehasreached98%ofcapacityandiseffectivelyrestrictingfutureindustrialexpansiononap-proximately850buildableacresofexistingvacantandnewlydesignatedindustriallandthatisexpectedtosupportanadditional20,000jobsfortheregioninthenext20years.

Theinterchangeisacriticalaccesspoint,currentlyservingthemobilityneedsformorethan25,000employ-ees.Italsoservestrucktrafficgeneratedbyrawmaterialssupplyandfinishedproductdistributionassoci-atedwiththesemajorindustries.AsignificantshareoftraveltoandfromtheHillsboroAirport,Oregon’ssecondbusiestairport,andadjacentair-freight-relatedindustrialpropertybeingdevelopedbythePortofPortlandalsopassesthroughthiskeyinterchange.TheinterchangeisalsoakeyfreightgatewaytoWash-ingtonCounty’sagriculturalandcommercialtimberlandlocatedwestofthePortlandregion.

ThePortlandregion’spopulationisexpectedtogrowbyapproximately1millionpeople,almost40%,be-tween2000and2025.ThePortland-areametropolitanplanningorganizationhasplannedtoaccommodateasignificantshareoftheregionalemploymentcapacityintheareaservedbythiscriticalinterchange.How-ever,withtheinterchangeatessentiallyfullcapacity,reconstructionoftheinterchangewillbeneededtosupportthislevelofdevelopment.