Pre-Apps for the 2024-2029 Cycle at the MPO

The Technical Committee for our Metropolitan Planning Organization meets tomorrow, Tuesday the 14th, and they've got a long list of project pre-applications to start evaluating for the next round of funding.

At the top of the list, and likely to get funding, since the MPO has historically valued completion funding, is a little over $2 million in requests on projects that already received funding in previous rounds and are in process. They are listed with a brief title, the applicant jurisdiction, and requested amount (not total cost):

• Connecticut Ave: Macleay Rd to Rickey St Marion County $112,150
• State St: 4106 State St to 46th Ave Marion County $616,376
• Delaney Rd: Battle Creek Bridge Marion County $803,981
• Commercial Street SE: Vista to Ratcliff Salem $628,110

The more interesting group are not yet funded, a total of $138 million. Earlier the MPO had said a little less than 20% of that would be available:

There will be approximately $13 million in federal funds available for new projects in FY 2025, 2026, and 2027 and an additional $12 million available for projects ready for contract in the FY 2028-2029 illustrative years/

So they have some winnowing to do! Here is one way to group and consider them.

Overdesigned and greenwashed

Rural highway-ish projects. Some of these, like this County one at Cordon and Hazelgreen, seem wildly overengineered and way too costly for the limited total funds. It's also greenwashed by saying it will "improve...environmental impacts." It will do no such thing. Many of these don't really fit the spirit of the "metropolitan" part of the MPO's mission, and they will often induce more driving travel rather than less.

• Delaney Rd Widening: Battle Creek Rd to Turner Marion County $8,161,386
• River Road NE and Brooklake NE Intersection Improvements Marion County $4,486,500
• River Rd S: Overheight Truck Detection and Turn-Arounds Marion County $1,712,048
• Cordon Road and Hazelgreen Road Intersection Improvements Marion County $4,800,555
• Cordon Road: State Street to Center Street Widening Marion County $9,511,380

Another grouping is more clearly urban. These are "modernization," "repair," and in a couple of instances a significant redesign, but often a mixed bag with capacity increases along with sidewalks or bike lanes. They are generally bigger projects in search of a funding source. We have already seen how the McGilchrist project keeps applying for TIGER/BUILD/RAISE grants, over now a whole decade, and keeps not getting funded. Many of these are being designed to vintage 20th century standards, and have not yet caught up to the exigencies of our 21st century moment.

• Wheatland Road Multi-Modal Improvement Project Keizer $8,852,500
• Delaney Road Street Improvements Turner $628,110
• Lancaster Drive: Monroe Avenue to State Street Improvements Marion County $3,721,552
• State Street: 46th Avenue to Cordon Road Marion County and Salem $4,755,690 
• Broadway Street NE: Hood to Pine Salem $11,126,520
• Center St. NE North Side Improvements (45th Pl. NE to Cordon Rd NE) Salem $5,204,340
• Salem Industrial Drive Extension Salem $12,113,550  
• State St.: 14th St NE to 17th St NE Salem $5,363,260 
• McGilchrist Street SE: East end Salem $4,576,230
• McGilchrist Street SE: West end Salem $10,318,950

And projects that are mainly for walking, biking, and busing. These deserve the most consideration.

• Motor Pool Vehicle Replacement Cherriots $367,893
• Paratransit Vehicle Replacement Cherriots $323,028
• East Salem Transit Center Cherriots $6,729,750
• South Salem Transit Center Land and Construction Cherriots $6,729,750
• Kennedy School Area Pathway and Sidewalk Improvements Keizer $278,163
• 25th Street SE Multi-Use Path Salem $3,768,660
• Commercial Street SE: Promontory to Sunnyside Salem $3,589,200
• Orchard Heights Rd. NW Pedestrian Improvements Salem $897,300
• Pedestrian Crossings Salem $897,300
• Pringle Creek Multi-use Path, Phase II Salem $4,988,988
• Cherry Avenue NE - Bicycle Facility and Intersection Improvements Salem $3,320,010
• Winter St NE: Winter-Maple Greenway Improvements Salem $8,973,000

A couple of notes for now.

There's some possible inconsistency. A month ago it seemed that the Vista to Ratcliff sidewalks and signal needed $2.7 million; here, the request is only for $628,110. Perhaps this is a request for right-of-way and design only, and the construction amount is still outstanding. It will be interesting to learn more about that.

New sidewalk, safer bike lanes, better crossings

This project at the 12th Street Cutoff is a new project and deserves serious consideration, as it is a very important connection to deep South Salem on a major arterial. The missing sidewalk segments forces people to walk in the bike lane and to make frogger-style scrambles, and the northbound and downhill bike lane with the auto slip lane onto 12th is treacherous.

Proposed enhanced crosswalks

One project that deserves more context is the City's crosswalk package. You may recall that the City signalled they were going to use nearly $1 million on Pandemic Relief funding for a crosswalk package, and then there is this one. Are they the same? Or is there a different set of crosswalks proposed for the Pandemic funding?

And the bookends, at the Parkway and downtown, for the Winter-Maple Greenway. We'll come back to these later, as they would nearly complete the greenway.

Warmer climate increasing severity and odds
Sunday, Washington Post

Altogether the MPO should prioritize projects that yield less driving, so walking, biking, and busing projects should get priority.

This vetting will go on for a while, and there will be more to say later in dribs and drabs.

The Technical Advisory Committee for the MPO zooms Tuesday the 14th at 1:30pm. The agenda and packet can be downloaded here.