PLSO The Oregon Surveyor Mar/Apr 2019

Professional Land Surveyors of Oregon | www.plso.org 19 Featured Article What’s being done about it? Plenty, as it turns out, with more in the pipeline thanks to Keep Oregon Moving, the transportation investment package approved by the Oregon Legislature in 2017. Auxiliary Lanes One of the big causes of congestion is when cars and trucks merge onto the freeway, but then get off after one or two exits. ODOT is in the process of creating auxiliary lanes at many bottlenecks. An auxiliary lane allows vehicles to use the freeway for a brief period before exiting, without hav- ing to weave in and out of traffic. A new auxiliary lane on I-5 from 217 to 205 reduced congestion in the area from five hours to one. ODOT plans more auxiliary lanes for I-205, and new lanes on 217 both north and southbound. ODOT is finding that auxiliary lanes work wherever they are tried. High Tech You’ve no doubt seen them, the little Advisory Speed signs and the big reader boards. ODOT calls it “Real Time.” When traffic slows ahead the signs advise a reduced speed to keep things flowing smoother and help avoid crashes from traffic stopped ahead. The big reader boards give travel times so you can make smart deci- sions about the best route. The best is yet to come—cars that listen to traffic lights to make the smoothest trip possible, ramp meters smoothing traffic, dy- namic adaptive traffic signals that respond in real-time to traffic vol- umes—and much more. Choices Sometimes the easiest solution to congestion is to not drive at all! Not everyone can do that, of course, but anytime you take a car off the freeway, it helps. So ODOT is work- ing with transit providers like TriMet, helping to fund the largest expansion in history. Keep Oregon Moving created a new fund with almost $100 million a year to help TriMet and transit providers around Oregon expand their service as well. The state is also spending $22 million for improve- ments to sidewalks, bike lanes and cross walks across the state to make routes to school safer so more kids can walk or ride their bikes. And there are many walking and biking routes done or in the works. Tolling None of the above options will fully realize the goal of a more reliable trip through Portland freeways. The Oregon Legislature recognized this, and in 2017 directed the Oregon Trans- portation Commission to apply to the federal government to get permission to toll some of the region’s highways. Lots of public comment went into the application (you might have been a part of that!) and there will be muchmore before anyone starts paying a toll.  x To get up to speed (so to speak) on what’s happening to improve Portland’s transpor- tation system, here are some great resources: • Video series “Congestion Relief”: https://www.oregondot.org/category/congestion-relief/ • 2018 Traffic Performance Report: www.oregon.gov/odot/projects/pages/project-details.aspx?project=20413 • Tolling Home Page: https://www.oregon.gov/ODOT/Pages/Value-Pricing.aspx