I-5 freeway expansion near Rose Quarter in jeopardy without federal funds

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – The plan to expand the I-5 freeway near Portland’s Rose Quarter could now be in jeopardy.

Promised federal dollars might not show up due to language in the tax and spending bill that President Donald Trump signed into law on July 4.

The Rose Quarter Project promised $488 million in federal grants, but now it’s unsure whether that money will show up. The new law includes language that essentially says the government is taking back funding for neighborhood access and equity grant programs — money for a program focused on helping cities hurt by interstate highway building.

In Portland, that grant includes almost $500 million promised to the Oregon Department of Transportation to build covers over a section on I-5. Part of the plan was to widen the freeway near the Rose Quarter.

Albina Vision Trust, the nonprofit that worked to secure the grants, has focused on rebuilding historically Black neighborhoods that were moved out by the construction of I-5 years ago.

They say the federal funding would help build a new neighborhood above the highway.  If the federal dollars are held back, supporters of the project say they are confident the money will eventually show up.

“One thing that we find really important to remind ourselves of as a city, as a state, and as a community is that the pendulum tends to swing back when you think about federal politics, and at some point we feel quite confident that this will be a renewed priority for our federal government,” said J.T. Flowers of Albina Vision Trust.

The first phase of the project is still expected to start in August.

There is one other wrinkle in the plans: Even though ODOT has some money allocated for the project, the state transportation funding bill that died in the legislature last month makes these federal dollars even more important.

Stay with KOIN 6 News as we continue to follow this story.