Portland traffic is getting worse by the month. (Hillsboro, Milwaukie: apartment, rent)

[AndyAMG]

Did anyone else have the worse commute ever today? It took me 1hr and 14 mins to go from 181st and I-84 to Milwaukie. Normally, it's about 35-40 minutes (even at rush hour) but today was special. No wrecks, just tons of cars. Is everyone heading out to Halloween festivities this early?

This got me thinking while I rolled along at 5-10 mph. Portland is constantly promoting tourism and growth, but can we really take anymore people? The Urban Growth Boundary is going to keep compounding this problem. The more people we keep trying to jam into city limits the worse it's going to get. Infrastructure is lacking roads-wise and the plans to do anything about it have come to late. I wonder what the future holds.

I see a "war" between Portland and Vancouver city governments. People who save a few bucks on rent to commute from Battle Ground, Camas and Ridgefield are main problem. Clark County residents don't want to pay for MAX or transit, because they don't use mass transit, they use diesel Ford F350 duallys instead. However, they are perfectly fine with working in Portland and using Portland's roads and getting tax free goods. I think Portland will toll both the bridges and effectively kill Clark County and Vancouver a few years after. They have to do something. Clark County is a parasite on Portland. I decided not to live there because I didn't want to be part of the problem, that and I believe they really are going to toll the bridges $3 dollars one way. $6 dollars a day to live in Vancouver and work in Portland, there goes the rent savings.

I think I'm just preaching to the choir at this point.

[Leisesturm]

Hmmm. Not sure about the choir, but you have vented. Feel better? Probably not. Sorry. Thing is, the population projections are not likely to care how you feel about it. Those people are coming whether you like it or not. Why do you think they are going to toll the bridges? Because its what you would do if you were running the city? Do I really need to tell you about the futility of that kind of projectionist thinking? They might toll a Columbia River crossing if and when they actually build a new bridge. Don't hold your breath for that to happen. I wouldn't do it for a number of reasons but... six dollars.... crossings of NYC rivers are in the $10 range and going higher this year. Just for some perspective.

H

[christiner81]

my commute was rough today but only because our bus driver turned down the wrong street and then had to do a 10 point turn to get out of the cul de sac.

[Minervah]

If you haven't noticed by now that new apartment buildings and are springing up like mushrooms all over the city you haven't been paying attention. And all the little sardines in these tin cans own cars and all those cars are all over the streets.

My neighborhood is just bursting at the seems. No more green spaces. Just a lot of people.

[pdxMIKEpdx]

I'm surprised that people do not realize that the City of Portland's agenda is to make life unbearable for automobile drivers to force them to walk, cycle, and use mass transit.


Where have you people been?



Other than repaving a main thouroughfare here and there, what has the city done to actually improve conditions for car drivers?

A good example is the mess trying to get through the tunnel going east on Powell across the Ross Island bridge.
It takes me longer to get from Woodstock to the tunnel than it takes to get to Hillsboro from the tunnel.
At least they are finally fixing some of the terrible road conditions on Naito Parkway.
I swear I have to get the front end of my car realigned everytime I go downtown.


What exactly happened to the Portland of 10 years ago when everybody moved here was saying that it was "clean, affordable, had vision, excellent public transit, yada, yada, yada?

[hamellr]

Originally Posted by pdxMIKEpdx

What exactly happened to the Portland of 10 years ago when everybody moved here was saying that it was "clean, affordable, had vision, excellent public transit, yada, yada, yada?

Mayor Vera Katz.

[Nell Plotts]

"At least they are finally fixing some of the terrible road conditions on Naito Parkway."

Most of that road was built on fill from dredging and sawdust deposited back in the day. The term "Guilds Lake" is rarely used but there really was a lake/wetland where the commercial/industrial area exists north of Vaughn Street. The fixes won't last long.

The soil all along the river through downtown Portland is gelatinous.

[Minervah]

I don't think the City of Portland knows what it's doing regarding what kind of transportation to favor. It had great visions of supporting the building of those large apartment buildings without parking spaces to encourage people to own bikes rather than cars but how naive could they have been?

In a recent interview, I think it was in the Willamette Week, a reporter interviewed ten people who had moved into one of those buildings. Amongst the ten, there were ten bicycles and eleven cars owned by the interviewees. Anyone surprised by this? I don't think there are many who use their bikes as an absolute alternative for cars. If they do, I suspect it is a temporary measure.

Dinosaurs like me who have never in their lives owned a car are becoming a thing of the past as public transportation becomes more and more of a novelty rather than utilitarian and people are not giving up their cars.

Not improving streets and highways is not going to fix anything. I don't believe the OP's observation is unusual; crowding does appear to be more the rule than the exception.

[Leisesturm]

Originally Posted by pdxMIKEpdx

I'm surprised that people do not realize that the City of Portland's agenda is to make life unbearable for automobile drivers to force them to walk, cycle, and use mass transit.

There is no agenda. Other than the usual one: get yours and get out. People at the top of Portland's food chain are getting theirs and that means that a lot more entities, people, infrastructure and social services are getting less or nothing. The result of that is what you see and feel as "things going to hell in a handbasket". The mistake is in thinking that anyone is actively directing this. Rich people are directing revenue into their pork project, their own pockets, their friends pockets, etc. etc. etc. I mean... can you really imagine that the state of mass transit in Portland makes it an attractive option to a disgruntled driver??? Ditto, cycling... every single one of my male friends is under orders from their spouses to not even think about cycling as a means of transportation or else! Most of them don't even need that deterrent, cycling in traffic isn't something most of them would do... ever. Just some perspective.

H

[wanderbygrace]

My commute is from the area near the OR212/OR224 split (Carver area) to near Bob's Red Mill off OR224 (Milwaukie). On the weekends, this trip takes about 12-13 minutes, but on the evening commute, it's usually more like 18-20, because EB 224 is often backed up just before I-205. Not because of anyone going to WA (although I see plenty of WA plates in the evening), but because the ramp signals are on as you get onto I-205 southbound. Still moves fairly quickly, though, and I have no real complaints about traffic.

Of course, I also don't have to tackle things like I-84, the I-5 Columbia crossing, nor the Sunset. I'd probably hurt myself if I had to do any of those, as traffic jams definitely get under my skin very quickly.