Health

Every few years, the Oregon Transportation Commission (OTC) deliberates how to spend billions in statewide transportation funds by determining funding categories, such as investing in roadway maintenance, highway widening, or bike/pedestrian/transit/safety. For the past several months, the OTC has heard from the public and made a decision on how to invest more than $2B in transportation funding via the 2024-27 Statewide Transportation Investment Program (STIP).

October 8, 2020 update:

March 24, 2020 Update:

Salem City Council has adopted a Sit-Lie ordinance that prohibits people from sitting or lying on public sidewalks from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. The ordinance was approved a week after Council’s decision to ban loitering in public spaces during the next 5 weeks to slow the spread of COVID-19. The Sit-Lie ordinance is permanent and has a $250 penalty attached for violators.

11/26/19 Update:

On Monday November 25, Salem City Council approved the “sidewalk behavior” ordinance without the “sit-lie” element. Essentially, the ordinance has been narrowed to ban camping on sidewalks or public spaces, and restricts leaving personal items unattended for more than 24 hours. 

In the greater Portland region, Metro is in the middle of a process to shape a regional transportation funding measure that could go before voters in November 2020.

June 26, 2019 Update: All eyes are on the Oregon Legislature as the 2019 Session comes to a close. Although we had hoped for a statewide policy to reduce diesel emissions and phase out old dirty diesel engines this session, HB 2007 has been limited to the tri-county area. Still, the bill is a meaninful step forward and necessary to allocate remaining VW Settlement funds. HB 2007 has successfully passed the House and, along with many other important bills, awaits the Senate to resume its business.

3/27/19 update: HB 2007 has been scheduled for a work session on April 4, 2019. The bill was scheduled prior to the first chamber deadline so that it may continue to advance this session. While no amendments have been posted yet, we're supporting partners in asking for amendments that will strengthen the bill. Read our post from earlier this month for more details: