ODOT requests feedback on Eastern Oregon proposed projects

By Shannon Weidemann (McKone) on Thursday, October 14th, 2021 in Eastern/Southeast Oregon News More Top Stories

MALHEUR COUNTY– (Release from ODOT) Earlier this year, the Oregon Transportation Commission approved an increase of $55 million for pedestrian and bicycle projects in the 2024-2027 Statewide Transportation Improvement Plan. The money is dedicated to addressing critical gaps for walking and biking on the state system. At least 10 million will be used to improve walking and biking access to schools.

Over the last several months our staff has been analyzing data to find the most beneficial projects throughout the state.

We’ve developed a list of projects using a tool called the Active Transportation Needs Inventory (ATNI), which uses data such as essential destinations, household income, existing conditions, and crash risk factors to identify high need locations. It supports improving safe and equitable access to active and public transportation.

The program primarily focuses on the top 10% of priority locations as identified in the ATNI and the top 20% for Safe Routes to School projects in communities under 5,000 in population.

Take the survey and let us know what you think about the projects in your community, which projects would have the most impact on you, what concerns you have and what improvements you think would be most helpful.

We’ll use this insight to help guide the project development process and provide information to the ODOT scoping teams about the user experience.

Please visit our convenient online open house open from Sept.15 through Oct. 31. After it closes, we will look at your feedback to inform program development and ODOT decision-making if additional funding becomes available.

Our goal is to create a multimodal transportation system that is safe and equitable for everyone and your input will help us get there. Visit our Pedestrian Bicycle Strategic Funding Program website to learn more.