The I-5 Rose Quarter Improvement Project in Portland, Ore., clinched a $450-million federal grant and secured critical environmental review approval this week, propelling the long-awaited project forward.
The Oregon Dept. of Transportation (ODOT) and City of Portland project will add auxiliary lanes to Interstate 5 and construct a highway cover to support reconnection of the city’s Albina community to the city's downtown. In the 1950s and 1960s, the I-5 freeway was constructed through the heart of the community, removing hundreds of predominately Black-owned homes. The interstate also separated the Albina neighborhood from the Willamette River and downtown Portland.