Transportation needs

Leadership summit next month will offer great chance to tackle transportation issues

The Lake Oswego Review, Nov 22, 2007, Updated Oct 30, 2009

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Since it was launched in 2002, the Oregon Business Plan has done a good job of putting a statewide spotlight on the need for high-quality jobs, well-funded schools, stable state finances, health care reform and sustainability.

Along the way, community, government and business leaders have collectively made these issues their priorities.

The result has been a more successful Oregon. The state’s economy is far better than during the depressing days of 2001 and 2002.

When the Oregon Leadership Summit convenes Dec. 3 in Portland to unveil the 2008 Oregon Business Plan, we hope that after a bit of celebration for past achievements, Oregon’s leaders will quickly expand their attention – and commitment – to an issue or two more.

One such priority is Oregon’s decaying transportation system, which is becoming an onerous economic liability and increasingly threatens local residents’ quality of life and the environment.

Problem is well-documented

It’s not that business leaders haven’t called attention to Oregon’s transportation troubles before.

A report released in March, prepared by a Boston economist and funded by partners in the Oregon Business Plan and some public agencies, said that without significant and strategic investments in the state’s transportation system, statewide travel delays would grow by another 150,000 hours each day by 2025.

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