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WHEREAS, Metro is responsible for the application and programming of federal transportation funding for the Portland Metropolitan Planning Organization; and
 

WHEREAS, in this cycle, Metro anticipates allocating approximately $142 million ($41M for capital projects), comprised of federal Surface Transportation Block Grant (STBG) and Congestion Mitigation/Air Quality (CMAQ) program funds, to be obligated in the 2025-2027 timeframe; and
 

WHEREAS, for the first time, this year’s process will also be used to allocate $20 million for trails from the 2019 Metro Parks and Nature bond measure; and
 

WHEREAS, this process allocates money both to region-wide investments that make our communities more livable and give people choices in how they travel, and to individual projects planned and built by local transportation and parks agencies; and
 

WHEREAS, following the adoption of the 2018 Regional Transportation Plan (RTP), JPACT and the Metro Council decided that Regional Flexible Funds for individual projects should be focused on achieving the four primary RTP investment priorities: advancing Equity; improving Safety; implementing the region’s Climate Smart Strategy; and, managing Congestion; and
 

WHEREAS, City staff used the 2018 Regional Transportation Plan (RTP) to develop a candidate list of projects for the 2025-27 Regional Flexible Funds Process using the equity, safety, climate, project readiness, and congestion priorities; and
 

WHEREAS, the candidate list of projects was reviewed with the Portland Pedestrian, Bicycle, Freight, the 40-Mile Loop Trust and North Portland Greenway Trail groups, and PBOT Budget advisory committees.  In addition, the candidate projects were reviewed and approved for submission by the Portland Transportation Coordination Committee; and
 

WHEREAS, federal-aid projects require a minimum of 10.27% local match, and the Metro 2019 bond trails funding requires a 15%, 30%, or 45% match based on demographics in a project area. Local match will be provided by City of Portland System Development Charge funding and/or General Transportation revenue already set aside for local match of federally funded projects in the 2025 to 2027 timeframe.
 

WHEREAS, this initial request for funding is the first step of an almost yearlong decision making process.  Following the request for grants, Metro will score and rank projects using a Technical Evaluation and Risk Assessment and request additional public comment. Portland will then be asked to prioritize these projects and document the local match.  This will be done through a City Council ordinance in summer of 2022.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Commissioner-in-Charge is hereby authorized to make application to Metro for the following nine grants - 148th Ave Safety and Access to Transit; Cully/57th Complete Street Project; MLK Jr Blvd Corridor Safety Improvements, Phase 2; 7th Ave Complete Street Project; Taylors Ferry Rd Complete Street Project; Cornfoot Rd Multi-use Path; Marine Drive Trail – I-205 to 122^nd Ave; North Portland Greenway: Kelley Point Park to North Slough; and, North Portland Greenway: Columbia Boulevard to Cathedral Park.