On Friday, Greg Johnson announced he will step down from his role as leader of the Interstate Bridge Replacement project at end of this year. It’s the fourth time in less than a year a high-profile leader with oversight of an I-5 freeway expansion megaproject has walked away.
The exodus comes as the IBR and the I-5 Rose Quarter project — which represent a combined estimated cost of $12 billion in states with massive road funding shortfalls — struggle to gain popular and/or political support in their neverending quest for taxpayer dollars to build larger freeway ramps, widen interstates through neighborhoods, and make driving easier for thousands of people every day.
Late last year, Brendan Finn stepped down from his role as director of the Oregon Department of Transportation’s Urban Mobility Office (UMO). Finn was in charge of delivering several freeway megaprojects in the Portland region that ODOT referred to as their “urban mobility strategy.” Finn faced intense pressure I-5 from the community via protests and lawsuits, as well as frustration over funding delays. After five years with Finn as head of the UMO, the I-5 Rose Quarter project came within a few votes of being paused this past summer.
Megan Channell was Rose Quarter project director and worked closely with Finn for five years. The two began working on the project around the same time, and resigned with seven months of each other. Channell resigned her post just as the Oregon Transportation Commission was considering putting the entire project on ice due to its lack of funding and its persistent lack of political and popular support…