Why not just build more roads to reduce traffic congestion?
While roads are also part of the solution, it’s important to remember that it is the policy of both the state and the Portland region to reduce reliance on the automobile. Roadway expansion is unlikely to succeed as the only approach to relieving congestion. Roads are costly to build, and the public is unlikely to pass the large tax increases necessary to add the lane-miles required to keep up with growing travel demand. In fact, only five of 75 urban areas in the U.S. have been able to keep the difference between traffic growth and the addition of lane-miles to less than 10 percent. Lane-miles simply cannot be added easily and quickly enough to match growth in passenger and freight travel. Furthermore, there is limited room available to widen roadways in the Portland metro area. Expanding one mile of a typical two-lane road to five lanes would require about five acres of land to be converted to public right-of-way, displacing any homes and businesses in that area. In addition, some re
