> why is your State DOT planning and executing projects in the city of Portland at all? Your argument is being made in isolation of political-economic reality,

> why is your State DOT planning and executing projects in the city of Portland at all? Your argument is being made in isolation of political-economic reality, at least as it currently exists in the united states. Tax receipts that could be used for roads (aka not property taxes which currently fund schools) flow out and up from city residents, primarily to the federal government, then to states, and lastly to municipalities. Cities don’t have the same ability to set tax rates as the nation or a state for the simple reason that it’s far more feasible for someone to change cites vs states, to say nothing of county. Federal dollars are given to states, which are combined with state taxes to build highways, freeways, and other high speed high volume roadway. This constitutes the majority of all road spending, and cites simply have to integrate with that.