Making the Connections: A Summary of the LUTRAQ Project

Making the Connections:

by 1000 Friends of Oregon, 534 SW Third, Suite 300, Portland, OR 97204; 503/497-1000; LUTRAQ@friends.org (e-mail). February 1997, 40-page booklet, $12.

In 1988, the public interest group 1000 Friends of Oregon became involved in efforts to block a new bypass in Portland. Instead of simply fighting the project, participants began examining broader land-use and transportation alternatives for the Portland area. This evolved into a project known as

Making the Land Use, Transportation, Air Quality Connection, or LUTRAQ. Since its founding, LUTRAQ has published a newsletter and a series of highly useful reports, with this the most recent.

Making the Connections reviews the history of LUTRAQ and provides examples of how Portland as well as other cities are addressing problems of traffic congestion, automotive pollution, and suburban sprawl. The booklet is succinct in its discussion of these complex issues, and the dozens of color photos, illustrations, and tables help get ideas across clearly. Following some sobering statistics about sprawl (see tables), numerous examples are provided that paint an optimistic picture of how change can be achieved through integrated land-use and transportation planning. For a concise introduction to these issues, this is a great resource.