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Local support in Portland began crumbling this week for a $795 million project to widen and improve Interstate 5 through North Portland, as political leaders followed an influential community group in renouncing the project.

Albina Vision Trust, in a June 30 email to Oregon Department of Transportation officials, said it could no longer support the project.

鈥淲e have decided to disengage from ODOT’s I-5 Rose Quarter Improvement Project because we refuse to endorse projects or processes that do not align with our commitment to creating a thriving community that centers Black lives and Black prosperity,鈥� wrote Albina Vision Trust Managing Director Winta Yohannes.

Rukaiyah Adams, the group鈥檚 chairwoman, said Albina Vision Trust鈥檚 withdrawal followed years of talk without firm commitments from ODOT. The agency鈥檚 plans did not match what was presented to state legislators to obtain funding, including planned highway caps that would not be able to support development and transportation, she said.

鈥淲e tried for four to five years to get them to honor what they sold the bill on and to think of these massive transportation investments as part of the urban landscape,鈥� Adams said. 鈥淭hey don鈥檛 care about the communities they鈥檙e destroying, and they don鈥檛 want to build the project that they sold.鈥�

ODOT wants to widen I-5 to provide auxiliary lanes and other improvements on a 1.8-mile stretch through the Rose Quarter. The project also calls for constructing three new bridges over the interstate.

Contractors have closely tracked the project, one of the largest planned projects in the Portland metro area. Minority-owned contractors would be needed to reach any targets laid out by the project. In April, ODOT issued a request for proposals for a construction manager/general contractor to lead the project.

Adams said she was concerned ODOT would pit Black-owned contractors against community leaders who have questioned the project. 鈥淚鈥榤 concerned ODOT will try to wedge contractors and labor against probably environmentalists and Albina Vision, and we鈥檙e not having that,鈥� she said.

Adams said it鈥檚 important to keep the wider Black community in mind, and not just a handful of contractors who would benefit. 鈥淭he media often sees a few Black-owned contractors and they ascribe a community role to them that they do not have,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 understand why the contractors want this to happen.鈥�

Nate McCoy, executive director of the National Association of Minority Contractors-Oregon, did not respond to messages seeking comment.

Following Albina Vision Trust鈥檚 move, Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler and Commissioner Chloe Eudaly quickly pulled their support, saying the project had not meaningfully involved communities of color. Both commissioners stepped down from an ODOT steering committee.

鈥淎t every step, I have asked ODOT for specific goals to be met around climate, community and economic development,鈥� Wheeler wrote in a June 30 Twitter post. 鈥淭hose goals have not been met. Therefore, I am withdrawing my support for the I-5 Rose Quarter Project.鈥�

Gov. Kate Brown also said she would not support the project without the backing of the local Black community.

鈥淲e鈥檙e not going to proceed with this particular project 鈥� with the Rose Quarter project 鈥� without community support and engagement from the Black and African-American community,鈥� Brown said at a press conference Wednesday. 鈥淚t鈥檚 my hope that this particular project can be part of righting historic wrongs, and I鈥檓 committed to bringing people back to the table for that discussion.鈥�

The loss of key backers could be detrimental to the project, says Mike Salsgiver, executive director of the Associated General Contractors鈥� Oregon-Columbia chapter.

鈥淐ertainly, the immediate viability of the project is in jeopardy,鈥� Salsgiver said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of work to do to sit down and further understand what the community would like to see and turn it into reality.鈥�

ODOT, in a statement, said the agency is committed to 鈥渄oing business differently鈥� and providing economic opportunities for the Black community.

鈥淎s we move forward, we hope to engage our partners in further discussion to earn the community鈥檚 trust 鈥� not through words but through actions,鈥� stated Brendan Finn, director of ODOT鈥檚 Urban Mobility Office. 鈥淲e鈥檝e got to get it right and meet the community鈥檚 needs. We will keep showing up to do just that.鈥�

Interstate 5 was built through Portland in the 1950s and 鈥�60s. The route punched through Lower Albina, a historically Black neighborhood, at the same time the Portland Development Commission was razing Black areas for 鈥渦rban renewal鈥� projects.

Albina Vision Trust estimates that about a half-billion dollars of local wealth was lost to the freeway, Adams said.

鈥淭his freeway was built and destroyed our community,鈥� Adams said. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e inviting us back as laborers to fortify their monument to power. That doesn鈥檛 work for all of us.鈥�