Regional Trails Prioritization Tool

Portland, OR

Project Summary

In 2019, Portland’s Metro organization made a goal of providing opportunities for people to connect with nature close to home. They wanted to prioritize projects that benefit People of Color and other historically marginalized groups. To assist Metro in reaching their goal, we are developing a prioritization framework and tool that will help plan, prioritize, and construct trails. The tool will help rank potential projects by assessing if they connect equity focused areas to destinations, improve access to nature, and provide an alternative to high-crash streets.

Additionally, this project includes development of a literature review regarding the impact of trails on gentrification and displacement that will inform development of equity measures and identify potential mitigation measures for these impacts.

Expertise Applied

We used community outreach to identify prioritization factors for the framework and tool.
This graphic demonstrates how the tool can help in the planning and implementation process.
With Toole Design's help, Metro wants to extend trails so that all resident, especially disadvantaged ones, have access to them.
The tool helps prioritize trail projects so that funding can be used on trails that will be the most impactful.

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