many potholes can $14.7 million patch? Not so many, it turns out. That’s the Portland Bureau of Transportation’s share of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, President Obama’s $27.5 billion boost to the nation’s sagging infrastructure. A total of $334 million was earmarked for Oregon, but after every government agency from Pendleton to Ashland took a nibble, Portland got just a speck more than Raef LaFrentz earned manning the Blazers’ bench last year. Still, it’s enough to bankroll half a dozen projects around town, including a seismic upgrade to Swan Island’s Going Street Bridge and the repaving of NW 23rd Avenue. Or, if the city scraps its plans, it’s roughly enough to buy:

$15 MILLION = 845,000 traffic cones / 15, 000, 000 feet of striping paint / 4.5 streetcars / 1 1/8th Raef LaFrentzes