The Interstate Bridge should be left alone for now and ODOT should be directed to start planning for two new bridges By John Charles May 17, 2023 — Portland Tribune Over the next four weeks, the Oregon Legislature will decide whether to make a down payment of $1 billion to replace the I-5 Interstate Bridge...
Skepticism from Governor Tina Kotek and state legislators about the Oregon Department of Transportation’s tolling plans may have lasting impacts. By TAYLOR GRIGGS — Portland Mercury May 9, 2023 Construction on I-205 at the Abernethy Bridge. OREGON DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION To toll or not to toll? That is the question du jour for the Oregon...
By Joe Cortright — City Observatory 16.5.2023 The Oregon Department of Transportation maintains that it will use tolls to pay for the I-5 Rose Quarter Freeway widening project, but that it doesn’t need to evaluate tolling as part of the project’s environmental assessment because tolling isn’t “reasonably foreseeable.” Tolls can’t be both “available” and...
No need to toll I-5 Bridge Replacement By John Ley – Portland Tribune letter As the Oregon legislature and governor haggle over funding transportation, there is no real need for tolling on the Interstate Bridge Replacement (IBR). The IBR has only a “conceptual design.” It’s impossible to know the cost of any specific component, let...
The bill that would begin funding the I-5 bridge replacement got its first public hearing last week. Another is on Thursday. By Nigel Jaquiss — Willamette Week May 03, 2023 BILL OF THE WEEK: House Bill 2098 For 20 years, highway engineers on both sides of the Columbia River have fantasized about replacing the aging twin Interstate...
Governor follows lead of legislators seeking 2-year pause By Corey Buchanan May 2, 2023 (Portland Tribune) Following the bill proposed last week by local legislators calling for a tolling moratorium, Gov. Tina Kotek has apparently initiated the delay herself. A joint release from Senate President Rob Wagner, D-Lake Oswego, and Oregon House Speaker Dan Rayfield,...
A bipartisan rebellion is breaking out along the highway as affected communities feel unheard. By Nigel Jaquiss — Willamette Week April 27, 2023 By Nigel Jaquiss April 27, 2023 at 11:44 am PDT On the eve of a much-anticipated public hearing on the controversial $6.5 billion Interstate Bridge replacement project, three Clackamas County lawmakers have introduced...
Letter: How fair are fares? By Mike Terry, Brush Prairie Published: April 27, 2023 The Columbian believes tolling on the Interstate 5 Bridge is “fiscally responsible, sensible and equitable” because users should pay their fair share. “Just as those who purchase gas pay more for road maintenance through gas taxes, residents who use the bridge should pay a...
The Legislature’s Joint Committee on Transportation will finally take public testimony on House Bill 2098 By Nigel Jaquiss April 25, 2023 — Willamette Week Although the Legislature’s Joint Committee on Transportation is grappling with whether and how to fund two megaprojects on Interstate 5 in Portland (the proposed $1.45 billion expansion of the freeway at the Rose Quarter...
Reducing Congestion and Funding Construction Can’t Be Achieved With Tolling From The Political Center at PacWest Lobby Full disclosure: The Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) is not to blame for all its fiscal problems. The legislature is primarily responsible as the dealer that got the agency addicted to bonded indebtedness. As chairman of the Senate...
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