Oregon wants Southwest Washington citizens to pay tolls on both Interstate 5 and I-205, at the border, for Oregon road improvements. The Oregonian reported: “The transportation bill sends toll proceeds into a fund for widening much of the southernmost stretch of I-205, from Stafford Road to Oregon City, by adding a lane in each direction. It also directs money to replacing the Abernethy Bridge, which carries I-205 over the Willamette River in West Linn.”
Tolling would apparently begin in two years, according to their plan.
No issue has divided Clark County residents more in the past decade than the Columbia River Crossing, with its light rail and tolls. Yet, Oregon feels it’s OK to have Washington citizens pay for their transportation package, where there will be minimal benefits to us. This is an outrage.
To reduce traffic congestion, we need more transportation corridors and more bridges across the Columbia River. We need more lanes for traffic. We need a western bypass, to relieve congestion like I-205 did. And we need another east county bridge. The 2008 Regional Transportation Council’s “Visioning Study” demonstrated the need for both. Those are solutions commuters can support.
But we don’t need Southwest Washington citizens to be footing the bill, via tolls, for Oregon’s transportation problems. “No tolls” on I-5 and I-205.
