Take our poll: CRC planners likely underestimated tolling revenue

Take our poll on the latest Columbia River Crossing findings and let us know what you think, then see how others in the community voted.

See the related story, Oregon treasurer questions traffic, toll revenue for new I-5 bridge

Tolling will bring the Columbia River Crossing project up to $598 million less than originally thought, according to a report released Wednesday by the Oregon State Treasurer.

Charging cars and trucks to use a new Interstate 5 bridge was expected to provide about one-third of total project costs, or about $1.3 billion. But the report, based on analysis by independent experts, challenges assumptions in the CRC’s plans for steadily increasing traffic and toll rates.

Commissioned in April by the governors of Washington and Oregon, the report says that a more conservative estimate on revenues puts the tolling finance plan anywhere from $468 million to $598 million below projections made by the CRC in 2008. It also says the $3-billion-plus project has been leaning on outdated and overinflated traffic models. Continued…