Correction appendedA “Frequently Asked Questions” page that ODOT has prepared regarding the tolling projects is very general and essentially has the tone that ODOT will mitigate traffic diversion impacts and look at ways to reduce the impact of tolls on low income persons. Their traffic studies conclude that tolling will reduce trip times on I-205 by 14 minutes over the 7 miles between the Tualatin River Bridge and just north of the Abernethy Bridge 20 years in the future, compared to the alternative not to implement tolling.
I doubt this will be the case, as these forecasts always miss the mark. Traffic speeds always slow and congestion resumes much sooner than projections. Of course I am talking about congestion on the freeway, not the traffic diverted to local roads. These roads will be gridlocked the day the tolls are in effect, in my opinion. Traffic studies would need verify that these opinions are true.
There are no improvements I am aware of that can offset the effects of growing population and employment numbers in the greater Portland area. Of course, adding lanes to I-5 and I-205 will increase traffic capacity and allow temporary (probably less than five years) improved traffic speeds, even with increased traffic volumes on I-205. Future increases in population densities allowed by land use plans will produce more trips than can be accommodated by the projects in the current 20-year transportation plans.
Traffic diverted to roads and streets not designed to handle this traffic is unavoidable with I-205 tolling. There is already diversion to the local roads when there are accidents on 205 and when there are periods of congestion in the absence of crashes. Traffic diversion will have a significantly adverse impact on schools, neighborhoods and commercial areas in Tualatin, West Linn, Oregon City, Lake Oswego and Canby. These areas will be degraded by these diverted trips and will experience increased traffic accidents and be less safe for not only cars and trucks, but pedestrians and bicyclists as well.
It will be important that traffic studies address this as well as the social justice element of the forthcoming environmental assessment required by the federal government. These impacts appear to warrant the preparation of a draft and final environmental impact statement (EIS). An EIS process will allow much more debate and time to find another funding source — one that does not have the significantly adverse social and economic impacts. Again, traffic studies should address the net traffic diversion impact that tolls will have on local communities. These numbers should make the point that a non-tolled capacity improvement is needed on I-205. There should be a comparison of travel time savings on the freeway to the adverse impacts of traffic diversion on local roads and streets. Frankly, the traffic diversion that happens today should have led long ago to the traffic impact mitigation measures briefly touched upon in ODOT’s FAQs information.
In my opinion, if ODOT is to increase the capacity of I-5 and I-205 in the areas under study, they should not use a funding quirk in FHWA’s tolling regulations to do this. One wonders what transportation projects/funding the Oregon congressional delegation lobbied for and got in the recently adopted federal omnibus spending bill. The JPACT table should address this and debate whether funds now assigned to other projects or federally earmarked funds can be transferred to the I-5 and I-205 projects. These types of transfers happened 30 years ago to get the extension of light rail to Hillsboro. Eventually, ODOT built the street and highway improvements these funds were diverted from.
Finally, the setup for congestion pricing using bridge tolls now under consideration is not beneficial in the I-5 and I-205 corridors. The adverse impacts of traffic diversion to roads and streets not designed to handle this traffic will degrade livability of neighborhoods taking the brunt of diverted traffic, harm businesses and be a major financial hardship on many users of I-205. My assumption is tolling will divert significantly more traffic than the alternative of building the improvements without using toll revenue to fund the projects.
ODOT and the region should find another source of funds to replace tolls before proceeding with the proposed projects.
Cam Gilmour is now retired from serving as ODOT’s deputy director of finance and administration, Clackamas County’s director of transportation and development and the state of Washington’s transportation department’s chief operating officer.
