Danger of congestion tolling diversion on local streets (Op-Ed by Paul Savas)

Danger of congestion tolling diversion on local streets
Op-Ed by Commissioner Paul Savas
Published in The Clackamas Review
2/16

“There are some elected officials who are advocating that all roads and streets be tolled. This would put residents and commuters in Clackamas and Washington counties at a serious and unfair disadvantage.” – Commissioner Paul Savas

When the Oregon Legislature passed HB2017 last year, the transportation package did not include any construction funding for Interstate 205 to resolve the 5.8-mile-long bottleneck.

The transportation package did however include a mandate to initiate tolling of Interstate 5 and I-205. Now, as the discussion of tolling continues, the concerns of interstate traffic diverting onto local roads is heating up.

If I-5 and I-205 are tolled, how many motorists will use local roads to avoid paying tolls? Diversion is not a new phenomenon; as a result of growing congestion it is already occurring in the Portland-metro region. Continue reading…