Portland Oregon 2 toll roads for SW

Portland Oregon

2 toll roads for SW

Oregon DOT is spending $1.1m on site studies and feasibility reviews of two toll road projects on the developing southwest fringe of the Portland area, designed to improve conditions on state route 99W — that a radial heading southwest out of the Portland metro area. 99W parallels the busy I-5 expressway but whereas I-5 hops over to the east side of the Williamette River valley as you go southward, 99W stays firmly on the west side and it presently goes through the middle of a string of developing towns.

Some higher standard highway in the south and west of the Portland area clear of local business districts as a western alternative to I-5 is badly needed from a transport standpoint, but has been rejected so far by local politics in favor of trendy light rail and growth restrictions. The two proposed toll road sections on 99W represent a pragmatic compromise effort by the state DOT to alleviate congestion and mixing of through and local traffic at its worst points without challenging the region's general anti-highway sentiment.

The projects are:

(1) Tualatin-Sherwood Expressway: an $190m 10.4km, 3-interchange job that would provide a direct link from the existing I-5/I-205 interchange westward to 99W. An alternative is a further south alignment linking I-5 with OR-99W, about 11km long that would cost about $260m.

(2) Newberg-Dundee Bypass: to carry OR-99W just east of those towns and alongside the river costed at $140m for a 9km stretch ending immediately outside Dundee and $160m for a 14km length carrying the higher standard roadway further to Dayton.

These are the first projects studied following passage of Senate Bill 626 (SB626) which establishes procedures for private participation in highway projects and were singled out in the legislation for priority consideration. That was because the initiative for toll-enabling legislation came principally from officials of Yamhill county in which the projects are located. In addition the ideas ground was prepared by the Cascade Policy Institute, a local market-oriented thinktank led by Steve Buckstein. In the wake of the legislation Oregon DOT has established an Economic Partnerships Unit to push these toll projects and deal with other future projects in the state.

Phasing likely: ODOT estimates possible daily traffic flows on the Tualatin-Sherwood link at 38,000 rising to 53,000 in 2020 which would seem to us to warrant full 4-lane expressway standard. However the department estimates an optimum toll of only 50c to $1.00 would be warranted — with a revenue flow that would only support investors providing about 25 to 30% of the investment needed. ODOT is looking at a phase I in which only a 2-lane roadway would be built with signalized intersections for $72m.

The problem in levying tolls to support full investor funding would appear to be the existence of Tualatin-Sherwood Road, an existing local 2-laner that would allow traffic a 'free' alternative. It is an old problem for toll roads, and can only be met by making travel on the 'free' road more difficult by truck weight limits, unfriendly signal phasings, liberalized curbside parking, and various other measures to discourage the through traffic.

38,000 vehicles/day on a 2-laner as projected for Oregon's first toll road sounds pretty congested! The more rural Newberg-Dundee bypass at a projected opening 16,000 veh/day (rising to 25k v/d in 2020 is a more obvious candiate for phasing. A first phase 2-laner without grade separation is costed by ODOT at $81m. They say there's some pricey environmental stuff in that number!

ODOT will consider all kinds of ownership and financing. (Contact ODOT 503 986 5814, Cascade Policy Institute 503 242-0900 Cascadepol@aol.com www.cascadepolicy.org)