First electronic tolls in Oregon "well received" at a Columbia River bridge

A small toll plaza off I-84 in the little town of Hood River on the Columbia River in Oregon is the first in the state to do electronic tolling. They now have five months experience using sticker tags, and the Port of Hood River finance director Linda Shames says they have been "very well received."

Shames ordered 3,000 tags (eGos from TransCore) but they all were all gone within a couple of months - up to three per account were given away - and the Port has been borrowing tags from Washington DOT's Tacoma Narrows bridge. The sticker tag based electronic tolling is the most visible part of a toll system upgrade costing in total slightly over $3m.

Hood River White Salmon Interstate Bridge (HRWSIB), to give it its full name, is a 0.9 mile (1.45km) long, narrow two-lane bridge between Hood River OR and White Salmon WA over the Columbia River 100km (60 miles) east of Portland. It carries an average 9k veh/day and a seasonal peak of 12k/day.

There is a 4-lane toll plaza on the Oregon side, which grosses about $2.8m/yar. The car toll is 75c and each extra axle is 75c.

Following implementation of electronic tolling (ET) last November 2007 the inner two lanes are staffed and the outer lanes are dedicated ET. They adopted the brand name BreezeBy for ET, an allusion to the transponder equipped motorists breezing by the cash payers.

In the afternoon peak the bridge handles 700 to 800 vehicles each direction per hour, 350 to 400 per toll lane. Before ET this stressed the capacity of manual toll collection and there were backups. A safety problem arose with backups to a 4-way intersection 240m (800ft) south of the toll plaza, near ramps from I-84.

Linda Shames at the Port says with ET the traffic is moving through noticeably better, and she says everyone seems to consider the project a success.

Previously commuters used books of tickets. Sticker tags are their replacement. Motorists who want to use Washington state registered sticker tags from the Tacoma Narrows bridge at the Hood River bridge have to establish a second account with Hood River - by telephone or at the office.

HNTB did the engineering for the toll system upgrade including the electronic tolling. They oversaw installation of four low end TransCore sticker tag readers, an axle based vehicle classification system using loops, new terminals, lane controllers, and gates, and system software.

The shed like toll plaza building - an inelegant structure to our eye - roofs over the two manual toll lanes and is partially sided to protect against the driving rain and wind that is common in the Columbia River gorge. (It is a popular spot for windsurfers.)

Traffic on the bridge is generated by cheaper land on the Washington side of the river and some residential construction there with shopping better and jobs located on the Oregon side. Motorists nearby on the Washington side wanting to travel east-west to I-5 or Portland often cross the Hood Rive Bridge because I-84 is nearby, whereas the Washington state road following the river is a slow rural surface arterial.

Forest products are a major item trucked across the bridge. It is rated to carry 80,000pd (36.3t) trucks.

2.9m (9.5ft) lanes

The bridge though 80 years old has been kept in good structural condition over the years. It's major shortcoming is that it was built to 1920s vehicle dimensions with nominal 10 foot (3.05m) travel lanes. The distance curb to curb is actually 19ft (5.8m) so the lanes are 9.5 feet (2.9m) wide.

25mph (40km/hr) is the posted speed.

The bridge has a lift span to give 21m (70ft) overhead clearance for shipping. There is a certain amount of barge activity on the river, but the lift segment is only raised once or twice a month.

Replacement bridge

Major rationale for a replacement bridge will be the need for full 3.65m (12ft) travel lanes to carry trucks more safely, and lower maintenance costs, but nothing is being actively proposed at the moment.

HISTORY: The bridge was financed by the Oregon-Washington Bridge Company in the early 1920s (opened Dec 1924) and opertaed by them as a toll business. It was bought up by the Port from the private owners in 1950 under Oregon state legislation that favored abolishing private ownership.

1.45km 4755ft) long it spans a section of the Columbia River 37km (23 miles) upstream of the Bonneville Dam where there is a bridge named modestly Bridge of the Gods. In the opposite direction to the Gods bridge, upriver, there is another competing bridge about the same distance away.

So for about 17km (11 miles) in either direction it is the crossing of choice for people moving between Oregon and Washington states.

see http://www.portofhoodriver.com

PB study in 2001 on a replacement

http://www.rtc.wa.gov/Studies/SR35/docs/sr35BaselineConditionsReport.pdf

NOTE: We're told the Bridge of the Gods is a Native American name.

TOLLROADSnews 2008-04-03 SMALL ADDITIONS 2008-04--8