In this issue:

• How your comments influenced the I-205 Toll Project.
• Three alternatives move ahead for the I-205 Toll Project environmental review.
• Learn the latest plans for the I-205 Improvements Project.
• Results of recent committee meetings.

Your comments influenced the I-205 Toll Project.

Final I-205 Toll Project Engagement Summary now available.

The Oregon Department of Transportation held an information and engagement period for the I-205 Toll Project from Aug. 3 through Oct. 16, 2020. We needed your help to improve and refine the project’s goals, the toll alternatives to study, and key issues to consider.

On March 31, 2021, the final I-205 Toll Project Engagement Summary was published online. This report includes ODOT’s responses and actions to what we heard from more than 4,600 survey responses, letters, emails, voicemails, and comments at meetings and briefings. Here are our responses to frequent issues we heard:

We heard: Concerns about how the I-205 Toll Project and I-205 Improvements are connected.

Our response: Toll funding is needed to fund portions of the I-205 Improvements Project. That project will provide:

• A safer and less congested I-205 corridor.
• Critical seismic improvements to the Abernethy Bridge and eight other bridges.
• A third lane in each direction.

We heard: Concerns about fairness, diversion, equity, climate, and congestion management throughout the region.

Our response: We are changing our approach on the I-5 Toll Project. We will expand the I-5 Toll Project area to include regional I-5 and I-205 tolling. More information about the process and schedule for this regional effort will be shared in our next edition of the e-news.

We heard: Concerns about the impact of tolling on finances, health, and need for more transit.

Our response: We will address these concerns throughout the next two years through:

• Continued work with communities to share data from ongoing analysis and gather input on how to improve outcomes.
• Discussions with agency staff at transit/multimodal and modeling work groups.
• Collaboration with the Equity and Mobility Advisory Committee.
• Coordination with jurisdictional partners.

We heard: Requests to prioritize equity in toll project planning.

Our response: We are centering equity by using the Oregon Toll Program’s Equity Framework to guide development of the I-205 Toll Project. Based on public and stakeholder feedback, we updated project goals, objectives, and performance measures to prioritize equity.

All responses to agency and public comments may be found in chapters 10 and 11 of the full report.

Next Steps for I-205 Toll Project

Starting this spring, we will conduct a detailed analysis of the benefits and impacts, as the environmental review process moves forward. The results of this analysis will be published for public review in a draft environmental assessment in 2022 and a final environmental decision in 2023. If approved, tolling on I-205 could begin as early as 2024.

Technical analysis for the I-205 Toll Project begins in Spring 2021.

Three alternatives move ahead for the I-205 Project environmental review.

Alternatives 3 and 4 will be assessed along with a "No Toll" alternative.

In 2020, ODOT identified and evaluated five tolling alternatives for the I-205 Toll Project. Our assessment and results of public comment identified Alternatives 3 and 4 as the two alternatives that would best meet the project goals and limit diversion. Read the Comparison of Screening Alternatives Report for an in-depth analysis of why these two alternatives and a No Toll Alternative will be carried forward for additional study.

Why are Alternatives 3 and 4 moving forward?

• They would better manage traffic congestion on I-205 while also generating more revenue for transportation improvements than the other alternatives.
• They offer more flexibility in using variable-rate tolls to manage congestion on I-205 by “fine-tuning” tolls in specific locations as conditions and needs changes over time.
• They could be readily scaled to other highways in the region and applied throughout a larger tolling network.
• There would be less concentrated diversion in nearby communities. Vehicles that reroute to avoid the toll would be distributed along the entire I-205 corridor so that no single roadway or community would receive the full impact of rerouted traffic.

Alternative 3 will individually toll multiple bridges to be rebuilt.

Alternative 4, could also be refined to produce similar regional transportation system benefits as Alternative 5, but with more flexibility.

Alternative 4 will be composed of segment-based tolls from Stafford Road to OR 213.

For a detailed explanation on why alternatives 1, 2 and 5 are not moving forward, please see the Comparison of Screening Alternatives Report.  

Learn the latest plans for the I-205 Improvements Project.

Join us for an online open house for the I-205 Improvements: Stafford Rd to OR 213 Project, available in English and Spanish April 12 through April 30.

ODOT is designing improvements to I-205 to support a healthy Oregon economy with safer, more reliable travel that improves regional access to work, health and play opportunities. Travelers will benefit from earthquake-ready infrastructure, less congestion, more predictable travel times and fewer crashes each day. Toll funding is needed to fund portions of the project. Find out more by participating in our online open house and share your thoughts with our project team. You and others can also stay in the loop by joining our email list for this project.

Results of recent committee meetings.

Equity and Mobility Advisory Committee Meeting

The Equity and Mobility Advisory Committee is gearing up for an ambitious year where they will develop recommendations for how ODOT should address needs for transit and multimodal transportation options, affordability, and neighborhood health and safety. On March 31, 2021, the committee met and provided direction for ODOT to move forward with a committee work plan (overview and detailed schedule) for the next 12 months and finalize its approach to process equity performance measures. Watch the meeting recording for the full discussion. ​

Committee members will discuss policies to address transit and multimodal transportation at a workshop on April 28, 2021. These policies will help the project team ensure the toll projects meet equity and mobility goals described in the Equity Framework.

Region 1 Area Commission on Transportation Meeting

On Monday, April 5, 2021, the Region 1 Area Commission on Transportation heard an update from Oregon Transportation Commission members Bob VanBrocklin and Alando Simpson.

The commissioners reminded the group that congestion in the Portland area is a significant concern to residents and businesses statewide. House Bill 2017 requires ODOT to move ahead with specific projects, including tolls.

Simpson said the region must work in partnership to solve complex interconnected transportation, economic and social problems.

“[I] urge folks and ask folks to pull up their pants, roll up their sleeves, put aside your emotions, put aside your egos, put aside your insecurities, put aside your own personal agendas and really focus on working together,” he said. “ODOT does not have all the answers…nor does any one agency have all the answers -- but I think collectively by working in unison, we will have the answer for our future.”  --  Alando Simpson, OTC

See the video of the full meeting here.

For more information and to sign up for email updates, please check out the project website or email the project team.

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The information in this document, and the public and agency input received, may be adopted or incorporated by reference into a future environmental review process to meet the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act.