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.
![This graphic shows the I-205 Toll Project schedule, with technical analysis bbeginning in Springg 2021.](https://content.govdelivery.com/attachments/fancy_images/ORDOT/2021/04/4365043/3500979/scgedule-graphic_crop.jpg) Technical analysis for the I-205 Toll Project begins in Spring 2021.
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