217: Highway to a Dangerous Precedent

As David Anderson reported in today's Oregonian, Metro is considering tolls as a way to pay for needed widening of Oregon highway 217. I could not possibly be more against this idea.

Oregonians rightfully take pride in certain key places being free and open to everyone, whether it's our pristine Pacific beaches or our roads. When you start charging per-use fees, whatever fairness may be achieved by those using these resources paying for them, you lose so much more: the notion that Oregon belongs to all of us equally.

There has already been a terrible precedent with certain state parks charging day-use fees, and once you open the Pandora's Box of road tolls, 217 will only be the first. How about an extra $5 to travel down south to wine country, or east to Mt. Hood, while your next door neighbor pays nothing because he happen to use other public roads?

There is a much fairer and obvious way to pay for 217 widening as well as all the other infrastructure and public spaces we all share: taxes. There--I spoke the verboten word. But I'm not kidding. Raise taxes if you need to pay to widen the highway. Better we all pay together than a few people having to continually pay more. Nobody likes taxes but there is no painless way to pay for what our community and our region needs.

I urge everyone to contact Metro and urge them to drop not just the idea of a toll for 217, but of ever charging a toll for any stretch of asphalt. You can email the Metro council at metrocouncil@metro-region.org.

Comments

[mat]

I don't necesarilly agree with tolls either...but the idea of everyone paying equally for widening 217 through taxes seems a bit tricky. I guess it depends on how the tax is implemented. What about those of us who do not drive and would like to see the problem solved by decreasing automobile use in the metro rather than encouraging it with more pavement. I don't feel good about my tax dollars allowing Joe Schmoe and all his bratty teenagers to drive Hummers to work and school. How about more convienient mass transit along the 217 corridor? Did someone say more trains batman?

[Chris Smith]

Commuter rail is already on track (no pun intended) parallel to 217/I-5.

[Brian]

To answer the post above from Mat: It's only fair that we Portlanders help pay for 217 in the suburbs, and the people of Beaverton or elsewhere help pay for, say, 99E -- also known as MLK Boulevard. The point is that 217 is a state highway, and as a result all Oregonians should both pay equally for it and have equal access. To me if suburbanites in Hummers use it more than you and me, that's almost beside the point.

[Mat]

I guess my point is I would rather see everyone's tax dollars go to a more eco-friendly form of expanding transportation. A commuter rail you say?? awesome. where can I find out more about this?

[j]

I am very pro-transit and I think tolls on 217 is a terrible idea. Our country in general needs to be willing to spend money on infrastructure, we used to but we dont anymore. Spending on infrastructure is essential to having a prosperous future. We can not privatize our roads.

Portlanders do spend a fair bit of money on improving transit which is great but we cant now be stingy with money when it comes to highways. Luckily we have few freeways in the region but lets keep the ones we have in tip top shape. I commend the residents of the region for strongly supporting transit service but I am concerned that tolls will hurt support for transit.

[Chris Smith]

Commuter rail:

http://www.trimet.org/commuterrail/index.htm