The public comment period starts on Friday, Oct. 1, 2021, and concludes 5 p.m. Monday, Nov. 15, 2021.
Online survey
Email
You can also submit comments by email or mail to:
- by mail to Metro Planning – I-205 Toll Project | 600 NE Grand Ave., Portland, OR 97232
- by phone at 503-797-1750 or 503-797-1804
- submission at the Nov. 4, 2021 Metro Council meeting from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.
This information will be provided to Metro's Transportation Policy Advisory Committee (TPAC), the Metro Technical Advisory Committee (MTAC), the Metro Policy Advisory Committee (MPAC), the region's Joint Policy Advisory Committee on Transportation (JPACT) and the Metro Council for discussion and consideration prior to requesting final recommendations and action in early 2022.
The Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) is studying options for a variable rate toll on all lanes of Interstate 205 (I-205) between Stafford Road and Oregon Route 213 (OR-213), known as the I-205 Toll Project. Tolls would raise revenue to complete financing for the planned I-205 Improvements Project and manage congestion on this section of I-205.
The I-205 Improvements Project includes:
- Seismic upgrades of the Abernethy Bridge and includes seismic retrofit or replacement of eight additional bridges in the corridor
- Widening I-205 to add a third lane in each direction between Stafford Road and OR-213
- Investments in transportation system management and operations, such as traveler information signs, throughout the corridor and a new parallel multi-use path.
ODOT is preparing to move the I-205 Toll Project forward in the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) review process. As part of this process, ODOT requested an amendment to the 2018 Regional Transportation Plan (RTP). The requested amendment will:
- Add the preliminary engineering phase for the I-205 Toll Project to the RTP financially constrained project list
- Clarify the financial connection of the I-205 Toll Project to the I-205 Improvement Project in Chapter 8 of the RTP.
In summer 2020, ODOT launched an education and engagement period for the I-205 Toll Project to receive input on the draft purpose and need for the project, the toll alternatives to be studied, and key issues for analysis as required by NEPA. ODOT plans to continue public engagement on the I-205 Toll Project through 2022 (See the I-205 Toll Project Public Involvement Plan).
Regional Transportation Plan
The I-205 Improvements Project is included in the 2018 RTP as I-205 South Corridor Widening and Seismic Improvements Project (8.3.1.8). The Regional Transportation Plan is a tool that guides investments in all forms of travel – motor vehicle, transit, bicycle and walking – and the movement of goods and freight throughout greater Portland. The plan includes a Financially Constrained Project list with projects submitted by local, regional or state agencies that are prioritized for the revenue reasonably expected to be available to the greater Portland region by 2040. Projects and programs must be in the RTP’s financially constrained system in order to be eligible for federal and state funding.
Metro considers amending the Regional Transportation Plan when a sponsoring agency requests changes to the funding, phasing, mode, function or general location of a project in the Plan. The Regional Transportation Plan documents projects in Chapter 8 and in the financially constrained project list.