Oregon transportation package released

Started by Sub-Urbanite, May 11, 2017, 12:53:47 PM

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nexus73

T-bird, you hit the nail on those valley to coast projects right on the head!  The Newport to Otis Junction 101 needs to be dealt with. Add in Cannon Beach to Astoria.  There are some smallish south coast projects I would like to see done but the ones you mentioned are the highest volume corridors at this time, so they do need priority.

I personally prefer more gas tax to tolls as I do not want to add another government agency full of PERS suckers and I do want every dime collected going toward construction.  If EV's are getting up to being a Big Deal, then tack on a small fee to the power bills so some funds come from those vehicles for road projects.  None of the projects benefit me directly in my daily drive but I do recognize the need to have a properly functioning network of highways so the goods can flow along with the tourists, which means a better state economy for all of us.  I'll gladly pay the extra gas tax.  If $4 a gallon gas did not stop me from going where I needed to go, the current price of around $2.75 can stand some addition if it benefits us all.

Anyways, nice discussion points and I hope you write your state rep and senator as I do.

Rick
US 101 is THE backbone of the Pacific coast from Bandon OR to Willits CA.  Industry, tourism and local traffic would be gone or severely crippled without it being in functioning condition in BOTH states.


Sub-Urbanite

I totally agree that we need to at least have expressway connections from the I-5 corridor to key outlying areas — Portland to Astoria, Tualatin to Lincoln City, Clackamas to Madras.

But given how badly ODOT screwed up Eddyville, it's going to take a long time before anyone trusts ODOT with a substantial capital project through complex terrain. Basically, I think the only way you actually fund & build those rural connections is a successful statewide ballot initiative.

compdude787

Quote from: Sub-Urbanite on May 17, 2017, 02:15:37 PM
But given how badly ODOT screwed up Eddyville, it's going to take a long time before anyone trusts ODOT with a substantial capital project through complex terrain.

In what way did they screw up Eddyville?

Sub-Urbanite

Quote from: compdude787 on May 17, 2017, 04:24:54 PM
Quote from: Sub-Urbanite on May 17, 2017, 02:15:37 PM
But given how badly ODOT screwed up Eddyville, it's going to take a long time before anyone trusts ODOT with a substantial capital project through complex terrain.

In what way did they screw up Eddyville?

Generously - ODOT didn't really understand the concept of "cost management" when they got into the project. Nor did they understand that there are such things as slow-moving landslides.

That's the generous assessment.

The non-generous version is that ODOT spent $61 million per mile on the core of the Eddyville project. It took ODOT 11 years — 11 years!!!! — to build 5 miles of road.

ODOT's contractor built $17 million worth of bridges — and then ODOT blew them up because they were built on a slow-moving landslide that nobody detected in pre-engineering.

ODOT initially budgeted $162 million for Eddyville. It spent $365 million. Based on its initial budget, widening OR 18 from Spirit Mountain to the Coast would cost roughly $670 million. Based on what it actually spent, widening OR 18 from Spirit Mountain to the Coast would cost $1.5 billion.

This is a pattern. The Woodburn Interchange was initially forecast to cost $25 million. It cost $70 million. And people are still raw about spending $200 million to plan the new Interstate Bridge — even though politics ultimately killed it.

So I guess there's two points here — one, there just isn't a lot of faith that ODOT can deliver these projects in a cost-effective manner. And two, even if they can — a 4-lane expressway to the Coast is still going to be expensive.

The Newberg-Dundee bypass costs about $26 million a mile.
Eddyville, as mentioned above, cost $61 million a mile.

An Otis to Dundee expressway would be about 50 miles.

sp_redelectric

Quote from: Thunderbyrd316 on May 16, 2017, 05:11:07 PM
Among the projects that will be addressed in Step 1 are improving Oregon 18 from Otis Junction to McMinnville in stages toward a multi-lane expressway with grade separated interchanges at important junctions

I absolutely, whole-heartedly disagree with this project.

101 to 5 or BUST!!!!!!!!

All joking aside, if I were King of Salem I would start by taking Ehlen/Yergen/McKay Roads and turning them into a state highway which would become Highway 18.  Brand new interchange at I-5 (cloverleaf?).  Push that highway west of 219 to line up roughly with Riverwood Road on the west side of the Willamette River, and connect it with existing Highway 18.

Then turn Highway 18 from I-5 west to Steel Bridge Road (near Willamina) into a full-out freeway.  No grade intersections, no driveways.  Divided highway, 70 MPH speed limit, full intersections.

Once that's done, then work west to U.S. 101.

The sad part is that ODOT already owns a significant amount of the right-of-way near Sheridan and between the McMinnville Airport and McDougall's Junction (99W/18) to make it happen without having to buy up real estate.  All it needs to do is get bulldozers on the ground to clear the land and pour concrete.  (And build a second bridge over the Yamhill River.)  Even the Fletcher Road overpass in Dayton is already long enough to accommodate two more lanes of Highway 18 without reconstruction.

Sub-Urbanite

Well, that ended... interesting.

The final package put a bunch of money into increased bus service, gave ODOT some desperately-needed maintenance money, and increased the gas tax statewide. It put in place a bike tax. It gave ODOT and Portland the authority to try congestion pricing on the freeways, and possibly beyond.

But it didn't include much in the way of "enhance" — no money for new projects, as far as I could tell, just the promise that some of that toll money could be used for the needed expansion projects in the Portland metro.

Bickendan


Hurricane Rex

Quote from: Bickendan on July 11, 2017, 04:50:34 PM
Throw us a link please.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/articles.oregonlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2017/07/big_win_for_legislative_leader.amp

The final package cut the I-205 widening project. Also adds rush hour tolls. More on that on my next post (Out of time and I need to do more research)

Quote from: https://www.google.com/amp/s/articles.oregonlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2017/07/big_win_for_legislative_leader.amp
This is the piece of legislation that the 2017 session will be known for, 20, 30, 40, 50 years from now," said Sen. Ron Monroe , D-Portland, "That's how important it is. That's how big it is."

Ironic considering it doesn't do a lot to fix our congestion. I'm also not confident it will help public transit the way things are being planned.
ODOT, raise the speed limit and fix our traffic problems.

Road and weather geek for life.

Running till I die.

Hurricane Rex

From the No more freeways PDX thread but I feel like it would be useful here as well.

https://portlandtribune.com/pt/9-news/380765-268232-odot-looks-at-seven-toll-scenarios

The tolling options for Portland.

Suggestion to these planners: build a Westside Bypass, then toll that. It would improve traffic and reduce truck traffic by a lot.
ODOT, raise the speed limit and fix our traffic problems.

Road and weather geek for life.

Running till I die.

Sub-Urbanite

Quote from: Hurricane Rex on December 14, 2017, 02:37:36 AM
Suggestion to these planners: build a Westside Bypass, then toll that. It would improve traffic and reduce truck traffic by a lot.

Sure, right. Let's spend $10 billion on a freeway that has to go under a mountain range, over at least one (and maybe two, depending on where you put it) rivers and doesn't address congestion within the metro area, just people passing through it...

Hurricane Rex

Maybe not significant traffic improvments but at least trucks can get out of the Portland freeways. Those in the Silicon Forest wanting to go North would take this instead of 26-I'll and I-5. I'm not denying it to be expensive, that's why its tolled. If you haven't seen the Oregonians for Speed Limit Reform's transportation package, I suggest you look at it as there are more projects like this but with a higher gas tax.
ODOT, raise the speed limit and fix our traffic problems.

Road and weather geek for life.

Running till I die.

Sub-Urbanite

Quote from: Hurricane Rex on December 14, 2017, 05:28:47 PM
Maybe not significant traffic improvments but at least trucks can get out of the Portland freeways. Those in the Silicon Forest wanting to go North would take this instead of 26-I'll and I-5. I'm not denying it to be expensive, that's why its tolled. If you haven't seen the Oregonians for Speed Limit Reform's transportation package, I suggest you look at it as there are more projects like this but with a higher gas tax.

So, let's conservatively say, $2 billion for a new freeway from Wilsonville to Hillsboro to Vancouver. Plus, another $3 billion for a tunnel under the West Hills (based on the $3 billion for the Seattle tunnel — and again, I'm being conservative), $500 million for a Willamette River bridge and $1 billion for a Columbia River bridge. That, again conservatively, gets you $6.5 billion.

On a 20 year bond, you'd need roughly $36 million a month — $1.2 million a day — in toll collections to make your bond payments. I-5 at Boones Ferry has 15,600 trucks per day. At Ainsworth, 16,400. So, let's generously say 17,000 trucks a day would use a tolled Western Bypass.

You'd have to toll them $70 each to pay for the thing.

Even if you had 100,000 vehicles a day — Sunset Highway numbers — you'd have to collect $12 in tolls from each of them to make it work.

Unless road construction gets significantly cheaper, there will never be a Westside Bypass.

kkt

Quote from: Sub-Urbanite on December 14, 2017, 07:08:57 PM
Quote from: Hurricane Rex on December 14, 2017, 05:28:47 PM
Maybe not significant traffic improvments but at least trucks can get out of the Portland freeways. Those in the Silicon Forest wanting to go North would take this instead of 26-I'll and I-5. I'm not denying it to be expensive, that's why its tolled. If you haven't seen the Oregonians for Speed Limit Reform's transportation package, I suggest you look at it as there are more projects like this but with a higher gas tax.

So, let's conservatively say, $2 billion for a new freeway from Wilsonville to Hillsboro to Vancouver. Plus, another $3 billion for a tunnel under the West Hills (based on the $3 billion for the Seattle tunnel — and again, I'm being conservative), $500 million for a Willamette River bridge and $1 billion for a Columbia River bridge. That, again conservatively, gets you $6.5 billion.

On a 20 year bond, you'd need roughly $36 million a month — $1.2 million a day — in toll collections to make your bond payments. I-5 at Boones Ferry has 15,600 trucks per day. At Ainsworth, 16,400. So, let's generously say 17,000 trucks a day would use a tolled Western Bypass.

You'd have to toll them $70 each to pay for the thing.

Even if you had 100,000 vehicles a day — Sunset Highway numbers — you'd have to collect $12 in tolls from each of them to make it work.

Unless road construction gets significantly cheaper, there will never be a Westside Bypass.

Or if some of the funding comes from other sources - part of the gas tax? Feds interested in construction funding again? Local congresscritter becomes chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee?

Hurricane Rex

Quote from: kkt on December 15, 2017, 12:13:19 AM
Quote from: Sub-Urbanite on December 14, 2017, 07:08:57 PM
Quote from: Hurricane Rex on December 14, 2017, 05:28:47 PM
Maybe not significant traffic improvments but at least trucks can get out of the Portland freeways. Those in the Silicon Forest wanting to go North would take this instead of 26-I'll and I-5. I'm not denying it to be expensive, that's why its tolled. If you haven't seen the Oregonians for Speed Limit Reform's transportation package, I suggest you look at it as there are more projects like this but with a higher gas tax.

So, let's conservatively say, $2 billion for a new freeway from Wilsonville to Hillsboro to Vancouver. Plus, another $3 billion for a tunnel under the West Hills (based on the $3 billion for the Seattle tunnel — and again, I'm being conservative), $500 million for a Willamette River bridge and $1 billion for a Columbia River bridge. That, again conservatively, gets you $6.5 billion.

On a 20 year bond, you'd need roughly $36 million a month — $1.2 million a day — in toll collections to make your bond payments. I-5 at Boones Ferry has 15,600 trucks per day. At Ainsworth, 16,400. So, let's generously say 17,000 trucks a day would use a tolled Western Bypass.

You'd have to toll them $70 each to pay for the thing.

Even if you had 100,000 vehicles a day — Sunset Highway numbers — you'd have to collect $12 in tolls from each of them to make it work.

Unless road construction gets significantly cheaper, there will never be a Westside Bypass.

Or if some of the funding comes from other sources - part of the gas tax? Feds interested in construction funding again? Local congresscritter becomes chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee?

Maybe if Trump puts it in his trillion dollar infrastructure plan he said he'd do during the campaign. Just maybe.
ODOT, raise the speed limit and fix our traffic problems.

Road and weather geek for life.

Running till I die.



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