Clark County Councilor Eileen Quiring
Talk of tolls has been a spectre floating across the north side of the Columbia River for months now, though one of Clark County’s representatives on an advisory board crafting toll policy is planning on using her seat to keep Oregon aware of Washingtonians who cross the interstate bridges every day.
During a “Clark County Focus” interview hosted by CVTV Feb. 14, Clark County Councilor Eileen Quiring covered a few topics including the Portland Metro Area Value Pricing Advisory Committee, of which she is a member. The committee is the result of legislation passed by Oregon lawmakers last year as part of a transportation spending package. It is the work group tasked with looking at feasible ways to tolling the Interstate 5 and Interstate 205 corridors from the state line to the junction of the thoroughfares south of Portland.
So far the value pricing committee has had two meetings, with a third set for Feb. 28. Only three of the 25 members were from Washington which did not give the state too loud of a voice.
“I am certainly going to use my voice to try to convince Oregon that they really need to consider Southwest Washington and the 75,000 to 80,000 that commute back and forth across those two corridors,” Quiring said.
The mandate of the committee is reducing congestion, though Quiring was skeptical of some of the ideas presented. The conversion of existing lanes into toll lanes was a possibility, though that didn’t sit well with the councilor
“If they don’t add any lanes, it’s pretty difficult to see how (less congestion) happens,” Quiring said, likening the constriction to squeezing a balloon, overall not reducing the volume regardless of where pressure is applied.
Quiring mentioned that any tolling program would have to be decided federally, and the local representative in Congress, Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-Battle Ground, has already taken a stance against tolling Washingtonians unfairly. In state government the lawmakers from the 17th, 18th and 20th districts have also made public statements against tolling.
The chief issue was that the improvements funded by tolls would not benefit the commuters from Washington paying for them. A lot of what Quiring has seen has involved projects far south of the bridges that would receive the benefit of the toll funds, mentioning the Oregon City area as a possible project location.
“While we might have some commuters that are going that far south, it’s more likely that they aren’t going that far,” Quiring said. “If they are not able to avail themselves to the improvements, I don’t see why they should have to pay the toll.”
A possible solution Quiring proposed was to have some sort of electronic verification system that could take into account residence and factor that into who received tolls.
Unfortunately the possibility of adding infrastructure does not look too bright. Quiring said the focus has been on using existing infrastructure and converting lanes into high-occupancy or toll lanes, not “building our way out of it” as Quiring mentioned by adding more infrastructure.
“That is just not the mindset for Oregonians, and it has not been for a long time,” Quiring remarked.
Though the process is far from over and currently no tolls are in place, Quiring said she would make sure Washington didn’t get thrown under the bus.
“If they did (toll) though, I would certainly be a very loud voice for mitigating what Washingtonians have to pay,” Quiring said.
The full interview can be found at: cvtv.org/vid_link/24981
