Tag Archives: Transportation Commission

Kotek: No tolling now, but maybe tolling later

Gov. Tina Kotek says her pause on tolling now for Portland metro area freeways should not be read as no tolling ever for Oregon highways and bridges. But Kotek halted the current toll-making process set in motion by 2017 legislation, which left it to the Oregon Department of Transportation and the Oregon Transportation Commission to […]
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A plan to toll Portland highways is dead — but tolling is still on the table

Facing backlash from citizens and looming questions about what tolling would look like, Gov. Tina Kotek killed one effort that would have set tolls on Interstates 5 and 205 in order to curb rush hour congestion. She paused another proposal to toll a single bridge on I-205 to pay for seismic upgrades. Source: A plan […]
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Coastal Ports Ask Lawmakers for Green Light to Dredge

Commercial ports from Astoria to Coos Bay line the Oregon Coast. Despite those ports and its beauty, the coast remains economically depressed, with family-wage jobs scarce outside government or health care. Coastal lawmakers from both parties want to make it easier for the ports to realize their economic potential by dredging navigation channels in the […]
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ODOT gets an earful from Clackamas County residents against metro area tolling

Clackamas County residents gave officials from the Oregon Department of Transportation an earful in opposition to tolling Interstate 205 during an April 4 open house at the Pioneer Center. Oregon City Mayor Denyse McGriff encouraged residents to attend the open house and spoke strongly against Clackamas County becoming the centerpiece of ODOT’s “guinea pig” plan […]
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Bill to allow motorcycle ‘lane splitting’ once again moving in Oregon’s Legislature

Lawmakers passed a bill in 2021 to let motorcyclists ride between lanes of congested traffic, but it was vetoed. Oregon lawmakers are taking another crack at letting motorcyclists travel between lanes in slow or stopped traffic, two years after then-Gov. Kate Brown unexpectedly vetoed a similar bill. Senate Bill 422 passed the 30-member Senate on […]
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Tolls are coming to Portland-area freeways, and even tolling fans worry they’ll stack up

In less than two years, the Oregon Department of Transportation will introduce the first highway tolls in the state.It will begin with two bridge tolls on Interstate 205. But planned within the next few years are per-mile tolls on all lanes of Interstates 5 and 205 and, if a replacement project gets underway, a toll […]
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Governor Brown nominates Lee Beyer to Oregon Transportation Commission

Lane County Democrat Lee Beyer is poised to be the next member of the Oregon Transportation Commission. Governor Kate Brown made the announcement as part of a slate of nominations made public on August 31st. If confirmed, Beyer would replace Commissioner Alando Simpson, whose term expires at the end of this year.The five-member OTC is […]
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Oregon insiders: Who’s who in and around state government

Gov. Kate Brown appointed Kelly Kuklenski of Tualatin and Ronnee Kliewer of Portland to the State Board of Parole and Post-Prison Supervision to complete the unexpired terms of Patty Cress and Michael Hsu. Cress accepted a position at the Department of Corrections. Hsu went to the Oregon Judicial Department. Brown also appointed retiring state Sen. […]
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Law Dean Confirmed to Oregon Transportation Commission

Marcilynn A. Burke, Dean of the University of Oregon School of Law, was recently confirmed to the five-member Oregon Transportation Commission (OTC). Governor Kate Brown nominated Dean Burke, the Dave Frohnmayer Chair in Leadership and Law, to serve on this volunteer commission. The Oregon Senate confirmed Burke as the newest member of the OTC in […]
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ODOT says US DOT Sec Pete Buttigieg will be Oregon’s ‘new best friend’

Heads are spinning at the Oregon Department of Transportation over what’s being called a “truly historic” influx of federal cash thanks to passage of President Joe Biden’s Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). On a media call Friday, ODOT Assistant Director of Revenue, Finance and Compliance Travis Brouwer (who we talked to last week) shared a […]
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