Multnomah County looks ready to enact an annual vehicle registration fee of $19 starting next fall, to pay for its portion of replacing the ailing Sellwood Bridge.
The bridge opened in 1925. In 1960, three feet was cut out to accommodate a landslide. Loads have been restricted twice since 1985, there’s a sag in the bridge, and the bridge has been patched up with a series of makeshift repairs. “It’s obsolete for bikes, pedestrians, and vehicles,” said a staffer, introducing the proposals.
The legislature paved the way for the county’s vehicle registration tax as part of House Bill 2001 in the last session, which is expected to generate $127million in bond proceeds for the county over 20 years. There are 577,000 eligible vehicles in Multnomah County, although trucks over 26,000 pounds are excluded from having to pay. The county will vote to approve the ordinance setting up the tax on October 22, with a first reading on October 15.
The county chose a preferred alternative to the bridge late in 2008, which has 12 foot shared sidewalks on each side, 6.5 foot bike lanes on each side, and two 12 foot travel lanes for vehicles. Current estimates for the new bridge are $330million in 2014 dollars (accounting for inflation). The Federal Government is likely to contribute $40million, while the city of Portland will also contribute $100million towards the cost, as long as the bridge is “streetcar ready.” Mayor Sam Adams was in the audience this morning to watch the discussion and gave testimony.
“It’s not like this hasn’t been an issue for the past 60 years,” said Adams. “So I want to thank you for your leadership on this process, your work lobbying at the state legislature. I’m here to support your proposal to raise the vehicle registration fee.”
“It is unusual for the city to do this [contribute $100million to the cost of the bridge],” said Adams. “But I do so willingly. There are tough trade offs for the city, but I support this not only because of the condition of the bridge but also the circulation challenges that South Portland faces.”
State Representative Carolyn Tomei from Milwaukie and Southeast Portland said she supported the idea. “The people in my district have been waiting for years for the Sellwood Bridge to be replaced,” she said.
“Asking the public for money is never easy to do, especially when times are tough,” said Metro Regional Councilor Rex Burkholder. “But I think you have made the right connection between the need and the responsibility that needs to be taken by our community.”
“Only a fraction of people who want to bike over that bridge currently do, because of the safety issues,” said Scott Bricker, executive director of the Bicycle Transportation Alliance. “95 percent of the bicyclists we surveyed recently do actually own vehicles, so they will be paying towards this bridge.”
Clackamas County is hoping to institute a similar $5 annual vehicle tax next year.
So, does Chair Wheeler expect a backlash for raising taxes?
“Certainly I expect some, these are tough economic times and families are weighing every dollar,” he says. “Having said that this project has strong public support, and it should come as a surprise to nobody that if we’re going to replace a bridge, we have to fund it. We’ve tried to be as fair as possible, and that’s led to the regional collaboration between the city, county, state, Clackamas County, the Federal Government. We’ve done a good job of diversifying the sources of funding,” he says. “So, is it painless? No. But this is a project with wide public support that I have poured a lot of my energy and frankly, my political credibility into.”
Afterward, County Commissioner Deborah Kafoury joked that she was disappointed nobody came to speak against the proposal. “It’s a kumbaya love fest,” she said.
damage to roads occurs at a rate of the axle weight of a vehicle to the 4th power. Heavy Trucks can do as much damage to a road as 1000 cars. Why on earth would we charge more to road users who do less damage?
@econoline
…add to that factor studded tires. I’m not paying for a bunch of road damage just because some people can’t drive in their weather. Those should have been taxed ages ago.
I, of course, smugly don’t drive a car.
I’ll pay. I’m scared of that bridge.
In the meantime they should put some Tibetian prayer wheels so bikers / walkers can be comforted as they transverse.
@orgengine: I completely agree, we should be taxing the shit out of studded tires. But they’re irrelevant to the Sellwood bridge – it’s not the surface that’s the problem, it’s the structure, and the type of tires doesn’t affect that.
Matt, please elaborate on why the heck heavy trucks would be exempt from the $19 fee.
And is it a bridge fee if I drive over it, but a bridge tax if I don’t?
“In 1960, three feet was cut out to accommodate a landslide.”
Cut out of what? The bridge? That doesn’t make any sense.
I guess they could shift the tax over to trucks, but you’d just wind up paying for it when you buy something delivered via truck. Which is to say all the food you eat, among other things.
It’s stupid how bridge improvements are such a hard sell. You may not contribute as much to the wear and tear in a car, but having a bridge collapse is going to ruin your day all the same if you happen to be on it.
Cut out of the bridge! According to the staffer presenting:
The land up the hill from the bridge moved 3 feet, pushing the bridge 3 feet, so they cut out the three feet that had moved, and propped it back up as if nothing had ever happened.
Trucks over that weight is state law, Paul. I guess they’re trying to protect “interstate commerce.”
@Stu
Considering the landslide, I can see that argument. It doesn’t help, however, that the road has been ground down to the rebar in places. That will also have an effect on the structure in the form of torques making the rebar pop chunks of concrete from under the walkway. This was noticeable the last time I biked across that bridge, which was ten years ago.
1) Don’t mind a $19 tax as long as I don’t have to do into the DMV to pay it.
2) Why not just toll it?
3) Since the point is to raise $$$ rather than curb behavior, bikers AND pedestrians should have to pay, regardless of whether or not they already own cars. And I agree that overweight trucks should have to pay more.
4) If you’re living in the metro area and you have studded tires, you’re a fucking loser.
I really don’t understand why a per-axle toll isn’t central to the proposal.
It should be noted that trucks over 26,000 pounds will be prohibited from using the bridge, although that restriction does not apply to public vehicles such as buses and emergency vehicles. The weight restriction was added by the Oregon Legislature and should ensure that Tacoma and surrounding streets remain free of heavy trucks.
I remember when they came out with the first studded tires, that they used ground up walnut shells instead of metal studs. As I recall, they worked pretty good, too. And no damage to the roads. I just remembered that they also used sawdust in the tires. This was way back when you could buy a re-cap passenger tire. I grew up in the Carson-Stevenson area, and most of us had extra wheels mounted with the winter tires and only used them in the winter. Of course, the alternative is banning studded tires, and reverting to putting chains on when it’s bad, but most people try to avoid using them and just end up wrecking themselves and/or someone else.
Trucks that weigh more than 26,000 lbs are exempt from local vehicle registration fees in Oregon because their owners pay a separate weight/mile tax. The weight/mile fee taxes heavy trucks more to reflect their greater wear and tear on roads and bridges.
In the early 1960’s, the hillside on the west end of the Sellwood Bridge slid several feet toward the river, pushing the bridge structure and damaging the bridge. The county removed several feet from the bridge deck and jacked the support piers back into place to account for the hill movement. The bridge is still damaged from this landslide.
Tolling has been studied as a way to fund a new Sellwood Bridge. Experts predict tolling only the Sellwood Bridge would not work. The majority of traffic would detour to nearby bridges without tolls (Ross Island, Hawthorne, etc.), which would force the county to increase the toll on the Sellwood Bridge, which would cause more traffic to avoid the Sellwood. Tolling the Sellwood only simply would not generate enough revenue to sell bonds to build a new bridge.
IF PEOPLE WOULD AVOID IT WITH A TOLL BY CROSSING AT ANOTHER BRIDGE, THEN THE BRIDGE IS NOT NEEDED, SCRAP IT, PUT A SWINGING BRIDGE ACROSS FOR PEDESTRIANS AND BIKE, AND MAKE THEM PAY FOR IT.