The Interstate 5 freeway through North Portland in the Albina neighborhood, April 9, 2021.
Kristyna Wentz-Graff / OPB
Aside from a handful of bridges, no Oregon highways currently charge drivers a toll. That could change in the coming years as ODOT is exploring tolls as a way to manage congestion on Portland area expressways.
To prepare for the potential advent of toll roads, the agency is examining its current tolling policies and proposing some tweaks. The goal is to better define toll-related terms and make the objectives of tolling more clear.
The decision about whether to actually implement tolls hasn’t been made yet. Right now, the state is taking comments on what a tolling policy would look like, should tolls be put in place.
“This is not just a policy for the Portland metro area, even though that’s the only location currently that we’re really exploring these,” said Erik Havig, the statewide policy and planning manager for ODOT. “The policy is being set up in case there may be other locations across the state in the future where we may want to consider this.”
ODOT has scheduled a virtual public hearing on the tolling policy for Wednesday, July 20. Written comments are being accepted through Aug. 1.
