On this day, May 21, 2001, in Seattle, Wa., members of the Earth Liberation Front torched the Univ. of Washington's Center for Urban Horticulture causing about $6 million in damage. An Oregon tree farm owned by Jefferson Poplar Farms was also burned. four people were later convicted of taking part in the firebombing. One later committed suicide in prison.
Also on this day, May 21, 2002, The George W. Bush administration said it will allow new mining to resume on nearly one million acres of the Siskiyou region.
Also on this day, May 21, 2006, demolition crews destroyed the 499-foot cooling tower of the Trojan Nuclear Power Plant. Demolition of the containment dome was scheduled in 2008.
Also on this day, May 21, 1998, 15 year-old Kipland Kinkel killed one classmate and wounded 19 more at Thurston High School. His parents, William and Faith, were found shot dead at home and a 2nd student died the next day. He had been expelled from school the previous day for bringing a gun to school. Kinkel dropped an insanity plea in 1999 and pleaded guilty to four counts of murder and 26 counts of attempted murder. He was sentenced over 111 years in prison.
Imposes mandatory per-mile road usage fee for passenger vehicles
In 2021, the Oregon Legislature passed
HB 2342 -- introduced by Representative John Lively (D-Springfield) -- which imposes mandatory per-mile road usage fee for registered owners and lessees of passenger vehicles of model year 2027 or later that have rating of 30 miles per gallon or greater, beginning July 1, 2026. Now, the newly-created Road User Fee Task Force is set to meet to implement this. The first meeting is March 15th by video conference only.
Julie Brown, Oregon Transportation Commissioner chairs the task force comprised of two sitting state representatives, two elected local officials, a tribe representative and two from vehicular NGO’s.
The Task Force being newly created, the agenda will be mostly introductory. A review of
HB 2342 will be followed by an overview of recent and ongoing projects. 10 minutes are allotted for public comment in the RUFTF two hour meeting comprised mainly of ODOT staff presentations. HB 2342 passed out of committee 7 to 5 on a straight party line vote for referral to Ways and Means in 2021.
In 2017 the Oregon Legislature passed
HB 2017 was passed -- among other things -- to implement
tolls on I-5 and I-205 in the Portland Metro region to help manage traffic congestion. Variable rates are contemplated with higher rates in effect during hours of heaviest use. Variable rates also goes by the names "congestions pricing," "value pricing," "variable pricing", "variable rate tolling", "peak-period pricing" or "market-based pricing". Drivers may alter their hours of use or routes taken to mitigate high toll rates. Tolls are collected electronically so toll booths and long lines aren’t an issue. Equity pricing will aid low income users.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T
A D V E R T I S E M E N T
Goals and Objectives will be presented by Travis Brouwer Assistant Director of Revenue, Finance and Compliance for ODOT. Brouwer is a very busy guy these days “getting out his grant writing pen and spending a lot of time trying to bring additional money back to Oregon†according to his interview with Bike Oregon. Oregon will be aiming to get a share of the $100 billion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, IIJA, money expected from the Federal Government. The money is for discretionary grant opportunities involving roads, rails, ports, airports, transit and other modes to be awarded by USDOT.
Tolls could start as early as 2024 on the I-205 corridor, near the Abernathy and Tualatin River bridges in Clackamas County.
ODOT asks, “will this management tool work well? Has past management of our highway systems been successfulâ€? further down their posting ODOT answers its own question stating “unfortunately, our transportation system isn’t keeping upâ€. The state is awash in tax revenues yet priorities have ODOT facing a $510 million annual shortfall just to maintain existing roads. The quest to force people out of their automobiles continues.
Questions can be submitted to the ODOT project team at oregontolling@odot.state.or.us
--Tom Hammer| Post Date: 2022-03-05 06:34:23 | Last Update: 2022-03-04 11:18:48 |
