A Three Horse Race...
Are we all aware there is a race going on... some interesting history...
In Short
In this weeks podcast… There is a three horse race to stop ODOT from tolling I-205. Which horse are you on? Might we suggest… you’d better be on all three.
Article 1 - Sometimes we miss things… and this was a huge miss, for ALL OF US! Did you know “The first phase of the I-205 project, focused on the Abernethy Bridge widening… having circumvented the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Environmental Impact Assessment process via a documented categorical exclusion (DCE)…” This article, from U.S. Pirg Education Fund, brings to light the past end-around of ODOT and how it controls its budget. An Excellent read from Sept 2022.
Article 2 - The FY22 INFRA GRANT APPLICATION, submitted to the Federal Government, for the I-205 Improvements Project Phase 2 has a clear budget and project eligibility. This budget, a bit lower than the one mentioned above for the same project. And, only mentioned a few times, a tolling element. According to the U.S. Department of Transportation INFRA 22 Fact Sheets, Oregon did not receive monies per their request.
Article 3 - Willamette Week wrote an article this week on how tolling is now creating a big hill to climb for ODOT. But as we suggest in our podcast, this may not be the horse that can win the race.
This Weeks Articles
Where is the money coming from for the I-205 Projects