By Hillary Borrud and Anna Marum

SALEM -- Oregon lawmakers want to sink $1.1 billion into fighting congestion in the Portland metro area, arguing that reducing traffic there will benefit the rest of the state.

Higher gas taxes and other vehicle fees would fund projects to address traffic bottlenecks on three Portland-area highways: Interstate 5, Interstate 205 and Oregon 217.

The proposal calls for the local government, Metro, to split the costs with the state. Half the funding would come from statewide tax increases, with the other half coming from gas tax revenue, registration fees and perhaps tolls from residents in Multnomah, Clackamas and Washington counties.

The proposed investments were unveiled Monday as part of the Legislature's $8.2 billion transportation package. Lawmakers hope to refine their rough plan into a bill over the coming weeks.

Sen. Rod Monroe, D-Portland, who helped craft the transportation package, said the state's need is dire.

"Our roads and our bridges are deteriorating," he said. "Most of our bridges were built more than 70 years ago, and many of them are crumbling."

Proposal details

Funding for the transportation proposal would come from three sources:

>> Increased gas taxes and higher title and registration fees will pay for statewide road maintenance and preservation

>> Local funds and a sales tax on new vehicles, and possibly tolls, will pay for congestion relief on I-5, I-205 and OR 217 in the form of wider roads and added lanes

>> An employee payroll tax, a sales tax on new bikes and possibly a tax on contractor materials would pay for improvements to public transit and bike and pedestrian routes throughout the state

The plan relies on a proposed 9-cent-a-gallon gas tax and $15 vehicle registration fee in the Portland metropolitan area. Both would be phased in over five years and would raise an estimated $494 million over the next decade.

That new local revenue would help pay for several of the largest proposals to reduce traffic congestion in the tri-county area. Portland drivers would paythat tax on top of the local gas tax voters already approved last May, and on top of statewide increases to the charges in the proposal.

Both political parties agree that the state's infrastructure is in critical need of investment after decades of underfunding. The statewide gas tax has increased just once in the last 20 years.

But Republicans warn that the myriad tax increases included in the plan will not be popular among voters, and say an overhaul of the low-carbon fuel standard is critical in gaining GOP support for the plan.

Because it includes tax hikes, the proposal will need a three-fifths approval in both chambers of the statehouse. That means Democrats will need to get at least two Republicans on their side.

The last transportation package passed in 2009, funded partially by increased gas taxes. A proposal failed in 2015 when a bid to trade Oregon's new clean fuels law for new carbon cuts fell apart at the end of session. This proposal is about 20 times larger than 2015's.

Getting creative

The most expensive Portland-area congestion relief project would add northbound and southbound lanes and redo an entrance ramp on I-5 near the Rose Quarter, at an estimated cost of up to $450 million. Similar widening projects on 217 and I-205 would cost $98 million and $250 million respectively, and an I-205 bridge project would cost $202 million.

Then there are the more creative proposals to ease traffic.

A $10 million pilot project would allow the state to try out a system of moveable barriers, which can add and reduce lanes to accommodate morning and afternoon commuters. Oregon used the system in the past on highway construction projects. It is also used to reduce congestion on the Golden Gate Bridge and on Interstate 15 between Los Angeles and San Diego.

"Think how many times you're on one side of the road and you look on the other side of the road and everyone's doing 70 (mph) and there's plenty of space," said Chris Sanders, senior vice president of Lindsay Corporation which produces the system.

The proposal also calls for the state to invest $35 million on "active traffic management" -- essentially systems of electronic road condition signs -- for I-5 and I-205. Some signs are already in place along the highways, but the proposal would add to those systems.

Don Hamilton, a spokesman for ODOT, said the systems can reduce collisions by alerting motorists to slow moving traffic, slick roads or crashes, thus preventing pileups. In the first year after such a system launched on Highway 217, crashes declined by more than 20 percent.

"We've seen real success," Hamilton said. "When we can reduce the number of fender benders, we're bringing real efficiency and improvement to people's lives."

Tolling

Lawmakers are interested in requiring tolls on some roads, both to raise revenue and to influence drivers' behavior, such as discouraging people from driving during rush hour.

Travis Brouwer, assistant director of the Oregon Department of Transportation, said federal law generally precludes tolls except on new bridges and new roads or highway lanes. However, some federal pilot programs could offer options for expanded use of tolls in Oregon.

In the past, Oregon has mostly used tolls to pay for new bridge construction and could do so again, Brouwer said.

Lawmakers aren't relying on any tolling revenue in their transportation funding plan, however. Brouwer said it will take extensive computer modeling to figure out how much revenue tolls might raise, since some drivers would inevitably take alternate routes to avoid them.

Monroe said the improvements to I-205 and I-5 could open the door for tolling. The additional lane proposed on I-205 between the Abernethy Bridge and Stafford Road is one candidate, he said. Another possibility that might work for parts of I-5 southbound, he said, is "congestion tolling," or tolling during the busiest parts of the day.

"Tolling in Oregon is almost like the sales tax and self-service gasoline," he said. "It's something that we really resist."

Outlook

Even if the plan passes the Legislature and is approved by the governor, voters may still have a chance to reject parts of it, such as tolling or increased gas taxes, if referred to the ballot.

Monroe said he and his fellow lawmakers on the transportation committee are trying to avoid a referral by working with special interest groups representing truckers, car dealers and drivers.

"That's my hope," he said, "and the hope of the committee is that we don't need to be putting this on the ballot."

The joint transportation committee will meet Wednesday, giving lawmakers the chance to voice concerns over parts of the plan.

-- Hillary Borrud and Anna Marum