Update, July 6, 2017: Lawmakers passed the transportation bill, and Gov. Kate Brown is sure to sign it, meaning the proposal's tolling plans are likely to reach fruition. But, it would be several years before Portlanders would begin paying tolls. Transportation officials still have to get federal approval for the tolls and buy and set up millions of dollars of equipment needed to run a tolling program.

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Portland-area drivers may soon have a choice between saving minutes on their commute or keeping more dollars in their wallet.

The multibillion-dollar transportation bill under consideration in Salem includes a section to put tolls on Interstate 5 and Interstate 205 at the Washington border and continue them through the Portland metro area, all the way to where the freeways intersect in Wilsonville.

The tolling section is one of many revenue-raising provisions within the 298-page transportation bill, a plan expected to raise huge sums for road fixes over the next decade through new taxes, fees and bond sales.

Hikes to the gas tax and vehicle fees, new sales taxes on cars and bicycles and a statewide payroll tax are included in the bill, along with a special Portland-area gas tax and vehicle registration fee.

Under the tolling plan, the Oregon Transportation Commission -- a governor-appointed board overseeing the Oregon Department of Transportation -- would start a tolling program and get federal approval to put it in place by the end of 2018.

The fact that lawmakers have put such a plan in their transportation budget bill shows that legislators -- long reticent to consider tolling -- are now looking to collect infrastructure revenue by any means possible. The last transportation bill, passed in 2009, included a gas tax increase but not tolling.

Key lawmakers also see a tolling program as safeguard against legal challenges to the transportation plan. If the bill passes, only to be thrown out in court or at the ballot, the groundwork for a tolling program would already exist, lawmakers said. That means at least some congestion-busting construction could get done anyway, achieving a major deliverable top politicians have promised to voters.

Future tolls uncertain

How much would the toll cost? Who would have to pay it and when? The disappointing answer: It depends.

As written, lawmakers' bill tells transportation commissioners to "implement value pricing to reduce traffic congestion."

Under such a system, drivers would likely pay to use a fast lane, and the price of the toll would vary depending on traffic flow and time of day. Tolls would be higher during rush hour.

Drivers wouldn't have to slow down to pitch coins into a basket like on some East Coast turnpikes. Instead, an electronic pass would be placed on participating vehicles, so drivers could pay their toll while zooming by a sensor at highway speeds.

Though undecided about exactly what kind of toll may come, lawmakers have been clear about where they want toll revenue to go.

The transportation bill sends toll proceeds into a fund for widening much of the southernmost stretch of I-205, from Stafford Road to Oregon City, by adding a lane in each direction. It also directs money to replacing the Abernethy Bridge, which carries I-205 over the Willamette River in West Linn.

Toll revenue could also pay for parts the I-5 Rose Quarter megaproject -- estimated to cost more than $400 million -- which would widen the highway between Interstate 84 and I-205.

Searching for revenue

Tammy Baney, chairwoman of the Oregon Transportation Commission, said Oregon can't build its way out of traffic jams that snarl commuters and freight trucks. But she said rush-hour tolls are one way officials may be able to cut down on traffic.

"We need to be looking at all options to maximize the current system and expand the system where absolutely necessary," she said.

ODOT plans to merely study tolling aren't good enough, she said.

"We are beyond the study phase," Baney said. "We need to be serious and aggressive about seeking solutions."

Lawmakers crafting the transportation plan are also resigned that, without tolling revenue, congestion relief projects in Portland won't have enough funding.

Rep. Susan McLain, D-Hillsboro, an author of the transportation bill's tolling section, said using tolls is "good for us on every level" because the state can move forward on transportation projects that pay for themselves and reduce traffic.

Sen. Brian Boquist, R-Dallas, another architect of the transportation plan, said tolls have to be a part of this year's transportation funding bill, even though tolls are usually seen as unpopular.

"They hated it in Washington too, until they did it. Now they love it," Boquist said, referencing the Interstate 405 express lane tolls between Lynwood and Bellevue, north and west of Seattle.

Tolls on that 17-mile section of freeway vary from 75 cents to $10, but carpoolers travel free. Since the tollway opened in 2015, commute times diminished for the toll lanes and free lanes, according to the Seattle Times, and revenue was triple what Washington State officials expected.

When it first opened in 1887, the Morrison Bridge had a 20-cent toll for two horses and a driver.

Long history of tolling

Today, Oregon has only two toll bridges: the Bridge of the Gods, in Cascade Locks, and the Hood River Bridge, both over the Columbia River. But bridge construction in the state has often been paid by tolls.

The Morrison Bridge, Portland's first, had a toll of 20 cents for two horses and a driver when it opened in 1887. Tolls financed construction of the Interstate Bridge connecting Vancouver and Portland in 1917; the cost was 5 cents per crossing, or $1.05 in today's dollars.

Tolls were used again in 1958 when a second span was added to connect Oregon and Washington. Tollbooths on the bridge were closed when the construction was fully paid off, in 1966.

"It isn't new for us to invest in infrastructure this way," Baney said. "And quite frankly, we are running out of options to raise revenue to invest in infrastructure."

Oregon and Washington officials debated using tolls to pay for replacing the Interstate Bridge during Columbia River Crossing negotiations. One analysis even found that toll revenue could pay for construction.

The CRC megaproject fell through in 2013. Meanwhile, other states have approved tolls to pay for road upgrades. Washington put tolls on I-405. In November, Los Angeles voters passed a measure to invest $120 billion in highways and bridges, partially paid with tolls.

Tolling as 'failsafe'

Sen. Brian Boquist, R-Dallas.

Tax hikes packed into the transportation plan pose a political risk. Taxpayers and interest groups could challenge the legislation in court or at the ballot -- and voters are prone to rejecting tax increases.

Boquist outlined lawmakers' worries in emails to Philip Ditzler, head of the Federal Highway Administration in Oregon. "We suspect the legislative funding package may be referred then defeated at the ballot," Boquist wrote, "meaning tolling would become the funding mechanism."

In an interview, Boquist said the tolling plan is "a failsafe." If the bill is overturned, Oregon's transportation commissioners will have already set a tolling program in motion.

-- Gordon R. Friedman

503-221-8209; @GordonRFriedman