Ley joins two other citizens highlighting reasons to reject IBR
At the July 12, 2022 C-Tran Board of Directors meeting, board members were asked to vote to support the Interstate Bridge Replacement Program. The Locally Preferred Alternative (LPA) included TOLLS as well as a 3-mile MAX light rail extension into Clark County. Clark County voters have rejected tolling and light rail multiple times over the years.
Three citizens spoke during “citizen comments”, prior to the discussion and vote. Margaret and Doug Tweet joined John Ley is listing issues that should have made it relatively easy to reject the proposal.
Only Clark County Councilor Karen Bowerman spoke out against the proposal and voted AGAINST the resolution. She told the board in advance her reasons. Voters have rejected light rail multiple times & the project fails to reduce traffic congestion.
The rest of the C-Tran Board of Directors voted in favor of TOLLS, in favor of light rail, and in favor of replacing an over congested 3-lane bridge with another 3 through lane bridge. This included Battle Ground’s Philip Johnson voting “yes”. You can view the actual roll call vote here.
Fast forward two years. The price tag of the light rail component has jumped to $2 billion. The price tag of the entire project has exploded to $7.5 billion from a maximum of $4.8 billion at the time of the C-Tran Board vote. Furthermore, program administrator Greg Johnson says the price will go up, but he won’t tell us for another year (summer 2025). Portland economist Joe Cortright is predicting it will jump to $9 billion (here).
There are a host of reasons to fight against the largest public works project in the history of the Portland metropolitan area. But critical to voters are TOLLING — a hugely regressive tax on hardworking low and middle income families. TOLLS on the I-5 bridge will cause huge traffic diversion to I-205, adding to its traffic congestion. It will make east-west corridors, including SR-14, Mill Plain, and Fourth Plain overloaded, not to mention reducing the quality of life in many Vancouver neighborhoods.
The 3-mile light rail extension consumes over 1/4 of the project cost, at $2 billion. TriMet is demanding we pay for half of the “local contribution” to buy 19 light rail train cars. Ridiculous. TriMet is demanding new taxes from both Oregon and Washington residents, to pay for operations and maintenance costs. Oregon never contributed to the O&M costs of C-Tran’s Express bus service into Portland, for the past 3 decades.
John Ley has been fighting against the Columbia River Crossing since 2010. He has fought FOR a new 3rd and 4th bridge over the Columbia River. He has fought against TOLLING as a means of funding transportation. He has fought against TriMet MAX light rail coming into Clark County.
Additionally, John fought against Oregon’s “per mile” congestion TOLLING scheme that began in 2017. While that scheme is now “on hold” as Governor Kotek stopped it (for now), the Oregon legislature will likely revive the discussion on a “road usage charge” (RUC) in their 2025 session.
Ley will be watching. He’ll be fighting for the people and against TOLLS and for responsible, cost-effective transportation projects.
