We like you, Portland. We actually like you, in spite of that whole tolling plan.
Sitting across the Columbia River from a major city has numerous benefits for Clark County residents, providing cultural and entertainment opportunities not often available to a county of our size. Spokane County, for example, does not have major-league basketball or soccer in its backyard, and “Hamilton: An American Musical” made a recent stop in Portland while fans on the eastern side of the state needed to trek to Seattle.
So, yes, we appreciate the perks of being in Portland’s orbit. We appreciate them so much that Columbian reporter Scott Hewitt and photographer Alisha Jucevic recently detailed 20 cool things about that city to the south. There was Music Millennium (owned by a Vancouverite, by the way) and the Portland Art Museum and the Rose City’s seemingly endless pockets of food carts. In fact, there are so many cool things about Portland that we don’t even have to mention Powell’s City of Books, which is the go-to outing for tourists and locals alike.
And yet, people in Clark County maintain a cautious relationship with our larger neighbor, one born of an unusual juxtaposition. It is not common to find a major city bordering another state. There is New York, where the metropolitan area includes seemingly half of New Jersey; and Philadelphia, which bleeds into New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland; and Washington, D.C., which isn’t in a state but heavily influences both Maryland and Virginia. There’s even Detroit, where a trip south across the river puts you in a different country.
But it is relatively uncommon for parts of two states to be as codependent as Vancouver and Portland. Clark County accounts for about 20 percent of the metro area’s population, which makes it a significant player in the region’s economy and culture.
All of which is a roundabout way of getting to the issue of tolls along Interstate 5 and Interstate 205. The Portland Region Value Pricing Advisory Committee last week voted to recommend tolls along I-5 between North Going Street and Southwest Multnomah Boulevard. Members also supported tolls toward the south end of I-205, near West Linn.
As we have stated editorially several times, it is essential that any tolls be used to provide traffic improvements in areas used by the drivers who are paying those tolls. Those details have not been formulated; neither have plans for future tolls, which could include extending fees to the state line. And that is where we remain suspicious.
“How gullible do they think we are?” asked Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-Battle Ground. “Oregon’s ‘Concept C’ scheme to toll all Washington commuters at the state line is now their declared ‘Step Two.’ Meanwhile, Oregon has no concrete plan to provide transportation improvements anywhere near the area where the toll would be collected.”
Vancouver Mayor Anne McEnerny-Ogle, a member of the tolling committee, noted the panel’s divided vote on “Concept C.” “We’re not ready to jump in,” she said. We hope McEnerny-Ogle’s optimism is warranted. Extending tolls to the state line would inequitably target drivers from Washington, and using those tolls for projects that provide few benefits to drivers from this side of the river would be unconscionable.
We hope Oregon Department of Transportation officials and federal officials — who must sign off on the plan — will be able to recognize that. After all, we wouldn’t want unfair tolls to come between Clark County and our friends in Portland.
