Bridge funding plan draws mixed reaction

Proposal addresses needs of aging Sellwood span

By Shannon Wells

The Gresham Outlook, Dec 14, 2007, Updated Oct 30, 2009 (18 Reader comments)

The west end of the Sellwood Bridge, shown here on April 6, 2004, has four places where cracking beams are held together with metal plates sandwiched above and below the bridge and held in place with long bolts.

Jim Clark / Pamplin Media Group

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The Sellwood Bridge, a deteriorating, two-lane span across the Willamette River in Southeast Portland, has no direct connection to East Multnomah County.

Until now.

The future of the structure, which carries about 30,000 cars a day with a sufficiency rating of 2 out of 100, may rest with area voters. A proposal by County Chairman Ted Wheeler would create a countywide car registration fee to fund rehabilitation or replacement of the troubled bridge.

Wheeler and Commissioner Lonnie Roberts faced one victory and one setback this week in their efforts to bring the measure to ballot. Wood Village City Councilors unanimously approved the measure, while Troutdale councilors denied the proposal in a 4-3 vote in their respective meetings Tuesday, Dec. 11.

State law calls for unanimous approval of Intergovernmental Agreements (IGAs) in 11 jurisdictions in and around Multnomah County to place the fee registration concept before voters, said Rhys Scholes, Multnomah County Commission spokesperson. The jurisdictions include the four incorporated cities of East County, Portland, Clackamas County as well as agencies including TriMet and Metro regional government.

“If the county is going to do this, we have to get agreement of the 11 jurisdictions,” Scholes said. “We’re working our way through.”

The goal is to generate up to $100 million in federal and state matching funds for a new or improved bridge by 2015. A ballot measure approval would allow the county to collect a car registration fee up to the $27 currently assessed by the Department of Motor Vehicles. The commissioners are seeking an initial fee of at least $15.

With upgraded interchanges on either end, Wheeler estimated the bridge’s replacement cost would be “in the neighborhood of $250 million.”

Commissioners say the plan is necessary to deal with a) the urgent need to address the growing safety hazard that is the Sellwood Bridge, and b) the fact that a 1913 statute makes Multnomah County solely responsible for all bridges crossing the Willamette River, even those within Portland city limits.

At the Troutdale council meeting, Wheeler and Johnson fielded a volley of questions and concerns from councilors on the bridge’s safety and funding options, including the length of time the car registration fee would remain active.

Citing statistics that showed 70 percent of Sellwood users are Clackamas County residents, Barbara Kyle proposed a use-based bridge toll. Wheeler noted that the county has no tolling authority and cited a study indicating drivers would avoid a toll bridge to cross at the next closest one.

“In the near term, tolling is not an option,” he said.

“We’re asking you to take a leap of faith with us on this,” he added. “To boil it down, ‘Will you just let us do this?’ ”

The Sellwood Bridge’s safety sufficiency rating is 48 points lower than that of the Minneapolis, Minn., bridge that collapsed in August, claiming 13 lives and injuring dozens. The Sellwood has been plagued with structural and stability problems, particularly a constantly shifting hillside on its western end, for decades.

While disagreeing about how to address the issue, all Troutdale councilors expressed concern about the bridge’s safety.

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