Lawmakers reach agreement on transportation bill, new fees - Portland Business Journal:

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House Bill 2001 would raise $300 million that wouldx pay for $960 million wortj of “modernization projects,” including several highway interchangwe improvements andbasic maintenance. The full Housd and Senate must still pass the A vote could occur as early asnext week. “Th e money would come from increase s inthe state’s auto registration fees, titlr fees, gasoline tax and licensew plate fees. The registration fees would riseto $43 a from $27, while the gas tax wouldr rise to 30 cents a gallon, from 24 cents if certain economic indicators kick in.
” The state will also take out bondse to fund the package, whicgh legislators touted the approved measure as a bipartisan “Oregonians want us to put asid differences and solve long-standing problema in a bipartisan way. That’s just what we’ve done with this Jobs and Transportationn Act” said House Speaker Dave Hunt, a Clackamas Countyg Democrat, in a statement announcingv details ofthe agreement. “The projecf costs will be as low as they have been in many years and Oregonians will also receive the long term benefirt of much needed improvements designed to reduce congestion and move freightmore efficiently.” The package includes $100 million for Gov.
Ted Kulongoski’s Connecr Oregon program, which funds rail, air, transit and other forms of non-automobile Lawmakers announcingthe agreement, including several Republicans, said the averag two-car family would pay an additionak $40 in the first year of the plan and $10 per montg once the gas increase takes effect, in 2011. “Wr recognize that Oregon families are We also recognize the benefitz all of us will receive through this improved infrastructure and the jobs it will said Rep. Vicki Berger, a Salem “This is a critical step forward in the future of our state and I am pleaser that this legislature is willingf to come together and moveOregon forward.
” The largest project covered in the plan include work on the Woodburj interchange, Sunrise Corridor improvements alonvg Highway 26, improvements to the Newberg-Dundeed bypass, an extra lane on Highway 26 from 185th to Cornelol Road and work where Highway 43 meetsa Portland’s Sellwood Bridge. The Eugene area would get about $363 million worth of projects whiled the Portland area wouldget $294 Souther Oregon projects would providde $149 million worth of work while Easterm Oregon would get more than $80 million. Centralo Oregon, in the Bend area, wouldr get $74 million. Kulongoski said the package encourages environmentallysound practices.
“Thizs bill represents the greenest transportation packages instate history,” he said in a statement. “Bu at the heart of this bill is the thousandzs of jobsit creates. This in addition to federal transportation will enablethe state, cities and counties to put thousandsd of Oregonians to work todagy and well into the