Oregon will seek federal approval next month to charge drivers to use sections of Interstate 5 and 205 in the Portland area.

The state released a 48-page draft application Thursday to the Federal Highway Administration, and the Oregon Transportation Commission will vote, and potentially give the application its final go-ahead, at a meeting Dec. 6.

The tolling request sheds little new light on a saga more than a year in the making, a process that kick-started the 2017 Legislature’s record $5.3 billion transportation package as another tool to address growing congestion on busy freeways.

Oregon’s application doesn’t answer many of the fundamental questions – like where the tolls will ultimately land, how much drivers may have to pay, what processes may be in place to exempt or discount rates for low-income residents, or what other bus or transit routes may be developed to give riders another option to driving their car.

Alando Simpson, a transportation commissioner who co-chaired a committee tasked with recommending a tolling plan, said the overarching goal of pursuing tolls is clear: Oregon needs more ways to raise money to improve its freeway system and try to curb congestion. “There’s a lot more that has to be done,” he said.

A separate promise from the state’s top transportation decision-makers to plot next steps for studying potential tolls on all metro freeways – such as U.S. 26 and Interstates 405 and 84 -- has yet to move forward. Commissioners plan to reveal a timeline for future work by the end of January.

Here’s what we do know.

According to the state’s application, Oregon plans to use toll revenue to help pay for a new Abernethy Bridge over the Willamette River on I-205, add an additional lane in each direction there, and rebuild or reconstruct eight bridges in order to withstand an earthquake. That project would cost upwards of $500 million and is unfunded.

Revenue from the tolls, which would likely vary depending on the time of day and level of traffic on the freeways, would also help pay for “operational and safety improvements” on I-5 near the Rose Quarter. The state transportation bill set aside $500 million for that project -- which adds shoulders and auxiliary lanes between the 84 and 405 interchanges, caps the freeway there, and includes more bike lanes and pedestrian access through the area -- but the state said toll revenue could help pay for additional project design costs.

The I-205 section would charge drivers to use all lanes “on or near the Abernethy Bridge.” The I-5 section would toll all lanes “generally between North Going Street/Alberta Street and SW Multnomah Boulevard” exits.

Officials recognize there are considerable concerns about drivers leaving the freeway to avoid paying tolls, already a common occurrence today as drivers try to cheat traffic.

The state has asked federal officials to review the application as soon as possible and provide additional questions or concerns. If approved, tolls may be in effect sometime after 2024.

Travis Brouwer, the deputy director of the Oregon Department of Transportation, said the state has talked extensively with the federal government about its plans.

According to the application, congestion has continued to worsen on both stretches of freeway during the past few years. A 27-mile trip through the metro area, which should take 25 minutes, now can take up to 86 on either I-5 or I-205 depending on traffic and the time of day.

The tolling proposal isn’t happening in a political vacuum. U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Springfield, is poised to chair the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, and he’s not keen on the idea. U.S. Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-Battle Ground, has also raised concerns about disproportionate effects for tens of thousands of Clark County commuters.

Tammy Baney, the chair of the Oregon Transportation Commission, said she’s had significant discussion with Herrera Beutler and continues to work with her office. Baney said she’s also met with DeFazio in recent weeks, who she said is concerned about how tolls can affect families. “We share those concerns,” she said.

Julie Parrish, a former West Linn lawmaker, is one of the leaders behind a proposed 2020 ballot measure to ask all Oregonians to sign off on any tolling proposal. When asked about that plan, Baney said that’s just democracy in action.

“If they have another idea, I’m open to hearing it,” she said of the ballot supporters. “Our job is to provide a safe and efficient transportation system that meets the needs for Oregonians.”

She said tolls are just one tool Oregon hasn’t taken out of the tool box.

-- Andrew Theen

atheen@oregonian.com

503-294-4026

@andrewtheen

The presidents of Oregon’s seven public universities said they will have to implement double-digit tuition hikes and cut certain programs if lawmakers approve Gov. Kate Brown’s recommended budget for the coming two years.

“In the case of Eastern Oregon University, barring some sort of significant change, we’re talking a tuition increase of between 10 to 15 percent,” said Tom Insko, Eastern’s president.

Not that Brown wants that scenario to become reality.

Rather than settle for the essentially flat funding in the base budget, Brown is gambling she can get a massive $2 billion revenue package through the Legislature. More than $580 million of that new money would go to higher education.

Brown, who declined to give any specifics on how lawmakers might raise that much in new taxes, said the money would allow the state’s public universities to restrict tuition increases to reasonable levels and restore cut programs.

This was all extremely irritating to higher ed officials, who have suffered years of state disinvestment. But it was also an effective bit of politicking by Brown, who suddenly has seven influential allies in the fight to pass her tax increase package. They’ll also be urging lawmakers to rein in public employers’ costs for the public employee pension system.

By early afternoon, the university presidents had issued a joint statement: “The Governor’s budget provides a stark choice for the legislature and the people of Oregon: Either force universities to make cuts to academic and student support programs while also raising tuition by double-digits or make college more affordable and accessible through balanced revenue reform and meaningful cost control in areas like retirement and health care.”

These are already difficult times for Oregon higher ed. The strong economy and low unemployment rate have led to flat or declining enrollment at many Oregon universities and community colleges. As at other state agencies, health and pension benefits are eating up an increasing share of their budget.

Eastern’s Insko said the La Grande college he heads is seeing PERS, health insurance and other benefits increase 13 percent a year.

Ben Cannon, director of the Higher Education Coordinating Commission, sent an email to staff Wednesday noting “the stark difference” between a future with the enhanced revenue the governor wants lawmakers to find and without it.

Finding that revenue stream would mean major infusion of state funding to public colleges and a doubling in size of the Oregon Opportunity Grant, the state’s financial aid program for needy students.