Maybe you have all the money you need -- you seem pretty well off, frankly, and your husband is a doctor, right, so I'm sure he's doing quite well -- but a lot of people are just barely getting by and another $2-3 when they fillup their tank -- when they can afford to drive -- is a lot of money. It's dinner for the night. I have lived elsewhere and the roads and sidewalks in Oregon seem just fine to me and certainly no worse than anyplace else in this country, especially places back east where the weather is really tough on roads. Don't be so easy about spending other people's money just because you aren't struggling yourself.

"No worse off than anyplace else." Please then move there. I too, have lived 'anyplace else' where streets and roads were not kept up. Let me assure you, regular maintenance and upkeep is a LOT cheaper than fixing a road when it's broken down. How many of our roads and streets do no have sidewalks and curbs? Increasing gas taxes, cigarette taxes, beer and wine taxes...taxes hurt-the alternatives are reducing, reusing and recycling (or bicycling, sorry about the pun)-take your pick. Nothing is free. Examine the costs and consequences. reese

It's interesting that you seem to believe that because I'm past the "barely getting by" stage now, my life has always been that way, da29vid. Even in my years living below the poverty level, I was proud to pay taxes. And when the bridge had to be replaced between our tiny apartment in the rough part of town and the hospital where I worked, adding a mile to my walk to work, I certainly wished the city had invested in maintenance earlier.

> Even in my years living below the poverty > level, I was proud to pay taxes. That was a time when housing prices were cheaper, rent was cheaper, medical costs were lower, food costs were lower, etc. Lots of people are trying to save for a house or struggling to pay ever-increasing health insurance premiums. I myself can no longer even afford health insurance, after the premiums went up past $400/mth a few years ago. (And that was without drug coverage.) Now I live uninsured. A $0.10/gal tax increase is ~$50/year. I have plenty of other uses for that money, including saving for retirement. The roads and bridges around here look just fine to me, and are certainly no worse than many other places in the country, and I see no reason why current taxes can't cover their maintenance. I cannot afford more taxes in this already overtaxed state. If you can, Amanda, perhaps you'll give voluntarily to the state Department of Transportation, requesting that the money be earmarked for road and bridge maintenance.

> What is the value of the deferred maintenance if you happen to be on a > bridge when it fails? When is the last time a bridge in Oregon failed with someone on it? I'd like an exact date, please. Let's spend our money intelligently and not give in to nebulous fears.

July 2, 2005 was one recent fatality, on the South Santiam river. And this report cites studies, not nebulous fears.

The report you gave was a description of how the state dealt with the problem. So apparently current taxes are sufficient to provide for needed maintenance. Where, therefore, is the evidence that taxes must be raised, and not just sustained at their current levels?

There's a good overview of how the City of Portland funds transportation maintenance and improvements here, including a review of gas tax income. And surely the fact that the Sellwood Bridge is operating (without allowing bus and truck traffic that would strain it even more) while rating 2 out of 100 on safety criteria, is evidence that whatever the city, county, state and federal governments are doing to fund bridge maintenance, it isn't enough. The question then becomes whether taxes must be raised or efficiencies found to pay the difference. I'm looking forward to seeing Multnomah County Chair Ted Wheeler's plan for paying for the Sellwood repairs and/or replacement.