Key private partner drops out of Newberg-Dundee bypass project

July 27, 2007

Dana Times, The Oregonian

NEWBERG -- A long-planned bypass to ease congestion at the gateway to Oregon's wine country was dealt a blow today when a key player dropped out of the planning process.

Oregon Department of Transportation officials, working with Macquarie Infrastructure Group, an Australian corporation, had hoped that a public-private agreement to build and operate the so-called Newberg-Dundee Bypass would generate enough money through tolling to make the project profitable.

A review of the project indicated that wasn't possible, said Adam Torgerson, an ODOT spokesman.

"We've agreed that it's just not financially feasible under a public-private concession agreement to build this project as planned," Torgerson said.

Still on the table are a number of options included in a report by an outside analyst, Bear Stearns, which suggested that a public-sector model could cut financing costs of the estimated $500 million project.

Chief among them are a public-sector tolling option, building the 11-mile bypass in phases and reducing the scope of the planned project.

Torgerson said ODOT officials have not yet had time to thoroughly evaluate the consultant's suggestions, although he did say that scrapping the public-private plan will likely delay any construction start beyond the 2008 or 2009 dates originally eyed.