Oregon Department of Transportation Director Matt Garrett Will Step Down June 1

Garrett, a former aide to the late U.S. Sen. Mark Hatfield has served under three governors in his 14-year tenure.

Matt Garrett
By Nigel Jaquiss

One of the longest serving agency directors in the state, Matthew Garrett, who has led the Oregon Department of Transportation since 2005, announced his retirement from the agency today.

Garrett, who served as an aide to the late U.S. Sen. Mark Hatfield (R-Ore.) before joining ODOT in 1997, has survived numerous ups and downs since then Gov. Ted Kulongoski hired him 14 years ago.

Garrett has overseen road and bridge major building projects and survived a brutal decade-long attempt to build the Columbia River Crossing Project, an ill-fated attempt to build a new bridge and lightrail line between Portland and Vancouver, Wash.  that fizzled out in 2014, after the expenditure of $200 million in planning and scoping work.

The CRC and a botched effort at a transportation funding package in 2015 in which ODOT and Garrett personally drew heavy fire for faulty numbers might have sunk many agency directors but Garrett survived calls for his resignation and led the charge for a landmark $5.3 billion transportation package in the 2017 session.

That package—which could lead to tolling on I-205 and I-5 as part of its funding mechanism, will be the capstone to Garrett's lengthy career. He will leave the 4,700 person agency as the longest-serving director of transportation in any state.

Garrett will work through June in order to give the agency time to find a replacement.

"Matt Garrett has driven Oregon forward through his steadfast commitment to improve transportation for his fellow Oregonians, both today and in the future," Gov. Kate Brown said in a statement. "He has led ODOT with distinction, guiding the agency through the implementation of a historic transportation package, and we will reap the benefits for decades to come. I have deeply appreciated his thoughtful counsel and collaboration and want to extend my gratitude for his service to our state."

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