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This story was produced by the Oregon Journalism Project, a nonprofit newsroom covering the state.
When lawmakers unveiled the details of House Bill 2025 in early June, the long-awaited transportation funding package earmarked money for “anchor” capital projects. Those included the expansion of Interstate 5 at the Rose Quarter, seismic upgrades of the Abernathy/Interstate 205 Bridge, the Newberg-Dundee bypass, and the Center Street Bridge in Salem. The bill’s architects paired that funding with a stream of cash to pay for the agency’s routine operations and maintenance work.
After several versions of the bill, each less expensive than the previous one, failed to gain enough votes to pass, lawmakers adjourned June 27 with the Oregon Department of Transportation’s’s budget in a deficit position, resulting in the announcement of nearly 500 layoffs set for later this month.
The bill’s failure leaves ODOT in an odd position: It has already banked partial funding for each of the anchor projects, although far less than the agency needs to complete them. It has also received state and federal funds toward the replacement of the Interstate Bridge on Interstate 5 between Portland and Vancouver but, again, far less than enough to cover the project’s estimated $7.5 billion cost.
In a recent review of ODOT’s budget, the Legislative Fiscal Office noted that the department has $5.5 billion (in partnership with the state of Washington) for the Interstate Bridge project; $570 million set aside for the Abernathy Bridge; and $158 million for the Rose Quarter. (That last number was once $608 million, but President Donald Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill has at least temporarily cut a $450 million grant secured to cap I-5 at the Rose Quarter.) So the agency has money, just not enough to build the projects on its wish list.
Portland economist Joe Cortright, a leading ODOT critic, has written that such capital projects suffer from persistent cost increases and have such large funding gaps that they may not happen in the foreseeable future.
“The critical question is whether the funds allocated to the anchor projects fund are sufficient to cover these costs,” Cortright says. “Clearly, they are not.”
ODOT has laid out schedules for work on the various large-scale projects, but given the funding uncertainty both in Washington, D.C., and Salem, project delays could mean that project money sits unused in the agency’s bank accounts.
Meanwhile, ODOT says layoffs scheduled for July 31 will cause the closure of 12 maintenance yards around the state and reduce the agency’s ability to respond to automobile crashes and do routine maintenance work, such as paving, patching and plowing Oregon highways.
So if the agency has cash set aside for projects that aren’t happening immediately and a short-term deficit in its operations and maintenance budget, could it avert layoffs by temporarily moving or lending money from those projects to another part of the agency and paying it back when lawmakers eventually pass a new funding bill? The agency has shifted money around in the past, for instance, moving funds earmarked for the Rose Quarter project to the Abernathy Bridge project.
ODOT spokesman Kevin Glenn says the answer is no.
“We cannot reprogram money from the Rose Quarter project to prevent layoffs of ODOT maintenance workers,” Glenn says. “All funding dedicated to the Rose Quarter comes from either HB 2017 Urban Mobility Strategy funds (the $30 million provided annually that must go to these projects under ORS 367.095) or from federal funds that cannot be used for maintenance.”
The story is the same for other projects.
“We also cannot reprogram money from the Interstate Bridge Replacement program,” Glenn says. “All funding dedicated to the project comes from either federal funds that cannot be used for maintenance or general obligation bonds authorized by the Oregon Legislature specifically for the project.”
Glenn also rejects the idea that funding gaps for the capital projects mean they will be significantly delayed.
“While the funding crisis is having a profound effect on ODOT’s maintenance and operations, most construction projects will continue as planned,” he says.
“These projects are typically funded through separate capital programs, often with state or federal funds that are legally restricted to project development and cannot be redirected for maintenance or day-to-day operations. Delays may still occur due to a reduced workforce. Fewer available staff for traffic control, inspections and project oversight could slow down timelines or introduce challenges in project delivery.”
