OREGON
A8 — THE OBSERVER
THuRSday, JanuaRy 27, 2022
ODOT: Speak up now about use of federal money
By PETER WONG
Oregon Capital Bureau
SALEM — Oregon
transportation officials want
to hear from the public
about how the state should
spend more than $400 mil-
lion in flexible funds from
the federal government over
the next five years.
The $400 million is
part of the $1.2 billion that
Oregon will receive for
transportation from the
federal infrastructure bill,
which President Joe Biden
signed on Nov. 15. Oregon
will get more money for
other programs, such as
water and sewer lines and
broadband connections,
that does not go through
the Oregon Department of
Transportation.
In fact, $200 mil-
lion of the $1.2 billion for
transportation will go to
TriMet and other public
transit agencies. Much of
the rest is earmarked for
specific work by ODOT,
such as bridge repairs and
charging stations for elec-
tric vehicles.
The Oregon Transporta-
tion Commission will offer
four scenarios for public
comment through Feb. 17,
when it plans a two-hour
seminar. Chairman Robert
Van Brocklin of Portland
said the panel isn’t wedded
to the numbers in any of
them, but is likely to tailor
its own plan after hearing
from the public.
dick Mason/The Observer, File
The new concrete lanes through Ladd Canyon are shown during construction of the project in the
summer of 2020. Oregon transportation officials want to hear from the public about how the state should
spend more than $400 million in flexible funds from the federal government over the next five years.
“It’s difficult to say there
is one scenario I feel com-
fortable with,” commission
member Julie Brown, who
is the general manager of
the Rogue Valley Transpor-
tation District, said at a Jan.
20 meeting. “We have to
weigh all of these things.”
Even before the meeting,
ODOT received public
comments adding up to 300
pages on how to spend the
federal money. The agency
also interviewed 1,500
people in 2021 — it con-
ducts these surveys every
couple of years — about
what they would like to
see from the transportation
system.
Though the money
would flow into three gen-
eral categories, as described
below, the commission
would have to approve spe-
cific projects as soon as this
spring. It plans a decision
on the broad allocations on
March 30.
Alternatives
• Scenario 1: About
$107 million would go into
Fix-It, a list of mainte-
nance projects for roads and
bridges, and the rest evenly
split between enhanced
state highways and two
other programs. For Safe
Routes to School, ODOT
has received $4 in requests
for every $1 in available
money. A new program
of Great Streets would
improve state highways
that also function as main
streets in communities.
The aims of Fix-It are to
maintain 85% of the state’s
8,000 miles of highways at
fair or better pavement con-
dition and 78% of the 2,750
state highway bridges. Even
with an infusion of new fed-
eral money, bridge condi-
tions are projected to dete-
riorate because so many of
them were built during the
interstate highway era of
the 1950s and 1960s and are
past the 50-year mark.
• Scenario 2: About half
would go into Safe Routes
to School and Great Streets,
as described above, and the
rest evenly split between
Fix-It projects and enhanced
highways.
• Scenario 3: About half
of the funds would go into
enhanced highways —
the current state money is
scheduled to decline after
2024, seven years after the
state’s 2017 law funded the
latest round of projects —
and the rest evenly divided
between Fix-It and the
school and street programs.
• Scenario 4: Each of
the three categories would
get an equal share of $214
million.
More details can be
found on the slide presen-
tation that the commission
saw on Jan. 20: bendbul-
letin.us/odot
Plan for the rest
ODOT officials have pro-
posed the rest of the flex-
ible funds ($198 million) for
these programs:
• $100 million for ODOT
to carry out new access
projects to comply with a
2017 settlement of a lawsuit
under the Americans with
Disabilities Act.
• $40 million to help
offset a projected shortfall
in agency operations and
maintenance.
• $40 million to enable
Oregon to compete with
other states for a share of
$100 billion that the U.S.
Department of Transpor-
tation will award for other
projects. Possible Oregon
contenders are two proj-
ects on Interstate 5: Rose
Quarter widening and par-
tial capping and a new
bridge over the Columbia
River to connect Port-
land with Vancouver,
Washington.
• $15 million to help
communities with plan-
ning for climate change,
including the transportation
planning rule that seeks to
reduce the need for travel
between home, work and
other activities. The rule
dates back to 1991, but was
updated in 2012.
• $3 million to boost
business and the workforce
required for construction
projects.
“What you have learned
is that there is a need for
money all across the trans-
portation system,” said
Travis Brouwer, an assistant
ODOT director.
In the 2021 survey, large
majorities gave priority
(90% or better) to six of 13
points, in descending order:
Maintain roads and bridges,
improve safety, reduce
traffic congestion, protect
the environment, seismic
improvements, provide
transportation for seniors
and people with disabilities.
State announces $1.85 billion national settlement with student loan servicer
The Observer
SALEM — Oregon
Attorney General Ellen
Rosenblum on Thursday,
Jan. 13, announced a $1.85
billion settlement with
39 state Attorneys Gen-
eral with Navient, one of
the nation’s largest student
loan servicers, that resolves
allegations of widespread
unfair and deceptive stu-
dent loan servicing prac-
tices and abuses. According
to a press release, of the set-
tlement, $95 million will go
directly toward restitution
for students and $1.71 bil-
lion in debt cancellation.
In Oregon, that means
5,488 federal loan bor-
rowers will receive
$1,462,937 in restitution
and 864 borrowers will
receive $22,454,017 in pri-
vate loan debt cancellation.
Borrowers who qualify
for relief do not need to do
anything to receive their
restitution or cancellation.
They will receive a notice
from Navient directly, but
the press release advised
borrowers to update or
create their studentaid.gov
account to ensure that the
U.S. Department of Edu-
cation has their current
address. For more informa-
tion, visit www.NavientAG-
Settlement.com.
“We will never break
the cycle of student debt,”
said Attorney General
Rosenblum, “if we don’t
hold student loan servicers
accountable.”
During the last
Oregon legislative ses-
sion, Attorney General
Ellen Rosenblum initiated
and championed SB 485
or a “Student Loan Bor-
rowers Bill of Rights.” The
law would address many
of the problems Oregon
borrowers have experi-
enced with student loan
servicers, including nav-
igating the complex refi-
nancing options, and
would create a student loan
ombudsperson to help edu-
cate and counsel student
loan borrowers.
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