OREGON
A8 — THE OBSERVER
THURSDAY, MARCH 17, 2022
State panel: No new federal funds for highway enhancements
It also excludes money
for broadband, water and
sewer line upgrades that
will not go through ODOT.
Transit agencies also will
share $200 million they
will get directly.
Commission
advises ODOT
to revise options
By PETER WONG
Oregon Capital Bureau
Other uses
SALEM — The Oregon
Transportation Com-
mission has decided that
the state’s share of fl ex-
ible funds from the fed-
eral government should not
go toward new highway
“enhancements.”
The commission
directed the staff of the
Oregon Department of
Transportation to revise
its options. About $400
million in transporta-
tion money from the fed-
eral infrastructure bill,
which President Joe Biden
signed on Nov. 15, will
be divided among main-
tenance projects for roads
and bridges, safe routes to
school and improvements
on state highways that
function as main streets in
communities.
The commission heard
more comments at a
meeting Thursday, March
Other uses of the rest of
the state’s $198 million in
fl exible funds, as proposed
by ODOT staff in all sce-
narios, are:
• $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
off set 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 Portland
with Vancouver, Wash-
Ryan Brennecke/The Bulletin, File
A vehicle drives down an empty section of Highway 97 near the Wilson Avenue overpass in Bend on
Thursday, April 9, 2020.
10, after which members
refi ned what had been four
scenarios for spending $214
million of the $412 million
in fl exible funds.
“We are committed to
preserving the existing
transportation network
and investing in a range of
improvements to reduce
congestion and harmful
emissions, and to sup-
port improved safety, elec-
tric vehicles, transit and
local improvements,” com-
mission Chairman Robert
Van Brocklin said. “The
proposed scenarios will
allow ODOT to invest in
Oregon’s transportation
system in these and other
important ways.”
The commission will
decide March 30 on the
exact mix to be divided
among the list of mainte-
nance projects, known as
Fix-It, plus safe routes to
school and improved high-
ways that function as main
streets. It will decide on
money afterward for spe-
cifi c projects within these
categories; some projects
will start this summer.
The $400 million-plus
is part of Oregon’s $1.2 bil-
lion that will come to the
Department of Transpor-
tation over the next fi ve
years.
This amount counts
about $800 million that the
federal law earmarks for
specifi c purposes, such as
bridge repairs, charging
stations for electric vehicles
and programs to reduce
greenhouse gases.
It excludes about $200
million that larger metro-
politan areas will get for
transportation directly from
the federal government.
ington. (The federal law
has a separate fund for
projects reconnecting com-
munities, but it is just $1
billion nationally.)
• $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.
These numbers also
could change as the com-
mission makes its fi nal
decisions.
The amounts available
to ODOT for new highway
enhancements will drop
off sharply after 2024,
seven years after the Leg-
islature approved its third
major funding plan in two
decades under House Bill
2017. The plan increased
fuel taxes, which ODOT
and local governments
spend on maintenance, and
raised some vehicle and
license fees to repay bonds
for construction.
Rep. Cliff Bentz compares Ukraine war to Cuban Missile Crisis
By PAT CALDWELL
Malheur Enterprise
ONTARIO — The Rus-
sian invasion of Ukraine is
an emergency on par with
the Cuban Missile Crisis
in 1962, U.S. Rep. Cliff
Bentz, R-Oregon, said at
the Ontario Area Chamber
of Commerce luncheon
Monday, March 14.
“It is a horribly diffi -
cult situation,” Bentz told
the large crowd at the
luncheon.
While Bentz said “no
one wants us to send sol-
diers to the Ukraine,” the
crisis showed that proper
funding for the military is
crucial.
“(The Ukraine crisis)
was probably a mistake,”
should have alerted us
he said.
to the fact we have to be
Bentz also discussed
prepared, we have to be
growing infl ation in the
ready,” said Bentz.
U.S., which he said is
He said he believes
triggered by a number
sanctions imposed
of diff erent factors,
by the U.S. and
including disruptions
other nations are
in the global supply
“having an impact.”
chain.
“It is my hope
“The supply situ-
they will work,”
ation is one that will
said Bentz.
take a while to fi x,”
Bentz said mis-
Bentz
he said.
takes were most
Bentz reminded
likely made by the U.S.
the crowd he voted against
and NATO — the North
President Joe Biden’s mas-
American Treaty Organi-
sive $1.9 trillion infra-
zation — in the run-up to
structure bill last fall
the Ukraine invasion.
but said there were good
“Holding out NATO
things in the legislation,
where anyone could join
including money for mega
projects, such as a pro-
posal to upgrade the port
of Coos Bay.
Bentz recognized the
price of fuel continues
to climb but did not list
the Ukraine invasion as
the trigger for the higher
costs.
Bentz said the Biden
administration wants
to convert the nation to
cleaner fuels, including a
push for Americans to buy
electric cars. The problem,
he said, is there isn’t the
infrastructure to build the
cars nor are the prices of
such vehicles at a reason-
able level for the average
American.
“People can’t aff ord
them and we don’t have a
supply,” said Bentz.
He said it can take up
to 15 years to make such
a profound shift. That’s
why, he said, a transition
time line must be built
into such a plan.
“The word transition
was the one missing word
in the Democrats’ vocabu-
lary,” said Bentz.
Bentz also touched on
the ongoing immigration
issue on the border and
water issues across the
West and, in particular, in
the Klamath Basin. The
ongoing drought in the
West is also an issue he is
watching.
“Seventy million
people face drought,” he
said.
Bentz said he was
pleased the River Democ-
racy Act — a piece of leg-
islation sponsored by U.S.
Sen Ron Wyden, D-Or-
egon — was “headed off .”
The legislation, intro-
duced by Wyden and U.S.
Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Or-
egon, last year, aims to
protect nearly 4,700 miles
or rivers and streams in
Oregon as part of the
national Wild and Scenic
Rivers System.
“What Ron (Wyden)
is trying to do is stop any
activity on our forests.
Why? I really don’t know,”
said Bentz.
Nationally-recognized care,
right here in your backyard.
Congratulations, Grande Ronde Hospital.
Grande Ronde Hospital has always been committed to
providing high-quality care to the people of Eastern Oregon.
Now they’ve been honored for it.
Grande Ronde Hospital
named one of the top 100
critical access facilities.
Based on factors like quality, outcomes, cost and patient
perspective, the Chartis Center for Rural Health has named
Grande Ronde Hospital a 2022 Top 100 Critical Access
Hospital in the U.S.
EOCCO and Summit Health congratulate everyone on the
Grande Ronde team. We are proud that you are part of our
network of providers in Eastern Oregon, and we thank you
for your commitment to quality care.
It’s made you one of the best.