LOCAL
A8 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 7, 2019
Federal funds could help shore up
structurally defi cient bridges
By JADE MCDOWELL AND ALEX CASTLE
STAFF WRITERS
Billions of dollars in new federal
funding for bridge repair could trans-
late into benefi ts for Umatilla County.
Last week, Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Or-
egon, announced he and Sens. Sherrod
Brown, D-Ohio, and Sheldon White-
house, D-Rhode Island, had secured
$3.25 billion for bridge repairs in a
highway package that is expected to
pass out of the Environment and Pub-
lic Works Committee.
The Bridge Investment Act would
create a federal grant program to assist
states and local governments in replac-
ing or repairing bridges in poor condi-
tion, on the condition they use Ameri-
can-made steel.
“All across Oregon, I hear concerns
from Oregonians about our nation’s
crumbling infrastructure,” Wyden said
in a statement. “With over half of the
bridges in Oregon being more than half
a century old, our state is particularly
vulnerable.”
According to a 2018 report by the
Oregon Department of Transportation,
ODOT’s District 12, which includes
Umatilla and Morrow counties and
small portions of Grant, Wheeler and
Gilliam, contains two bridges that are
in poor condition. One is the Inter-
state 82 Oregon-bound bridge over
the Columbia River and the other is
an Interstate 84 bridge over Meacham
Creek just south of Meacham.
Construction to replace the deck
and restore structural integrity to the
I-82 bridge, built in 1955, was com-
pleted in June of this year by the Wash-
ington Department of Transportation,
which split the cost of the project with
Oregon.
Umatilla County public works direc-
tor Tom Fellows said he’ll need to see
more details of the proposed federal
funding to know how it may impact the
area’s bridges.
Fellows said there’s certainly a few
in need of repair. While he awaits spe-
cifi c details, he expects any funding
that is given to Oregon will go through
the state’s bridge program.
In the program, counties submit
bridges to the state, particularly larger
ones, that drop below a 50% suffi -
ciency rating. The state then divvies up
its funding among the bridges on the
list.
In 2014, ODOT released the High-
ways Seismic Plus Report, which stated
a fi ve-phase plan calling for $5 billion
to improving 718 bridges throughout
Oregon, with an eye on making the
state’s roads less likely to fail in the
event of a major earthquake. Not a sin-
gle bridge from Umatilla County was
included in that plan.
The state legislature passed an
ambitious plan in 2017 that put $5.3
billion toward transportation projects,
including bridge improvements. Still,
a majority of state funds was dedi-
cated to bridges in the west that are at
greater risk of suffering damage from
an earthquake.
Fellows is optimistic that this fund-
ing could change that.
“What is going to happen, I sus-
pect, is that this money will go into the
bridge program and the state’s cut line
will move down, which may mean now
one or two of the bridges is included,”
he said.
In addition to the two bridges rated
“poor,” 94 of District 12’s bridges are
considered in fair condition, and the
other 60 are considered in good con-
dition. ODOT’s report only includes
bridges on state highways and
interstates.
Five of the district’s bridges will
turn 100 in 2021: highway crossings
over Hinton Creek, Willow Creek and
Blackhorse Creek in Heppner and two
bridges over Emigrant Hill Frontage
Road outside of Meacham.
According to the Federal High-
way Administration, Oregon has 422
bridges considered “structurally defi -
cient.” About half of them are city- and
county-owned bridges in rural parts of
the state. Six of the state’s structurally
defi cient bridges are on interstates. A
2018 report by the administration esti-
mates that proposed bridge projects in
Oregon currently add up to $1.8 trillion
in costs.
When reached for comment, ODOT
spokesperson Katherine Benenati said
it’s too early to say what the process
will look like for how the federal funds
could be distributed throughout the
state and what impact, if any, it would
have on projects in Eastern Oregon.
However, ODOT will gladly wel-
come the federal help.
“Any additional funding Congress
can provide would be put to good use,”
Benenati said.
Regardless of where the fund-
ing ends up, state Rep. Greg Smith,
R-Heppner, said the area’s bridges “are
in desperate need of repair” and thinks
the funding sends the right message of
investing in infrastructure.
“Public sector investments lead to
private sector investments,” Smith
said. “These type of infrastructure proj-
ects make our area more acceptable to
businesses while also making it more
effi cient and safer for our citizens.”
Along with potentially drawing pri-
vate investments, Smith said the fed-
eral investment sets the stage for Ore-
gon to double down on its commitment
to infrastructure projects. He’ll be look-
ing into whether the state can match
any federal funding with state dollars.
The Bridge Investment Act will be
part of a larger infrastructure pack-
age that could also include funding for
roads, according to the news release
sent out by Wyden. The bridge grants
would allow entities “of all sizes and
scope to apply for funding” including
states, counties, cities, special districts,
federal agencies and Indian tribes.
Staff photo by E.J. Harris, File
A wind tower blade is removed from a fl atbed railcar from
the railroad loop at the Port of Morrow in Boardman earlier
this year.
Port of Morrow approved for
Marine Highway Designation
Ryan Neal, Port of Morrow
executive director.
The port can now
apply for funding from
MARAD’s
America’s
Marine Highway Program
(AMHP), which received
$7 million from Congress
in the last fi scal year. Erica
Lasater, Port of Morrow’s
communications manager,
said the port is looking
into applying for a grant to
open up terminal 1, which
would increase the services
taking place at the port.
With more projects that
expand the port’s services
possible with federal fund-
ing now available, the port
and those that supported its
designation are hoping it
will create more jobs in the
region.
“Oregon’s coastal and
inland ports support local
economies across our state
by providing the kinds of
great jobs that people can
raise their families on,
and by making it easier
to transport goods to and
from our communities and
across the world,” Merkely
said in a press release.
By ALEX CASTLE
STAFF WRITER
The U.S. Department of
Transportation’s Maritime
Administration (MARAD)
announced
Friday
it
approved the Port of Mor-
row for a Marine High-
way Designation, which
enables the port to expand
its barge service and makes
it eligible to apply for fed-
eral funding.
The approval came
after the port’s request that
included bipartisan sup-
port from the state’s Dem-
ocratic U.S. senators, Sen.
Jeff Merkely and Sen. Ron
Wyden, along with Rep.
Greg Walden, R-Hood
River. Of the 34 issued
around the country, this is
just the third such designa-
tion awarded to projects on
the West Coast.
“We are incredibly
thankful for the desig-
nation for MARAD and
would like to thank Sen.
Merkley, Sen. Wyden and
Rep. Walden for all their
support in helping secure
this designation,” said
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