Legislators and transportation advocates worked to forge common ground this week during the first stop of a statewide listening tour.
The tour featuring the Oregon Legislature ’s Joint Committee on Transportation comes as legislators seek to build consensus for a 2025 transportation funding bill. The funding picture for Oregon transportation is increasingly clouded by declines in gas tax revenues and competing priorities.
The state also faces delays on projects that have been approved but not completed, including the Interstate 5 Rose Quarter Improvement Project .
“We need the projects to get done, and we need your help to get there,” said Kris Strickler, director of the Oregon Department of Transportation .
The committee visited Portland on Tuesday to tour transportation projects, host a roundtable with transportation officials and activists, and gather public comments during a hearing at Portland Community College ’s Cascade campus. It was the first of 13 stops on the committee’s tour, which will end in Salem.
Federal money has come pouring in from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act . But federal funding typically can’t be used for maintenance or operations, Strickler said.
Long-term declines in the gas tax are a top concern of transportation officials. Vehicles have become more efficient, and the average driver consumes almost 25 percent less gas now than a decade ago. While that’s good for the environment, it’s not so good for state coffers.
“In the absence of action, service levels will be severely reduced,” Strickler said.
Several roundtable attendees said Oregon’s gas tax should be indexed to inflation. While that would provide a boost to tax revenues, it wouldn’t solve the long-term problem caused by declining gas usage. More efficient gas vehicles, hybrids and the increasing adoption of electric cars are projected to continue cutting into gas-tax revenues.
State roads need “sufficient, diversified and stable funding,” said Rep. Susan McLain, a Hillsboro Democrat who serves as co-chair of the committee. She lauded a $1.9 billion transportation package in Minnesota as a possible model for Oregon.
“They dedicated it back to basic maintenance,” McLain said.
Others pointed to Portland voters overwhelmingly agreeing in May to extend the city’s 10-cent gas tax.
“People understood where the money was going,” said Indi Namkong, transportation justice coordinator for Verde , a Portland nonprofit group.
Delays in Oregon’s major projects are costing the state money because of inflation, some advocates said.
“Deferred maintenance turns into capital projects, and time is money,” said Tina Adams, an engineering consultant and president-elect of the American Council of Engineering Companies of Oregon .
Sen. Aaron Woods, whose district includes parts of Tigard, Wilsonville and Sherwood, said the state was letting vehicle tag revenue go uncollected as expired tags rarely draw tickets.
Portland Bureau of Transportation Director Millicent Williams said that would be changing, at least in the city.
“We are coming for you if you have not registered your vehicle,” she said. “It’s registration summer.”
Legislators and advocates also discussed the interlocking problems of transportation, affordable housing and jobs. Too many Oregonians live far from their workplaces because of a lack of affordable housing, legislators said.
“It’s frustrating to see how often we talk about affordable housing and transportation, and we still haven’t done it,” said committee co-chair Sen. Chris Gorsek, D-Gresham. “We have to think of a new model, a new way, of thinking about transportation.”
Copyright © 2024 BridgeTower Media. All Rights Reserved.
Most Popular
Comments / 0