Oregon lawmakers are coming to Tillamook on Tuesday, June 18 for their next stop on the legislature’s Statewide Transportation Safety and Sustainability Outreach Tour. The goal of the tour is to help build public understanding around the challenges Oregon faces in maintaining a safe, accessible, and reliable transportation system.
Transportation agencies across the state, including ODOT, are facing structural funding challenges that impact their ability to deliver core services. State leaders are looking to fix that, and this tour is laying the roadmap.
Legislators will start the day in Tillamook with a tour of the area highlighting the challenges agencies face in maintaining the transportation system and providing customer service to residents.
For instance, this heavily forested coastal area often experiences heavy rains that lead to rock and mud slides, highway sinkholes and flooding.
Providing DMV services in rural areas like Tillamook also presents unique challenges. ODOT has just four offices and 11 employees between Newport, Tillamook, Lincoln City and Astoria that serve more than 90,000 customers a year. At times, Lincoln City and Tillamook must operate with only one employee.
Oregon legislators and the governor are working together, along with ODOT and other transportation agencies, to identify sustainable funding solutions so that Oregonians can continue to receive essential maintenance and safety services.
The public and media are encouraged to join the conversation about Oregon’s transportation system by attending a public hearing Tuesday evening from 5:00–7:00 p.m.
Find details on the agenda here: Transportation Joint 2023-2024 Interim - Oregon Legislative Information System (oregonlegislature.gov)
Register to give public comment Register in person at the location noted at the top of the agenda. Registration will open 30 minutes ahead of meeting start time.
Submit written public comment Email: JCT.exhibits@oregonlegislature.gov . Mail: Joint Committee on Transportation, 900 Court Street NE, Room 453, Salem, OR, 97301 Written comment may be submitted up to 48 hours after the meeting start time.
About ODOT
Statewide, ODOT is responsible for more than 8,000 miles of roads, 2,770 bridges and countless critical safety features throughout the system. Our teams of dedicated professionals, locally based in 88 communities throughout Oregon, are on the front lines delivering essential day-to-day services that keep our roads open and safe every day.
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