The Oregon Department of Transportation received eight grants from the Federal Highway Administration’s Emergency Relief Program, totaling more than $83 million.
The grants will reimburse the state for money spent on work that helped rehabilitate road and other infrastructure damaged by natural disasters.
The events that made the work necessary date back as far as 2017, and include floods, ice storms, wildfire and landslides.
A joint press release from Oregon’s Democratic Congressional delegation identified the projects and causes as follows:
- $30,735,975 to repair damage from the 2020 Labor Day fires.
- $23,210,956 for repairs related to a severe winter storm that hit Western Oregon, causing landslides that blocked Interstate 84 and damaged Highway 101.
- $20,000,000 for work relating to a January 2024 ice storm.
- $3,164,000 for damage done by landslides related to a series of winter storms spanning December 2021 to January 2022. Among the roadways damaged by the storms were I-84, OR 138, and OR 30.
- $2,765,399 for road and utility repairs and emergency care needs in southwestern and western Oregon from severe storms in February 2019.
- $2,500,000 for work done in five counties to recover from severe storms in December 2023.
- $539,915 for wildfire recovery in 12 counties after the 2017 fire season.
- $300,000 for repairs to US 34, I-84 and HWY 101 after storms brought by the January 2021 atmospheric river.
Oregon was among the top recipient states for Emergency Program Fund grants this year, coming behind North Carolina ($403 million), Tennessee ($194 million) and California ($172 million).
