The Lane Council of Governments has been awarded a significant federal grant to assess vulnerabilities in Lane County’s transportation network.
The U.S. Department of Transportation announced LCOG will get more than $5.3 million of Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill funds to assess the resiliency of roads, rail lines and other systems.
“We know that our transportation system is at risk from everything on the coastal side, tsunamis and flooding, to wildfires, to Cascadia subduction zone events, and other things like that,” said Paul Thompson, a Transportation Manager at LCOG.
Thompson said the grant will fund a thorough evaluation and detailed plans for dealing with transportation hazards, including identifying emergency routes. He said Lane County is a partner in the project.
Throughout the three-to-four-year grant, Thompson said there will be opportunities for the public to weigh in. LCOG will consult with tribes, and will attempt to give underserved populations the appropriate focus.
Thompson said if there’s something like a Cascadia earthquake, experts say transportation is the first priority. Without a functioning system, people can’t get to hospitals, utility workers can’t get to where they need to be to restore power, and there’s no way to get food and water to people who may be cut off from them.
