Representatives of the
Oregon Department of Transportation played to a fairly-packed
house on Wednesday, October 20 in a small conference room at the
Seaside Civic and Convention Center. The problem with the pie-in-the
sky brainstorming for how to spend an estimated $600 million (aka
House Bill 2082) on our road systems is two-fold. First, when
you add up all the projects that ODOT would like us to review,
it adds to almost $725 million, and yet apparently even the proposed
$600 million funding package is really more like $540 million
once you take out preliminary engineering and right of way contingencies.
It whittles down even further when you learn the allocation for
our area, nine primarily coastal counties designated as Region
2. Second was that in the same breath the presenters were telling
us that the projects might not get done in any case.
The ordeal was frustrating for more than one in attendance as
many of us have sat through similar meetings with similar results....zilch.
They say that even if these meetings do add up to zilch right
now, ODOT will have done their homework on a regional basis and
be prepared if a funding package does materialize in the future.
ODOT is asking for our input, prior to November 30, 1999, on what
they are calling the State Transportation Bonding Program. The
criteria for selection of projects that will be included in the
funding - given approval by the state legislature - are as follows:
1. Consistency with a local/regional comprehensive plan and transportation
system plan if adopted. 2. Consistency with the Oregon Highway
Plan. 3. The Quality Development Objectives set forth in Executive
Order EO 97-22. 4. Project completion possible within six years.
5. Project located on highways of statewide or regional significance.
6. Leverage of local or private funds or toll revenues and/or
the ability to transfer local interest roads, district or regional
highways to local governments prior to project construction. and
7. Safety.
Of the 17 projects on a list for consideration, only two projects
fall within our readership areas of Columbia, Clatsop and Tillamook
counties. Those projects are the Pacific Highway-Dooley Bridge
(part of Highway 101 between Gearhart and Seaside) Phase 2 improvements
/widening and the Astoria Truck Route (formerly called the Highway
30,Astoria Bypass). The purpose of the latter project is to route
non-Astoria-destination traffic around, rather than through, the
center of downtown Astoria.
The estimated cost of improving and widening Dooley Bridge at
the north end of Seaside has been set at $34 million: The Astoria
Truck Route has been whittled down to a mere $30 million - though
some at the meeting would beg to differ with that figure. The
estimated cost of the Astoria Bypass started at $47 million and
has been "value engineered" down to the $30 million
Astoria Truck Route. These projects are both of vital significance
not only for the day-to-day transportation requirements of those
who live and work in the Lower Columbia region, but also for the
many who will be coming here to learn about and celebrate the
upcoming Lewis and Clark Bicentennial.
One person in attendance at the meeting mentioned twice that there
were no projects in the hopper for Tillamook County. That is not
entirely correct. In fact, eight projects are supposed to be already
underway - two of them in Clatsop County, contiguous to the Dooley
Bridge and the Astoria Truck Route projects and six more are located
in Tillamook County. Already approved for funding are the environmental
assessment of changes at or around the Dooley Bridge and the development
of a "Roundabout" at a key intersection called Smith
Point in Astoria. The Smith Point intersection falls roughly in
the middle of the route to be followed by the proposed Astoria
Truck Route. If the funding does not come through for the additional
monies, the future of these already "funded" portions
may be nil.
Six other highway projects - mostly having to do with flood mitigation
- are already underway in Tillamook County. These six projects
are located in the lower Tillamook Bay Watershed, primarily in
the Wilson River Watershed and along U.S. Highway 101 in Tillamook
County. Site 1 involves "plugging" and "unplugging"
the Wilson River; Site 2 includes installation of tidegates along
the Tillamook Bay Dike; Site 3 calls for the headwater of the
Dougherty Slough to be "plugged" with an engineered
logjam of large spruce trees; Site 4 involves installation of
three bridges; Sites 5a - 5h are part of a tidegate project; and
Site 6 is a private flood mitigation project in the U.S. Highway
101 business corridor.
In sum, this is a complicated process, involving millions and
millions of dollars. If you don't want Tillamook County to continue
to flood and you don't want Clatsop County to experience a repeat
of the "USS Missouri traffic backlog" as tourists descend
upon our area seeking the trail of Lewis and Clark, then we suggest
you get involved.
Visit the ODOT website or contact ODOT or your state legislators
and tell them what you think. A decision to not fund all of these
projects could be a disastrous one. LCB
Oregon Department of Transportation
Contact: Debby Corey,
Programs Coordinator, Region 2
Address: 455 Airport Rd. SE, Bldg B
Salem, Oregon 97301-5395
Telephone: 503/986-2651
Fax: 503/986-2840
e-mail: debby.l.corey@odot.state.or.us
Hours: 9a - 5p, M - F
Back to November LCBO Home Page
Back to LCB ONline Home Page