'We're out of money': ODOT searching for ways to fund future projects

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) -- As they revise finance plans to send off to Gov. Tina Kotek, Oregon Department of Transportation officials are anticipating funding issues and delays for some major projects.

ODOT was initially relying on highway tolling to pay for significant projects, including the I-205 Improvements Project, the I-5 Rose Quarter Improvement Project, the I-5 Boone Bridge and Seismic Improvement Project, and the Oregon Toll Program Project. But, then in early May, Gov. Tina Kotek put a pause on tolling efforts until at least 2026.

With that tolling revenue delayed, transportation officials say they "face the need to manage our spending more conservatively" -- claiming the agency is about $3 billion short due to the tolling freeze.

During ODOT's Transportation Commission special meeting on Wednesday, Oregon Transportation Commissioner Julie Brown laid out in simple terms the situation her department is facing as they look toward the status of these major projects.

"...The bottom line is, we're out of money," she said.

The commission reviewed an updated finance plan draft for the projects those tolls were meant to fund in Wednesday's meeting. The plan now includes the possibility of dipping into funds set aside for projects scheduled for the next three years.

"Everyone is frustrated and there are going to be people continually frustrated as we leave this meeting because they don't like the decision that was made by the commission, but we're doing the best that we can," Brown said to the staff who had worked on the revised draft plan. "It's a very difficult position."

The two most affected are the I-205 Improvement Project's Tualatin River Crossing construction and the I-5 Rose Quarter Improvement Project. 

The delay on the I-205 project will cost at least $50 million more than originally projected, while the Rose Quarter project will now cost nearly $2 billion. Already, over $100 million has been spent on the project but not one minute of construction has occurred.

Part of the reason behind the rising price tags comes from not only changing the designs, but also increased construction costs -- which ODOT reports are 50% higher than in 2020 due to inflation.

At the end of the meeting, the commission voted to submit the revised draft to Gov. Kotek. If Kotek accepts this plan, it means the Rose Quarter project wouldn't begin until late 2025, along with an indefinite delay for the Tualatin River construction.

"We need to figure a way of doing it -- and it may be a compromise on both sides, it may be a community compromise, it may be our compromise -- but we need to figure this out and move forward with it," said Brown.

Travis Brouwer, the assistant director of Revenue, Finance and Compliance at ODOT, shared his doubts in the meeting.

“How can we get the resources to move forward on several billion dollars worth of projects? The reality is that we're going to have to do that in a phased manner over time, there's simply no way we can bring all the resources to bear and move all of those forward at the same time,” he stated.

Meanwhile, local leaders are already voicing their own qualms, saying all this adds to a lack of communication from ODOT around tolling concerns.

"The financing plan they submitted is a rehash of the other things they've already submitted and they just reformatted it to say 'Okay, we are not going to be able to do this project if we don't have tolling,'" Oregon City Mayor Denyse McGriff said. "No other projects, no other considerations."

West Linn Mayor Rory Bialotstosky acknowledged ODOT's funding issues, calling it a "kind of crisis situation."

"But the tolls are controversial; so regressive in the way they've been proposed. Is there another way to do it?" he pondered.

ODOT will deliver the latest plan to Kotek on Saturday. During a press availability Wednesday, the governor said these projects need to get done and tolling will likely be part of it -- but she had concerns about how the agency was planning to do it. 

Brown also stated ODOT will urge the legislature to pass a transportation funding package. Kotek says one of her priorities for the 2025 biennium budget is a new way to fund transportation projects.

Stay with KOIN 6 News for continuing coverage.