Oregon Department of Transportation Pledges to Reduce Winter Road Safety Efforts in Eastern Oregon 2023-25, Blames Low Gas Tax Revenue Due to Electric Vehicles

September 2023 – Oregon Department of Transportation: Level of Service Reduction – Region 5

We have long relied on gas tax revenue to maintain the transportation system, but that revenue is declining. More Oregonians are buying hybrid and electric vehicles and using less gas. Meanwhile, the cost of doing business is increasing. ODOT can no longer maintain the system at the level Oregonians need and expect.

In response to this structural funding issue, we are reducing our expenses and services. We must prioritize our efforts and focus on safety. Drivers, cyclists, freight haulers, pedestrians – everyone who relies on our system – will experience a reduction in the service ODOT provides and a decline in the condition of the transportation system.

Implementing our 2023-2025 budget

For our next budget, we implemented a 5% cut across all programs funded with state dollars. Within maintenance, we cut our services and materials an additional 15% to account for inflation and our reduced buying power. We are reducing service in three primary areas:

• Low-volume road maintenance.
• Roadside maintenance.
• Winter maintenance.

Additionally, we are reducing our use of overtime, reserving it for emergency events and storms. As we reduce the amount of proactive maintenance work we fund, we expect an increase in potholes, pavement ruts, and plugged and failed culverts.

ROADSIDE MAINTENANCE

We will reduce the volume and frequency of clearing and cleaning work in these areas:

• Mowing grass, spraying weeds and trimming vegetation.
• Removing brush and tree debris.
• Litter and debris pickup.
• Graffiti removal.

In Your Area

We’ll mow, spray, and trim trees less often. We are limiting herbicide applications by 75%. In practice, this looks like spot-spraying noxious weeds only when observed in medians and along the highway. We’ve limited litter removal so we can focus on more pressing safety issues, like replacing regulatory signs and clearing stormwater ditches. As a cost saving measure, we discontinued youth litter patrols and inmate work crews to collect debris prior to 2020.

PAVEMENT MAINTENANCE

We are reducing pavement maintenance for low-volume roads – highways averaging less than 3,000 vehicles daily. We are deferring pothole and chip seal projects, and we are not repainting edge lines.

In Your Area

Roughly 66% of eastern Oregon’s state highways are low-volume roads. System users can expect rougher roads with more potholes and deeper ruts. During heavy rainfall, drivers should expect pooling water in the ruts. If conditions deteriorate enough, we may reduce speeds to give people more time and opportunity to navigate rough stretches of highway.

Edge lines will fade over time, particularly around curves. Drivers will need to rely on the centerline for lane locations. We will only restripe faded edge lines on the following highway segments in the region:

• • I-84.
• I-82 to the Washington border.
• U.S. 20.
• U.S. 95.
• U.S. 395 from Riley to Burns.
• OR 82 from La Grande to Imbler.
• OR 11 from Pendleton to Milton Freewater.
• U.S. 730 from Boardman to the Washington border.

Reducing pavement maintenance and eliminating edge line restriping on low-volume roads allows crews to address critical maintenance activities on primary freight routes.

WINTER MAINTENANCE

This winter, we are reducing the amount of sand and deicer we apply to state highways. We will focus our efforts on key highways, hills, curves and known trouble spots.

In Your Area

With fewer seasonal employees, our crews must prioritize key routes, including I-84, I-82 into Washington, and U.S. 20. Our crews will plow, sand, and salt other highways, including U.S. 95, OR 11 and OR 82; however, sanding and plowing will occur less often.

We encourage area communities and travelers to prepare the possibility of extended delays, closures, more chain restrictions, and varying degrees of traction as they navigate roads. With smaller budgets for staff and materials needed to plow, sand, and deice, the potential for traffic jams and crashes increases. Incidents will take longer to clear.

We strongly recommend travelers carry a fully stocked emergency kit, including a phone charger and weather appropriate clothing, and refuel or recharge their tanks often.

Some highways previously plowed four times per day will be plowed once per day, if at all.