ODOT: House Bill 2017 delivered many projects but rising costs and limited maintenance share pose funding gaps

Chris Strickler, director of the Oregon Department of Transportation, summarized the agency’s delivery and accountability work under House Bill 2017 during a Jan. 27 joint informational meeting.

Strickler told committee members that HB2017 was the largest transportation investment in Oregon’s history and that it reframed how the state funds and reports on transportation. He said the package included new revenue sources and dedicated funds for non-highway modes, programmatic improvements and a set of named projects with legislative direction on sequencing and delivery. "House Bill 20 17, I would say, set the stage. It really doubled down on the accountability aspect," Strickler said.

ODOT provided a suite of delivery metrics and project-status figures. The department reported a State Highway Fund portfolio with roughly $1.7 billion in annual sources and a net ODOT portion of about $813 million (after apportionments and takedowns). Of that pool, ODOT showed an available operations and maintenance amount of roughly $370 million. Strickler cited HB2017-generated annual increases to highway-related funding of roughly $658 million (as of the most recent increase), and he noted that House Bill 2017 funding…