Oregon Receives $2.6 Million Grant to Rebuild Infrastructure, DeFazio Says
To help Oregon fix freight corridors and surface infrastructure damaged by natural disasters, the U.S. Department of Transportation awarded the state $2.6 million, Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) said this week.
“I am happy to announce that these grants have finally been signed and that over $2.6 million will flow to fix roads in Oregon destroyed by past natural disasters. Despite this release of funding, there is still a massive backlog in federal-aid highway repair and recovery needs from past disasters, and I will continue to push Congress and the administration to address it,” DeFazio said in a Nov. 13 statement.
The funding will be split with the state Department of Transportation receiving $750,000 and federal land management agencies receiving $1.87 million. Agencies will use the emergency funds to repair critical infrastructure along parts of the state damaged or destroyed as a result of natural disasters, severe storms and flooding. The grants come from a federal relief program at the Federal Highway Administration.
Heavy rains along the state’s coastal and center region have caused landslides recently. The state Department of Geology and Mineral Industries told residents to avoid roadways prone to landslides. These include canyon bottoms, stream channels, road cuts and bases of steep hillsides.
