More than five percent of all the bridges in Oregon are considered “structurally deficient.” KLCC’s Tiffany Eckert reports.
Deficient bridges are those in urgent need of repair or replacement. Transportation for America analyzed bridge conditions statewide and found 439 of them in trouble. According to the report, Linn County tops the list with 15% needing overhaul. Douglas County has 29 deficient bridges. Lane County, which has the most bridges in the state, comes in third for the most in need of repair.
Chris Rall, is a Field Organizer with Transportation for America. He says funding is a priority.
Rall: “We invested $1.3 billion dollars in the Oregon Transportation Infrastructure Act. But that was bonded. So we’ve borrowed a bunch of money, fixed a bunch of bridges and now the bill is coming due and we’ve got other bridges that we either didn’t repair before or that are aging and we’re going to have to repair in the future.”
Rall’s organization works to increase state and federal investments in transportation solutions.
In the May election, Lane County voters rejected a Vehicle Registration Fee which would have funded maintenance and repair of roads and bridges.
To see the entire report:
http://t4america.org/maps-tools/bridges/oregon-2015
