Oregon will soon receive $83 million in federal reimbursements for repairs to roadways that were damaged by massive wildfires, floods, ice storms and other weather-related emergencies.
All seven of Oregon’s Democratic members of Congress announced Monday they have secured eight grants from the Federal Highway Administration’s emergency relief program, which funds repairs of major roads and bridges damaged by natural disasters.
The largest grant — totaling $30.7 million — will reimburse the state for repairs it was forced to make to highways damaged by the 2020 Labor Day fires, which destroyed 4,000 homes and damaged miles of roads in Oregon.
Another grant, totaling $23 million, will reimburse the state for repairs following flooding and landslides in December 2022, including a landslide that severely damaged a portion of Highway 101 along the southern Oregon coast.
The third largest grant of $20 million will help cover the costs of infrastructure repairs after an ice storm that reached much of western Oregon in January 2024. Severe conditions over a 12-day period resulted in downed trees and power lines, as well as landslides and flooding on major roads and bridges.
The Oregon Department of Transportation, which will receive the reimbursement grants, will also receive several smaller awards between $300,000 and $3 million to reimburse the agency for repairs following other storms, wildfires and natural disasters.
— The Oregonian/OregonLive
