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The U.S. Department of Transportation today announced $2.1 billion in grants for high-speed rail corridor proposals and $245 million for specific construction projects within those corridors, but the Oregon Department of Transportation won’t apply for any of it.

Though ODOT has several multi-million dollar rail projects on the boards, Betsy Imholt, ODOT rail study director, said the transit department won’t apply for this round of funding. The reason, Imholt said, is that the timeline for the grants, which must be applied for by Aug. 6, is too tight to find a 20 percent funding match from another group.

“All of ODOT’s money is legally tied to other projects and can’t be used for this,” Imholt said. “The money from road fees has to go back into roads. The timeline is just too fast to find a project partner.”

If ODOT had a 20 percent funding match from another source, it could apply for funding for studies to improve freight rail connections near the Rose Quarter and to improve the traffic flow of freight trains along the east bank of the Willamette River, Imholt said.

In the meantime, ODOT is waiting to hear back on a DOT grant it applied for in May to update the state’s rail plan, Imholt said, and to study the possibility of a high-speed rail line between Eugene and Portland.