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Demonstrators plan to line the Steel Bridge Thursday morning in order to raise awareness about its 鈥渟tructurally deficient鈥� status and recent cuts to the Portland Bureau of Transportation’s discretionary budget. Meanwhile, a group from the Oregon chapter of the is preparing to put a plaque on the 99-year-old bridge to recognize it as an 鈥渋mportant piece of infrastructure.鈥�

Both actions aim to increase awareness of what activists perceive as a problem in Oregon and the nation as a whole: Bridges, roads and highway are in danger of falling into disrepair because a traditional funding source for maintenance 鈥� the gas tax 鈥� is failing to keep pace with demand.

A solution, however, isn’t evident. A different funding mechanism would take a long time to establish, and an infrastructure funding package proposed as part of President Barack Obama’s jobs bill was rejected in Congress recently.

The Steel Bridge is only one of several downtown bridges rated either 鈥渟tructurally deficient鈥� or 鈥渇unctionally obsolete鈥� by infrastructure advocacy group Transportation for America. A group of union representatives and employment advocates plan to demonstrate at the bridge under the banner of 鈥溾�� 鈥� an organization that fights unemployment and foreclosures. The protest was planned in tandem with an “Occupy Portland” protest regarding foreclosures scheduled for the same day.

鈥淲hile this is a day of action around the country about jobs and infrastructure, it’s also day of action for the Occupy movement, so it made sense to coordinate with them,” Laborers Local 483 spokeswoman Megan Hise said.

鈥淭he idea is to use the bridge as a symbol of a disconnect: We have work that needs doing and we have unemployed people,鈥� We Are Oregon communications director Angus Maguire said.

The Laborers Local 483 union will be represented at the event. The union has 300 members in PBOT, which recently announced upcoming budget cuts of $16 million.

鈥淭his will inevitably lead to a contraction in the department and significant layoffs for our members,鈥� Hise said. 鈥淭his is the first public event we’re doing to raise community awareness.鈥�

We Are Oregon is not targeting a specific piece of legislation or even a specific agency. Hise said the group acknowledges that PBOT, for example, simply lacks gas tax revenue.

鈥淲e’re just getting started with the 鈥榮olutions’ part of the campaign,鈥� Hise said. 鈥淭he first step is recognizing that there’s a problem.鈥�

Transportation agencies, however, have long known that a problem exists.

鈥淭he problem at hand is that transportation (maintenance) is funded by an unsustainable and unstable source of money,鈥� PBOT spokesman Dan Anderson said. 鈥淲e’ve known this for years, and we’re forecasting that things will only get worse.鈥�

Replacement of the 鈥渟tructurally deficient鈥� Sellwood Bridge has been a high priority for years. Prep work is set to begin next month, but Multnomah County lacks money to tackle any similar efforts anytime soon, spokesman Mike Pullen said.

鈥淭he Sellwood Bridge (replacement) is what we call a 鈥榤ega-project,’ 鈥� he said. 鈥淲e won’t really have other important bridge projects for the next few years.鈥�

One bright spot is the increase in grant money being landed by agencies such as PBOT and the Oregon Department of Transportation. The eastside streetcar loop project was paid for primarily by a federal grant for more than $100 million, and the Moody Avenue construction project was paid for with federal stimulus money.

However, grants are not feasible ways to pay for system maintenance, which is what concerns Hise and the laborers’ union. Those grants tend to fund more progressive projects involving light-rail or bicycle-related improvements, or individual major freeway projects, Anderson said.

Maintenance projects are dependent on gas tax revenues, and Anderson said that despite support from diverse industry groups, the political will to raise the gas tax 鈥渏ust isn’t there.鈥�

That may be old news to some industry professionals, but Maguire and his group believe that it’s now time to start increasing awareness.

鈥淪pecific changes have to happen; new funding sources have to happen,鈥� Maguire said.

We Are Oregon’s demonstration will be timed to coincide with other protests in other states, he said.

The goal, once awareness is raised, is to generate an 鈥渆mergency measure,鈥� Hise said.

鈥淚f these cuts happen, the maintenance backlog will increase,鈥� she said. 鈥淭he quality of roads will be eroded. We need to start now to plan for the long term.鈥�