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The Columbia River Crossing project’s demise could come with a silver lining for the construction industry.

That is because $116.6 million that the state expects to receive in federal money – previously allocated to pay for two years of debt service on the CRC – could be reallocated to eight highway projects around the state, Oregon Department of Transportation officials said this week.

The projects, such as a $40.7 million Ross Island Bridge paint job and a $19 million Oregon Route 99W paving job, had been planned for construction under the Statewide Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) between 2016 and 2018. Now, they would start as early as this year if the Oregon Transportation Commission were to issue approval next week, ODOT spokesman Dave Thompson said.

“The state transportation commission put a plan into effect last fall as we saw the possible end of the CRC coming then,” he said.

The money is from the U.S. Highway Trust Fund. Oregon officials in 2010 received more federal money than they had expected, Thompson said. That money had been allocated to pay debt service on the CRC project, which was shelved Friday.

“When we got more federal money than we originally planned for, we used it to great effect,” he said. “It wasn’t added into the pot because of the CRC. Our allocation was just more than we had conservatively planned for in 2010.”

“Plan B” consisted of reallocating the extra federal dollars from the CRC to projects (approved by the OTC) that would benefit the entire state, Thompson said. The state has until September to reallocate the money; otherwise, it will be redistributed, he said.

Keeping the dollars in the state will be great for construction, said John Rakowitz, director of public and strategic affairs for Associated General Contractors’ Oregon-Columbia chapter. “There’s a huge amount of complicated work that goes into getting projects ready to go,” he said. “You can’t do that on a federal timeline.”

The projects, if approved, will create more opportunities in a very competitive marketplace, said Alan Aplin, vice president of Woodburn-based Kerr Contractors. The company often takes on ODOT projects, including one at the Interstate 84/U.S. Route 97 interchange in Biggs.

While Kerr would likely have done little or no work on the CRC, the company will likely bid on upcoming STIP projects, Aplin said.

“We’ll go wherever we need to in the state,” he said. “This year, they have a pretty good slate of projects.”

In the past, more money from the Oregon Transportation Investment Act went to bridge projects. Now, more of it is going toward grading and maintenance work, which benefits Kerr, Aplin said.

“We prefer that,” he said. “It’s sort of the way it goes.”

The Transportation Commission will make the funding decision at its next meeting, March 20, in Salem. For more information, visit .

Statewide Transportation Improvement Program projects

• Paving 6 miles of Interstate 5 from the Marquam Bridge to Capitol Highway; rehabilitating two bridges ($10.2 million)

• Paving 3.8 miles of Interstate 84 from The Dalles to 15 Mile Creek; constructing a bridge over Three Mile Creek ($18.3 million)

• Painting the Ross Island Bridge, phase 1 ($40.7 million)

• Paving 5 miles of Oregon Route 213 from Mulino to Blackman’s Corner ($2.8 million)

• Paving 20 miles of Oregon Route 99W from Amity to Monmouth; adding ADA-standard sidewalk ramps in Monmouth ($19 million)

• Paving 13 miles of U.S. Route 199 from Slate Creek to Cave Junction; adding rumble strip ($6 million)

• Paving 33 miles of U.S. Route 395 from Harney County line to Lake Albert ($15 million)

• Chip sealing 20 miles of U.S. Route 20 from Black Canyon to Malheur River ($4.6 million)

Source: ODOT