91视频

Major road projects are failing to materialize in Oregon because of uncertainty in Congress. It’s not only contributing to traffic congestion and modernization delays, but also causing Oregon firms to look elsewhere for work.

Craig Gries, president of Oregon State Bridge Construction, recently bid for a job in Idaho. He recognizes the irony.

鈥淥ur name is Oregon State Bridge Construction,鈥� he said, 鈥渂ut you got to go where the work is.鈥�

For OSBC, the lack of funding means traveling farther for work, which cuts into the bottom line; for others, it means nothing has changed.

鈥淲e’re getting ready to kick the can down the road for the 38th time,鈥� said Larry Gescher, president of HP Civil Inc. and president of Associated General Contractors’ Oregon-Columbia chapter for 2015.

According to the American Society of Civil Engineers’ Report Card for America’s Infrastructure, 23 percent of Oregon’s bridges are either structurally deficient or functionally obsolete, and 6 percent of the state’s major roads are in poor condition. So opportunities for projects exist, but money to pay for them remains elusive.

鈥淓verybody agrees on what needs to get done, but no one agrees on where the money is going to come from,鈥� Gescher said.

Federal and state transportation funds, reliant on gas tax revenues, have suffered because of vehicles’ greater fuel efficiency in the drive to lower carbon emissions. Meanwhile, legislative plans allocating money for projects have become shorter. Six-year plans have given way to two-year plans.

This has led to a focus on simpler projects from a permitting and environmental impact perspective, said Trevor Sleeman, senior federal affairs adviser for the Oregon Department of Transportation. Such projects address basic maintenance and system performance needs 鈥� repainting bridge pavement, for example.

鈥淕oing back a few decades, there was a lot of certainty for the public and the contracting community,鈥� Sleeman said. 鈥淏ut because of uncertainty at the federal level, there is less focus on the big interchange projects and the projects that address congestion and freight mobility. There’s a trend to focus on the near term.鈥�

Meanwhile, a number of lawmakers in Washington, D.C., have taken anti-tax pledges. AGC lobbyist John Rakowitz said he recently met with one such politician who said he could possibly support a 鈥渇ee,鈥� but nothing with the word 鈥渢ax鈥� in it.

All of this is hitting especially close to home for Rakowitz and AGC. Thirty-five percent of AGC members work exclusively on transportation projects.

鈥淭hey are now beginning to leave the state,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey’re chasing the work. They’re heading out.鈥�

Rakowitz said firms have departed Oregon in favor of states like Idaho, Wyoming and Washington, which have gas taxes 鈥� 8, 9 and 11 cents, respectively 鈥� that function as dedicated highway funding.

Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden thinks the answer might lie in private investment. He and North Dakota Sen. John Hoeven are sponsoring a bill that would encourage partnerships between private parties and the government by providing tax credits for transportation projects. The Move America Act would allow for more public-private partnerships and more flexible ownership and management arrangements, in part by repealing certain restrictions on tax-exempt partners.

Locally, one city commissioner wants Portland to take the lead and approve its own gas tax to pay for needed street repairs. Steve Novick, who oversees the Portland Bureau of Transportation, has a plan to ask voters in May to support a 10-cent gas tax. It would produce $58 million over four years.

Other possible solutions include a one-time tax break that would serve as a bump in funding to help states catch up on deferred projects. Gescher said he thinks the ultimate answer will involve a combination of ideas.

鈥淭he big thing is we need to act now, because it’s going to get worse exponentially,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e’re getting further and further behind.鈥�

Oregon Building and Construction Trades Council Executive Secretary John Mohlis said he doubts that the Oregon Legislature will pass anything beneficial to the industry during the upcoming short session. And given lengthy design and permitting processes, anything passed in 2017 wouldn’t benefit workers for a long time.

鈥淚f (legislation) passes in the 2017 session, my guess is it won’t be until 2018 before the shovels hit the ground,鈥� he said.