EV charging infrastructure deployment plans are in the works for Interstates 5 and 84 after the Oregon Department of Transportation secured grant funding from two federal programs for planning, design and installation work at the stations.

During a webinar on Wednesday, ODOT gave an overview of its plans for the public fleet EV charging stations on both highways.

The Charging and Fueling Infrastructure Grant Program is a discretionary grant program that was created by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Its main purpose is to fund alternative fuel infrastructure projects along major highways and interstates throughout the state and communities, with a special focus on medium and heavy-duty infrastructure, said Brett Howell, ODOT’s transportation electrification coordinator.

In 2023, ODOT, the California Department of Transportation and the Washington State Department of Transportation applied for the program. In August 2024, the three states – California, Washington and Oregon – were selected for an award in round 1B of the Charging and Fueling Infrastructure Grant Program. The total award was roughly $102 million to support the development of medium and heavy-duty focused charging infrastructure, as well as a limited number of hydrogen refueling stations along Interstate 5 in all three states and a few additional corridors in California, Howell said.

Oregon received about $21.1 million to develop two medium and heavy-duty charging stations, and one hydrogen refueling station, all to be located along the I-5 corridor.

Howell said the funding for the Charging and Fueling Infrastructure Grant Program is subject to a 20 percent minimum match requirement. ODOT intends to issue a notice of funding opportunity application sometime next fall.

The Carbon Reduction Program provides money to reduce carbon emissions. Oregon received $4.5 million for installation of an EV charging station along I-84, likely between Portland and The Dalles, Howell said.

For the Carbon Reduction Program, there is a funding match of 10.27 percent. ODOT plans to issue a funding opportunity application for in the spring or summer.

The webinar also addressed a new provision for a program through the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality. Oregon DEQ‘s Clean Fuels Program is providing financial incentives for public fleets and their contractors through advance crediting. The financial incentives allow fleets to get an up-front loan of Clean Fuels Program credits when they put a new medium- or heavy- duty electric vehicle into service.

Courtney Herbolsheimer, of Oregon DEQ, said the program, which began in 2016, is a market-based program that reduces the overall carbon intensity of transportation fuels used in Oregon.

“Each type of fuel is assigned a carbon intensity value or level of carbon emissions,” Herbolsheimer said. “Over time, each year, DEQ gradually lowers the amount of carbon intensity average that’s allowed in fuel to meet our annual reduction goals.”

Lower carbon fuels will generate credits, while higher carbon fuels will generate deficits. An entity reports on a quarterly basis the number of kilowatt hours of electricity that are dispensed from its chargers each quarter.

With this new provision – advance crediting – DEQ is able to grant up to six years of credits to an entity up front. Those credits would be received when the vehicle is put into service, Herbolsheimer said.

The program will have one application period per year and will launch in early to mid-2026. Advance credits will apply only to vehicles when they are first put into service. Applicants must remain the owner of the vehicle until they have paid back the advance credits. Oregon DEQ will determine if an application meets the requirements. After an agreement is made, DEQ will issue advance credits.

The entity would pay back those credits over a period spanning at least one year and no later than three years after receiving the credits. Once the credits are repaid, they can go back to the regular program.

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Effective transportation infrastructure is essential for business, and that is why a pair of Interstate 84 bridge spans in Troutdale are being replaced.

The Oregon Department of Transportation is carrying out the where I-84 meets Graham Road, near the Sandy River. There, general contractor Carter & Company Inc. of Salem is in charge of completely replacing the westbound and eastbound bridge spans in a phased project that began in January. Final completion is scheduled for winter 2020, following improvements to Graham Road itself.

Seven precast post-tensioned concrete girders for the westbound span were to be placed on Monday, ODOT project manager Scott Mercer said. It’s an important point for the second phase of the project, he added. In the first phase, crews built a temporary span between the two permanent spans originally built by ODOT in the late 1950s. In the third phase, scheduled for 2020, the eastbound span will be replaced.

“They’ll take the B (outside) lane, but you can’t do that until 10 o’clock at night,” Mercer said. “They’ll have the crane there and the beams will just sit right there and they’ll just pick from both sides – boom, boom, boom.”

Both bridge spans’ east ends will be movable, while the west ends will be fixed. The abutments on the east side will have the precast beams sitting 3 feet apart atop bearing pads that allow the beams to flex with temperature changes and different weights of passing vehicles.

“They’ll set those seven beams, and … they’ll have post-tensioning in the box girders,” Mercer said. “So, we’re putting steel in and we’ll start jacking the steel up to tension. And once that’s done, we’ll start working on the deck.”

Plans for the eastbound span are virtually identical, Mercer noted.

In addition, the height of the Graham Road underpass beneath the bridge will increase from 13.5 feet to 17 feet. This will allow safe passage of large trucks and oversize vehicles that are increasingly servicing the Port of Portland’s adjacent Troutdale Reynolds Industrial Park, which hosts Amazon, FedEx and other distributors.

Also, as part of the project, Graham Road will be widened underneath the bridge and a third lane will be added.

“It’s all part of economic development,” ODOT Public Information Officer Don Hamilton said. “This helps the jobs phase, and it’s all related to that.”

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