Oregon has one of the nation’s largest funding gaps to meet road maintenance needs

Oregon has one of the largest gaps in the country between its highway and bridge maintenance needs and what it spends on addressing them, according to a national study. 

Oregon is falling behind on transportation maintenance, with the state transportation department facing a $200 million shortfall in the 2027-29 budget cycle. A recent study from The Pew Charitable Trusts shows that Oregon also lags most other states in what it needs to invest in its roads and bridges to meet condition targets.  

The Beaver State has the second highest gap-to-expenditure ratio in the country, behind New York and tied with Connecticut.

That’s because in 2022, Oregon reported having over $7 billion in maintenance needs in order to make its highways and bridges in a state of good repair. However, it only planned to spend $2.8 billion in maintenance over that time period, according to documents it submitted to the federal government — placing the state at one of the highest gap-to-expenditure ratios. 

Pew developed the gap-to-expenditure ratio to measure a state’s projected funding shortfall compared to its planned maintenance spending. Pew calculated each state’s ratio by dividing its projected 10-year-funding gap by its 10-year-highway maintenance expenditures as reported in each state’s Transportation Asset Management Plan submitted to the Federal Highway Administration in 2022. 

The Beaver State also has the sixth largest funding maintenance gap in the country. It would need to spend $4.8 billion to meet its repair targets, including $1.8 billion for highways and nearly $3 billion on its bridges. Only Pennsylvania, California, Connecticut, New York and Michigan have larger financial gaps. 

Oregon will need to more than double its planned roadway maintenance spending to close the cap, according to the study.