The Marion and Center Street bridges pictured Summer 2018. (Salem Reporter files)
Area transportation officials remain unsure how their budgets would be impacted if the Salem City Council decides against finishing early work on the Salem River Crossing.
After a lengthy work session by councilors Wednesday night, representatives from state and regional agencies said it was too soon to tell if they would be forced to repay the federal dollars spent since 2006 on planning a third bridge in Salem.
“It’s federal dollars. We all have a responsibility to utilize it correctly,” said Lou Torres, spokesman for the Oregon Department of Transportation. “We’re all concerned about having to pay this back and we want to avoid it if we can.”
The state transportation agency and the Salem-Keizer Area Transportation Study — SKATS — have so far spent roughly $4 million apiece given to them by the Federal Highway Administration for work on the project.
Mike Jaffe, transportation director for the Mid-Willamette Valley Council of Governments, which in-part oversees SKATS, wouldn’t discuss the fate of those millions.
“No comment. It’s too early,” he said.
During the two-hour meeting with councilors, transportation workers responded to numerous nuts-and-bolts questions ranging from the bridge’s environmental impact, resiliency against disaster, costs, and, ultimately, its efficacy.
A pivotal decision could come as early as Feb. 11. The council is being asked to respond to land use questions posed by the state Land Use Board of Appeals, a requisite step for the project’s planners to finish an exhaustive environmental review.
But the project has looked increasingly doomed as six councilors elected since 2014 have said in their campaigns they opposed the bridge, outweighing the council’s three supporters. Councilor Jim Lewis proposed last November moving forward with the project, but that was postponed until February.
Transportation officials worry that if the key environmental report isn’t finished by Sept. 30, federal officials could insist money spent on the bridge work be paid back, diverting millions for other regional transportation projects.
ODOT Director Matt Garrett told councilors they faced a “hinge moment” and an “inflection point.” He said completing the review doesn’t necessarily mean moving forward with the bridge.
“There is a clock that is ticking in terms of moving forward and if we choose not… I think the last thing we want to do is pay back roughly $8 million or so that has been expended to date because we don’t meet timelines shared with us by our federal partners here,” he said.
Phillip Ditzler of the Federal Highway Administration told councilors the review must be completed.
“This project was started out of a desire to move the project forward and, again, that was 13 years ago. It’s time, from the federal perspective, to make that decision whether it goes forward or not,” he said.
Near the end of the meeting, Mayor Chuck Bennett asked if the environmental review could be completed by the deadline. ODOT officials said perhaps, but they could also ask for their fourth deadline extension, but Ditzler threw cold water on that.
“The lack of action (on the land use questions) are indications that there’s no longer support for the project,” he said. “There’s no need to continue to expend funds on something that is not supported.”
Ditzler referred questions Thursday to a spokesman who didn’t respond.
Have a tip? Contact reporter Troy Brynelson at 503-575-9930, [email protected] or @TroyWB.
