The Toll of Climate Change on Oregon’s Transportation Infrastructure
Oregon’s transportation system is at a crossroads. While the state recently passed emergency funding to address an immediate budget shortfall, the larger challenge remains: climate change is fundamentally altering how we must think about transportation infrastructure. At the same time, a potential referendum threatens to suspend the very funding needed to maintain safe roads and bridges. As Oregon looks toward long-term solutions, the stakes have never been higher.
Climate Change Is Rewriting the Rules for Infrastructure
Across the country, extreme weather is damaging infrastructure at an alarming rate. According to a recent Bloomberg analysis, climate-driven disasters are destroying roads and bridges faster than governments can repair them. The article notes that “many road projects designed for a 50-year lifespan may now need to be rebuilt in half that time” as floods, fires, and heat waves intensify.
That’s in part because bridge materials expand and contract in response to temperature fluctuations. While most are equipped with features to accommodate that movement, they were not designed to withstand the extreme high temperatures brought on by climate change. According to Paul Chinowsky, a professor emeritus of civil engineering at the University of Colorado Boulder, “When temperatures hit a record high, bridges might behave in ways that engineers didn’t intend them to.”
“Heat-swollen steel joints can impair the mobility of a swing bridge, making it unable to open or close – at least temporarily. Concrete also expands under heat. Once its expansion goes beyond a bridge’s original design limit, the concrete can crack, exposing it to moisture that can corrode internal metal components.”
In Portland, during the record-breaking heatwave in 2021, the Portland Streetcar was forced to cancel service after power cables failed. TriMet has invested in special systems to accommodate the strain heat puts on the metal rails and overhead wires.
Photo caption: Portland Streetcar was forced to cancel service in 2021 due to record breaking heat causing power cables to fail.
Statewide, Oregon faces climate threats in the form of wildfires, atmospheric rivers, landslides, and extreme heat that buckles pavement and weakens bridge supports. The same climate conditions that make our summers hotter and our winters wetter are actively degrading the roads and bridges Oregonians depend on every day.
As one transportation expert told Bloomberg, we’re entering an era where “the cost of inaction far exceeds the cost of preparation.” The question isn’t whether climate change will affect our infrastructure – it’s how quickly we can adapt.
A Band-Aid Solution – and Now, a Potential Setback
The transportation funding package passed during the 2025 fall special session was designed to address an immediate crisis: a $350 million deficit at the Oregon Department of Transportation driven by project cost increases, debt financing of past large projects, declining gas tax revenue and rising maintenance costs. The $4.3 billion package over the next decade provides essential funding to keep roads, bridges, and transit systems operational.
But it was always intended as a temporary measure while Oregon develops a comprehensive, long-term approach to transportation funding.
Now, petitioners are gathering signatures to refer portions of the law to voters in 2026. If successful, the referendum would immediately suspend funding measures. Governor Kotek has warned that this would create significant funding gaps, potentially forcing cuts to operations and service levels across the transportation system – at precisely the moment when we need to be strengthening infrastructure against climate threats.
A Broken Funding Model
Oregon has never had an adequate funding model to support clean, accessible and affordable transportation options for all people in our state. Statewide transit funding was only established in 2017 and never at levels that support the level of service communities consistently say they need. Similarly, current funding models and priorities – a declining gas tax and prioritizing big new projects – have not made for sustainable funding for maintenance and safety. For the long-term, we need new revenue sources that don’t depend on fossil fuel consumption. New funding models should reward efficient, low-carbon, and safe transportation outcomes.
Building for the Future
Any long-term transportation package must prioritize climate resilience and expand transportation choices. That means funding programs like Safe Routes to School, expanding public transit and passenger rail, supporting clean vehicle adoption, and ensuring that communities historically underserved by our transportation system have access to safe, affordable, reliable options.
Oregon deserves better than lurching from one funding gap to the next while infrastructure deteriorates. We need a comprehensive approach that builds climate resilience into every dollar spent, expands choices beyond driving, and creates real accountability for how transportation dollars are used.
Climate change isn’t waiting for us to figure this out. Every delay makes the problem more expensive and more dangerous. The question isn’t whether Oregon can afford to invest in resilient, climate-friendly transportation. It’s whether we can afford not to.
Here’s What We’re Doing About It
Regardless of what happens with the referendum, in 2026, we’ll be working with our statewide partners in the Move Oregon Forward coalition to push for:
- Fiscally responsible spending on transportation
- Expand representation on the Oregon Transportation Commission so it’s more representative of Oregonians and their diverse forms of mobility
- Right-sized projects that enhance climate-resilience
- A “fix it first” approach to fix the things we need before taking on building big new projects
- Solutions that reduce emissions and vehicle miles traveled
- Proven best practices that are working for states across the country
Here’s What YOU Can Do
- Sign up for our action alert emails. This is the best way to stay informed about ways to make your voice heard.
- Become a member of OEC with your donation today! OEC’s work to advocate for safe, affordable, accessible transportation is made possible by people across the state who care about safeguarding Oregon’s future. Join in with your support now!
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