ODOT says feds have given a green light on I-5 project grant – BikePortland

Earlier this month I reported that the Oregon Department of Transportation was on the brink of putting shovels in the ground on their I-5 Rose Quarter project, despite a massive hole in their budget made even worse by a new edict from the Trump Administration that had frozen a key $450 million grant. 

Now it appears ODOT’s luck has shifted considerably.

At a meeting today, Rose Quarter Project Director Megan Channell said they’ve received notice from the US Department of Transportation that they can move forward with confidence that the grant will be funded.

In order to keep construction moving forward, ODOT is highly reliant on a $450 million Reconnecting Communities grant they won from the Biden Administration. But as of early February, ODOT said just $37 million of that total had been obligated, leaving over $400 million up in the air due to the Trump administration’s executive order pausing all discretionary transportation grants. That amount, combined with being already about $1 billion short on the $1.9 billion megaproject, put ODOT in a precarious situation.

This morning, Channell shared an update with Metro Council where a separate allocation of $250 million for the I-5 Rose Quarter project was being discussed. During her presentation, Channell shared the “big news.”

“As of last week we did get notice that because we have a signed grant agreement, and because we have a portion of those funds already obligated, we can continue to proceed in the obligation of the remaining phases of that grant,” Channell said. “So that’s big news to be able to keep moving forward,” she continued.

“And I will say, hours after we got that notice, we put in our obligation request,” Channell added, as she and several councilors broke into happy laughter.

ODOT Director of Finance Travis Brouwer told BikePortland today that last week they learned the Federal Highway Administration has begun processing obligations for projects with signed agreements (ODOT signed their agreement in October 2024). “In response, we are working with FHWA to obligate the remaining grant agreement funds for right of way and construction,” Brouwer said.  

This Reconnecting Communities grant funding will allow ODOT to build Phase 1 of the project, which is about 30% of the highway cover and the initial phases of the freeway expansion, including new northbound and southbound lanes. The portion of the highway lid they plan to build first is the southern portion (which is considered the most complicated) near the Broadway and Weidler couplet. ODOT hopes to begin construction on Phase 1 in 2027. Phase 1A of the project, which includes stormwater facility upgrades and bridge preservation work, is scheduled to begin this year.

At the same meeting, Metro councilors heard strong support and opposition to the I-5 project. They plan to make an official vote on this latest funding allocation at their meeting on April 1st.