Congressman DeFazio Secures Funding for Nine Critical Projects in Southwestern Oregon

WASHINGTON- Today, Congressman Peter DeFazio (OR-04) announced that the U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation that would provide funding he requested for critical projects in Southwestern Oregon.

DeFazio secured $14,862,000 for constituent-requested initiatives, including purchasing electric buses in Benton County, building a pedestrian and bicycle bridge to improve community livability in Lane County, expanding childcare facilities at the Eugene YMCA, highway safety improvements in Coos County, and advancing a critical levee project in Springfield. "I'm pleased to have secured funding for these vital projects that will benefit communities in Southwest Oregon," said Rep. DeFazio. "These investments will make real improvements and help localities advance towards a more resilient, safer, healthier future, as well as create good-paying jobs."

You can find more information on these Community Project Funding requestshere.

Project Name: River Road - Santa Clara Pedestrian & Bicycle Bridge

Amount: $6,000,000

Intended Recipient: City of Eugene, Oregon

Explanation of the Request:
Federal funding for this project will connect the River Road and Santa Clara neighborhoods, which are currently bisected by the Beltline highway, with a pedestrian and bicycle bridge that will enable more people to use active transportation for school, work, shopping, and other trips. The bridge will also connect half of the North Eugene High School service area - the highest-need student population of Eugene School District 4J's four traditional high schools - to the high school and allow students to walk or bike on safer neighborhood streets to get to school, without the need to travel through several of Eugene's most dangerous intersections. The City of Eugene has completed an engineering feasibility study for the pedestrian and bicycle bridge and is ready to move to the next phase of the project.

Project Name: 42nd Street Levee Modernization Feasibility Study, Springfield, Oregon

Amount: $460,000

Intended Recipient: City of Springfield, Oregon

Explanation of the Request:

Federal funds would be used for a feasibility study that will assess and identify how to best modernize the City of Springfield's 42nd Street Levee to meet current flood control standards.

The requested Continuing Authorities Program Section 205 Feasibility Study will identify the federal nexus for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to assist the City of Springfield, Oregon, with developing and implementing a comprehensive project plan to modernize the 42nd Street Levee and stabilize the McKenzie River channel migration. The 42nd Street Levee protects over 35 percent of Springfield's residents and over $4 billion in assets, including the National Guard Armory, Bureau of Land Management offices, several schools, a hospital, and major industrial and commercial users. The levee system was constructed in 1959 by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Lane County, Oregon, under the authority of the Watershed Protection and Flood Prevention Act (PL 83-566, as amended). City of Springfield received levee ownership from Lane County in 1983. An Inventory and Review assessment done by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Seattle District and the City of Springfield assigned a Moderate Risk rating (12/23/2019) to this levee system due in part to unknown foundation conditions, structural deficiencies, and continuing unconstrained channel migration of the McKenzie River toward the levee. In addition, the City has identified that the levee crest needs to be raised about 3 feet to provide the minimum freeboard (44 CFR 65.10(b)(1)(i)) above the 100-year flood water level to meet criteria for levee certification and accreditation as a flood control structure. This project would be the catalyst for modernization of the levee.

Project Name: Childcare facilities at the new YMCA in Eugene, Oregon

Amount: $2,000,000

Intended Recipient: YMCA of Eugene

Explanation of the Request:
The new Eugene YMCA's mission is to transform Lane County's ability to meet critical health and education needs, including childcare. The federal funding requested would be used to construct childcare facilities as part of a larger project to build a new YMCA in Eugene. It would include preschool classrooms, drop-in childcare spaces for parents attending YMCA programs, a Youth Learning Lab for middle school children to participate in Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math (S.T.E.A.M.) programs, and a safe and drug-free environment to serve teenagers through a variety of mentoring and educational programs.

Lane County, Oregon, which includes Eugene, is a childcare desert where many families face extreme waitlists for their children to enroll in a licensed preschool program. As we grapple with the long-term effects of learning loss and academic disruptions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it is especially critical for children to have access to quality extracurricular programs like the ones offered at the YMCA. Additional childcare spaces, for all ages, in this new facility would transform the YMCA's ability to educate and serve hundreds of additional children each year in purpose-built classrooms and educational spaces. This facility will be built in a 'Severely Distressed' Census Tract and within relatively easy walking distance to several schools to help increase access to these important programs and services, a benefit for both children and their parents.

Project Name: Immediate Occupancy Standard for Multipurpose Facility at Lane Events Center

Amount: $1,500,000

Intended Recipient: Lane County, Oregon

Explanation of the Request:
Lane County seeks $1,500,000 in federal funding to ensure that the Lane County Multi-Purpose Facility (LCMPF) planned for the Lane Events Center (LEC) is constructed to Immediate Occupancy Life Safety Standards (IOLFSS) and meets the enhanced building code requirements to remain functional in the event of a Cascadia subduction zone (CSZ) seismic event. The odds are roughly one in three that, in the next fifty years, the Pacific Northwest will experience an earthquake and tsunami in the CSZ that will forever change the region. If this were to happen, the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) is projecting that nearly 13,000 people would die, another 27,000 would be injured, and FEMA would need to provide shelter for one million displaced people as well as food and water for another 2.5 million. Additionally, the area is highly prone to devastating wildfires and needs additional facilities to provide emergency shelter to people who need to evacuate and/or lose their homes due to wildfire. For example, thousands of people lost their homes during the 2020 Holiday Farm Fire in the region.

Built to the IOLFSS standard, the LCMPF can provide for mass sheltering, enhanced communications, and other post-disaster services. The facility will include significant food service, showering, and bathroom facilities for care and feeding in post-disaster events. Additionally, it will serve as a center for regular community events.

Project Name: Dorris Ranch Orchard Replacement

Amount: $232,000

Intended Recipient: Willamalane Park and Recreation District

Explanation of the Request:

The Willamalane Park and Recreation District (WPRD) is seeking $232,000 to replace diseased filbert trees at Dorris Ranch. The Dorris Ranch is recognized as the oldest working filbert orchard in the United States. Filberts are still harvested, and WPRD uses the proceeds to offset the cost to manage and maintain the 258-acre property and facilities. Dorris Ranch is highly utilized by the community, visited by thousands of people every year as a destination for hiking, running, field trips, and community events. The approximately 6,000 filbert trees at the site have been devastated by Eastern Filbert Blight fungal disease. If left untreated, trees infected with Eastern Filbert Blight die, which not only decreases the enjoyment of visitors, but also reduces the filbert harvest proceeds needed to maintain the property, and forces WPRD to spend resources repeatedly to treat existing trees for blight using chemicals and pesticides. The treatments in that expensive process can be harmful to humans and animals, which forces the park to close seasonally for treatment application. The best use of taxpayer dollars and most environmentally friendly way to battle the disease and protect a National Register of Historic Place property for generations to come is to replant the orchards with blight-resistant varieties.

Project Name: Coos County Lane Paving Project MP 3.33 to MP 5.62

Amount: $608,000

Intended Recipient: Coos County, Oregon

Explanation of the Request:

Libby Lane is a major collector road between Coos Bay and Charleston and is a main thoroughfare for tourism traffic, commercial traffic, and local traffic. Requested funding would allow Coos County to expedite completion of its pavement overlay project, which is a precursor to installing rumble strips on Libby Lane. This funding would allow the County to complete the paving project in one year rather than four years and ensure that rumble strips can be installed on new overlay, rather than on old pavement. This project has numerous safety and economic benefits.

Libby Lane has the highest accident rate of any county road in Coos County. Libby Lane is heavily trafficked as it is one of only two roads between the cities of Coos Bay and Charleston. Because Libby Lane runs through rugged terrain, there are very few straight segments, which increases the danger of accidents.

Project Name: Lane Transit District Fleet Fall Protection & Crane Project

Amount: $800,000

Intended Recipient: Lane Transit District (Lane County, Oregon)

Explanation of the Request:

Lane Transit District's (LTD) Board of Directors have committed to a 100 percent fleet turnover and phase out of fossil fuels by 2035. LTD will have 30 fully electric buses by the end of 2022. With the introduction of fully electric buses, LTD is presented with an opportunity for the fleet shop to evolve to accommodate these buses. One reality with battery electric buses is the need to install batteries and other critical equipment on top of the bus to provide the needed range for delivering service to our community. When LTD's shop was constructed in 1990, the need to access the top of the buses was not a consideration; however, it is currently a daily requirement for inspecting, troubleshooting, repairing, and training to support alternative fuel buses. This project will provide a fixed working platform that will allow staff to safely and efficiently access the top of the bus to work on these critical high voltage systems. The project will also include a crane hoist that will be able to access anywhere on top of the bus for removing and replacing equipment throughout the life of the bus.

Project Name: Benton Area Transit Fleet Replacement

Amount: $1,512,000

Intended Recipient: Oregon Department of Transportation

Explanation of the Request:

Benton Area Transit operates a fleet of 20 vehicles and provides service to residents and visitors of Benton County and the larger region. Through collaboration with public transportation partners in six counties, the agency operates transit services that help Oregonians access critical medical services, work, education, as well as recreation that is vital to Oregon's coastal communities. However, a significant portion of the bus fleet has exceeded its useful life.

Acquiring new buses will allow Benton Area Transit to continue to serve Benton County and the region with safe, accessible, and reliable public transportation. The fleet currently has six buses that are at or nearing the end of their useful life and it's critical to replace these aging vehicles. This project, if funded, would enable Benton Area Transit to replace four Category E style buses and two Category D buses with four electric buses and two hybrid buses. The County estimates the cost of buses at $240,000 each, which brings the total estimated vehicle cost to $1,440,000. In addition, the County would need an additional investment of $450,000 that would enable the development of up to 25 stations that could be used both by fleet and county staff, as well as the structure to charge buses. Benton County is ready to contribute a 20 percent match for the project. All resources will be used completely on the acquisition cost for each electric or hybrid bus or development of charging stations.

Project Name: Lebanon Community Services Center

Amount: $1,750,000

Intended Recipient: Crossroads Communities

Explanation of the Request:

Crossroads Communities is seeking $1.75 million in Community Facilities Grant funding to purchase a building to house community service providers, renovate interior spaces, and purchase building equipment to establish a Lebanon Community Services Center in Lebanon, Oregon. This center will provide a centralized location for social service providers to offer comprehensive, holistic, wrap-around care to vulnerable populations in a rural area with limited access to services. Crossroads Communities is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, based out of Lebanon, dedicated to serving homeless, at-risk, and disadvantaged families, people recovering from drug and alcohol addiction, and those being treated for mental illnesses.

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