The small town of Lakeview in southeast Oregon has a timber mill and a prison. But according to city spokeswoman Dawn Lepori, potholes make getting to either hazardous.
鈥淪ome of the holes are so big that even if you hit them at slow speed, it still really wears and tears on your vehicle,鈥� she said. 鈥漇o we really need to get them fixed.鈥�
Lakeview is one of 27 small Oregon towns that were just approved funding to repair their roads by the state鈥檚 Advisory Committee.鈥�
More than $6 million will help towns that have 5,000 or fewer residents and that have roads considered inadequate and or unsafe for the capacity they carry. Program manager Deann Edgar said she is amazed at how poorly some roads are maintained.
鈥淚t鈥檚 really shocking,鈥� she said. 鈥淓very year when I get the pictures that come in with the applications, it鈥檚 pretty shocking the conditions of these streets.鈥�
Edgar said repairs will include new paving, chip-sealing and road widening.
鈥淭hese little cities are notorious for having these little, narrow streets that only one car can pass on,鈥� Edgar said. 鈥淣o shoulders, no sidewalks. So we鈥檝e got kids trying to walk to school as well as traffic coming and going.鈥�
Edgar said poorly repaired streets pose a problem for emergency response vehicles too, 鈥淭hey try to get up these broken-up little streets, and there鈥檚 no place on the end to turn around. It becomes a real safety issue.鈥�
The program was created by the passage of an Oregon in 2017. To include as many cities as possible, the program does not require cities to add matching funds.
Edgar said for this sixth round of funding, the maximum award amount was increased from $100,000 to $250,000.
鈥淭hat resulted in fewer awards 鈥� but these awards can really make a difference in today鈥檚 environment,鈥� she said.
This year, the Oregon Department of Transportation received 84 applications requesting a total of $18,920,300.
The are: North Plains, Amity, Bay City, Dayton, Detroit, Hubbard, Idanha, Nehalem, Oakridge, Rainier, Yachats, Canyonville, Gold Beach, Gold Hill, Myrtle Point, Oakland, Bonanza, Lakeview, Rufus, Elgin, Haines, Huntington, John Day, Lostine, Pilot Rock, Ukiah and Vale.
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