Date: Friday May 2, 2025
To: Senate President Rob Wagner, House Speaker Julie Fahey
Joint Committee on Transportation Co-Chairs Chris Gorsek, Susan McLain
Joint Committee on Transportation Co-Vice Chairs Shelly Boshart-Davis, Bruce Starr
Re: Support for safety investments in the 2025 Transportation Package
Whether they are driving, walking, biking, or taking transit, Oregonians deserve the right to safely get around their neighborhoods and across the state. Yet decades of disinvestment in the basic maintenance and safety of our state highways and neighborhood roads have left us with perilously unsafe streets, with devastating consequences. Traffic fatalities in Oregon are up an astonishing 70% since 2010.[1] Already in 2025, 113 people have lost their lives on roads across the state.[2] And many of these deaths could have been prevented through better safety infrastructure.
Oregon must ensure that safety is a top priority. Programs that center safety improvements aren’t just effective, they’re popular. 37% of Oregonians who participated in the 2024 roadshow identified programs for active transportation and safer streets as their top priority, second only to expansion of transit service.[3] The popularity and need for these programs is evident in the high demand for funding, with these programs regularly oversubscribed by three times.
Our request is for $200 million per year ($400 million per biennium) included in the Transportation Package for the following safety programs:
| Program | Annual Funding (million) | Funding Per Biennium (million) | Highway Trust Fund Allocation Status |
| Great Streets Program | $100 | $200 | Out of ODOT allocation |
| Jurisdictional Transfer Program | $25 | $50 | Out of ODOT allocation |
| Safe Routes to School | $75 | $150 | Separate from 50/20/30 split |
| Total Safety | $200 | $400 |
1 – Fix Oregon’s Most Dangerous Roads – Invest in Great Streets and Jurisdictional Transfer
Although most trips occur on local streets, many of the most dangerous roads for people who drive, walk, and bike in Oregon are state-owned highways maintained by ODOT. These aging “legacy highways” have fallen into disrepair because the state has not adequately invested in updating them to meet the changing transportation needs of our communities. We must ensure ODOT has the resources and direction to reduce traffic fatalities and deliver safer streets by allocating $200 million per biennium to ODOT’s Great Streets program to address our backlog of urgently needed safety projects. Similarly, the legislature should fund the Jurisdictional Transfer program, launched in 2023, which evaluates and facilitates transfers of segments of state-owned arterial highways to local communities. The Oregon Legislature should allocate no less than $50 million per biennium for this program.
Because these programs are directing ODOT to repair their existing facilities that have fallen into neglect, the funding for Great Streets and the Jurisdictional Transfer program should be included as part of ODOT’s allocation from the Highway Trust Fund.
2 – Fully Fund Demonstrated Need for Safe Routes to School
ODOT’s Safe Routes to School program, first launched through HB 2017, is a proven investment in the safety, health, and well-being of Oregon’s children and communities. By funding infrastructure and technical assistance, the program helps communities statewide make it safer and more accessible for students to walk and bike to school. These improvements don’t just protect kids—they reduce traffic congestion, cut local air pollution, and increase daily physical activity. The results are clear: Safe Routes to School ad Great Streets programs deliver measurable public health, educational, and environmental benefits for every dollar invested.
The legislature should allocate no less than $150 million per biennium of Highway Trust Fund revenue towards the Safe Routes to School program. Continuing the existing precedent set with HB 2017, funding for the Safe Routes to School program should be taken “off the top” and not count towards ODOT’s allocation of Highway Trust Fund money, as these investments benefit local communities.
Funding these three programs is a critical step to ensuring that ODOT and local communities deliver on making our streets safer for all Oregonians.
Sincerely,
Senator Khanh Pham Representative Rob Nosse Representative Courtney Neron
Senator Anthony Broadman Senator Kathleen Taylor Representative Jules Walters
Senator Lew Frederick Senator Lisa Reynolds Representative Emerson Levy
Senator Wlnsvey Campos Senator Floyd Prozanski Representative Thuy Tran
Representative Hoa Nguyen Representative Willy Chotzen Representative Tom Andersen
Representative Mark Gamba Representative Farrah Chaichi Representative Lisa Fragala
Representative Ken Helm Representative Travis Nelson
Signatures Updated as of May 2, 2025
[1]“Oregon data shows traffic deaths on the rise across the state” Oregon Public Broadcasting. Nov 28 2023.
[2] Oregon Department of Transportation : Crash Statistics & Reports : Data & Maps : State of Oregon
[3]Move Oregon Forward’s Report from the Oregon Legislature’s Joint Committee on Transportation’s Listening Tour Published December 2024 https://drive.google.com/file/d/19do8Xqf2k-92BeXXBgsKMj901FQO6c1N/view