ODOT proposes closing Condon, Spray facilities

Road crews with the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) provide essential services in the region. Winter conditions require local ODOT crews to manage remote and dangerous state highways. But recently, ODOT leadership released preliminary plans to close maintenance facilities in Spray and Condon. Those plans are now under scrutiny and are getting pushback.

During the Gilliam County Court meeting on September 4, Gilliam County Judge Cris Patnode said that ODOT's proposed changes would leave Gilliam County in a perilous situation.

Gilliam County is under The Dalles ODOT territory and closing the Condon facility would mean that state highways would be managed by crews traveling from The Dalles.

Wheeler County Judge Lynn Morley said that similar plans are being floated for Spray's ODOT maintenance facility. That would leave the Bend ODOT facility in charge of a vast section of Central Oregon's roads.

However, Judge Morley did say that ODOT had floated similar plans several years ago, without any action taken by the state.

The State Legislature's Joint Committee on Transportation is the midst of a road show and will have sessions in Bend on Thursday and in The Dalles on Friday. The meetings are designed to elicit feedback from the public as the committee prepares for the 2025 transportation package.

The Joint Committee on Transportation has been holding a road show each year since 2017, when the legislature passed HB 2017, which provided more than $5.3 billion in investments for transportation in Oregon.

The Joint Committee on Transportation will meet on Thursday, September 12 at the OSU-Cascades Campus, Ray Hall from 5 PM – 7 PM.

The committee will meet in The Dalles on Friday, September 13 at The Dalles Middle School Commons at 1100 East 12th Street.