ARRA Update and lessons learned

Recovery Act in Oregon: By the Numbers 600 lane miles of state highways paved600 lane miles of state highways paved $494.8 million invested in Oregon’s surface transportation system$494.8 million invested in Oregon’s surface transportation system 277 outdated traffic signals in the Portland metropolitan area replaced with “smart” signals with improved traffic management capabilities277 outdated traffic signals in the Portland metropolitan area replaced with “smart” signals with improved traffic management capabilities $126 million provided for public transportation$126 million provided for public transportation 94 buses and vans purchased by Oregon’s small town and rural transit districts94 buses and vans purchased by Oregon’s small town and rural transit districts 65 percent of ODOT’s funding flowed to Economically Distressed Areas65 percent of ODOT’s funding flowed to Economically Distressed Areas 54 days to obligate 50 percent of ODOT’s funding — more than twice as fast as required by law54 days to obligate 50 percent of ODOT’s funding — more than twice as fast as required by law

ODOT Bid Volume (# of projects) Total total projects on bid schedule # ARRA projects Projects bid (or scheduled) Jan- Jun Projects bid (or scheduled) July-Dec # of bid openings

ARRA Lessons Learned Resources and Staffing PS&E observations The little things

Lessons Learned - Resources OPL & OPO added temp and LD staff – learning curve associated Traditionally non-direct units/staff –were slower and less likely to adequately anticipate needs and staffing requirements –difficult to make priority tradeoffs between requirements (direct vs non- direct activities)

Lessons Learned – PS&E There is not a “special” ARRA process – just the same STIP process with more requirements and less time Website helped for initial push – hard to keep up to date in the middle of the storm “Fast track” process unsuccessful Local Agency 1R ARRA – straight to LGS for review – worked really well!!  recommend implementing this LGS QC review for all local agency projects

Lessons Learned – The Little Things ODOT has great people STIP naming convention – need more emphasis and QC work –“Pavement Overlays – Rural” The details of how to put a PS&E package together need continued emphasis from consultant partners and review from ODOT –CAD standards –Title sheets –Writing and compiling specs

Going forward…. PS&E Packages Send complete, not just on time QC in region BEFORE sending them in QA Engineers are available for early review and team consultation when requested General Have suggestions or want to invite us out to see your cool project? Give us a call!!

Final thoughts on ARRA Volume and timeframes was doable because of type of work – mainly pavement pres ODOT has tremendous ability to stretch to meet urgent and specific needs – likely not sustainable for a long time