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In this episode of ClackCo Works, Assistant Director of Transportation Mike Bezner gives listeners an inside look at how Clackamas County keeps its roads safe and reliable. He talks about everything from fixing potholes and managing roadside vegetation to maintaining the largest network of paved roads in Oregon. Mike breaks down how road funding works, why some budget limits exist, and how local programs like the Community Road Fund are making a real impact. He also shares stories about the hardworking road crews who step up during storms and emergencies. Tune in to discover the challenges and successes behind the scenes of the county’s vital transportation system.
Transcript
Dylan: Welcome to ClackCo Works, where we chat with the people who make Clackamas County work for their community. Today, we're with Mike Bezner, Assistant Director of Transportation for Clackamas County Department of Transportation and Development. Thanks for being here.
Mike: Yeah, sure.
Dylan: We get a lot of inquiries about road maintenance. What kind of services do we provide at Clackamas County as far as road maintenance?
Mike: We do a lot. We take care of a large number of roads, bridges, and traffic signals. People often think of road maintenance as just patching potholes, which we do all the time, but it’s much more than that. We make sure our ditches are clear to protect roads from water damage, cut back vegetation for safety, sweep debris, stripe roads, and perform many other activities to take care of the infrastructure people rely on every day.
Dylan: There’s a lot of water-related work too, like bridges and culverts, right?
Mike: Yes. We take care of 180 bridges and thousands of culverts. Most are small, but several hundred are a couple of feet or bigger. They require a lot of work to make sure the road above is safe.
Dylan: How long does it take to pave a road, say a regular stretch, maybe a quarter mile?
Mike: If you’re just talking about the actual paving, it can happen very quickly, even in a day. But there’s a lot more work involved. There’s pre-planning, some design, and we have to check to make sure we’re putting the right amount down so the investment lasts.
Dylan: Do we do anything with animals, like if there’s a dead animal on the side of the road?
Mike: We do if they’re a road hazard. If a deer is right by the travel lane, we’ll send a crew out to remove it.
Dylan: I think it’s interesting that Clackamas County has the most paved roads in Oregon. Is that right?
Mike: Yes, of all the counties. We maintain over 1,400 miles of paved roads, the most of any county in Oregon.
Dylan: What’s the difference between county, state, federal, and city roads? Are there any other roads, and does the county operate any that are state or city?
Mike: That’s confusing for a lot of people. There are county roads, which the county commissioners have accepted and maintain. City streets are maintained by the city. Interstates and state highways are owned and operated by ODOT, like I-205, I-5, 224, 99E, and 43. Sometimes we do work in partnership, but it’s their responsibility. Sometimes we maintain county roads inside city boundaries if the city hasn’t taken them, like Sunnyside Road in Happy Valley.
Dylan: What about local access roads?
Mike: Local access roads are a quirk in Oregon law. They’re public, not private, but not maintained by any jurisdiction. Someone may have built a road and given it to the public, but the public never agreed to maintain it. We have jurisdiction, so permits are needed for work, but we don’t maintain them.
Dylan: And private roads?
Mike: I don’t know how many there are, but we have nothing to do with them. They’re private.
Dylan: Residents often ask why we don’t put more money toward fixing roads. People see the county’s $1.57 billion budget for general operations and wonder why we can’t just spend more on roads. Why not?
Mike: Wouldn’t that be great? Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way. Most county funding sources are dedicated, like building permit fees, which must stay in the building program. The general fund from property taxes can’t be used for roads by state law. Road funds are protected and must be spent on roads, but general fund money can’t be used for roads.
Dylan: So, property taxes are about $160 million of the budget, but a lot of the $1.57 billion is federal and state grants for specific purposes. We can’t use that for roads.
Mike: Exactly. Just like we can’t divert road funding to other purposes.
Dylan: How much is our road funding budget each year?
Mike: The base is what people pay at the pump in state gas tax and vehicle registration fees. We also get money from truck weight-mile taxes. That builds the state highway fund, our primary road fund. We get about $35 million a year from the state, most of which goes to road maintenance. We also get grants and have a couple of other local funding sources.
Dylan: Only about $35 million for road maintenance, compared to $160 million in property taxes and $1.57 billion overall, which we can’t use for roads.
Mike: Yep.
Dylan: Clackamas County started the Community Road Fund a few years ago. What is it?
Mike: It’s a local vehicle registration fee. When people register their vehicle every other year, they pay $30 a year. The board enacted it a few years ago. ODOT administers it, takes a small amount, and the rest comes to us. We split it with our cities—60% to the county, 40% to the cities. It raises $11–12 million a year, so $6.5–7.5 million comes to the county.
Dylan: What have we done with it?
Mike: The board set specific purposes: congestion relief projects, safety projects, paving local roads, and preservation treatments like slurry and chip seals. It’s only used on county roads. A small percentage helps fund jurisdictional transfers when a city takes over a county road, and a small portion can go to projects of mutual interest with cities.
Dylan: What are a few projects we’ve accomplished?
Mike: We’re paving local roads throughout the county, adding turn lanes on Redland Road and Canby Markham at Lone Elder, and building a roundabout at Stafford and Childs outside Lake Oswego. We’re also fixing up the Johnson Stafford intersection, using both the Community Road Fund and system development charges from developers.
Dylan: What do our neighbors have for local road funding?
Mike: Washington County raises $40–50 million a year locally, on top of the state highway fund. They have a local gas tax and a special property tax, which they’re allowed because they were grandfathered in. Multnomah County has a vehicle registration fee and possibly a gas tax. They were already raising more money than we were.
Dylan: How much does it cost to pave a road?
Mike: I don’t have an exact number because it can change quickly, but it’s not like we can take $100,000 and pave half a mile. It’s a lot more.
Dylan: How many people are on your road crews?
Mike: We have about 60 transportation maintenance specialists who do road, bridge, and traffic maintenance. We take care of about 35,000 signs. We also have engineers and technicians who help track assets and see what needs to be replaced.
Dylan: What’s one thing you wish residents knew about road maintenance or your crews?
Mike: When the weather gets bad—snow, flooding, wind, ice—everyone goes home, but our folks go to work. We’re out there 24/7 if it’s snowing, especially in the mountains. We have people on call all the time for emergencies or traffic control.
Dylan: Where do people go to report road concerns?
Mike: We have a web page—just Google “Clackamas County road concerns”—and a phone number. The form goes straight to our staff, and we’re good at responding. It’s known as the pothole hotline, but it’s for all road concerns.
Dylan: You respond to potholes within seven days, right?
Mike: Yes. Sometimes within an hour. If it’s a safety issue, we get on it quickly. If it’s less urgent, it might take a bit longer.
Dylan: Great. Mike Bezner, Assistant Director of Transportation for Clackamas County Department of Transportation and Development. Thanks for coming in.
Mike: Thanks. It was fun.