Abstract

Oregon’s transportation infrastructure is vulnerable: from increased wave heights and more intense storms causing significant erosion along the coastline to more intense precipitation events resulting in flooding and increasing the incidence of landslides across the state. These are just a few of the impacts of climate change to the transportation sector in Oregon. Climate change will impact the very way ODOT conducts business. For example, design standards may need to be re-evaluated and changed to account for sea level rise; planning cycles might need to expand beyond the short-term and consider climate change over the lifespan of the infrastructure (50 to 100 years); maintenance will likely need to be prepared for more extreme events like landslides and flooding that affect the highway, and even the delivery of projects may be impacted due to changing environmental conditions for permitting.

In order to prepare for these types of impacts ODOT developed this Climate Change Adaptation Strategy Report (Strategy). At this time the Strategy does not attempt to prioritize or rank strategies and actions. However, it does highlight some existing programs or areas where ODOT is currently engaged in adaptation efforts or where adaptation principles might be easily integrated. The Strategy acknowledges that the next step for the agency is to complete a vulnerability and risk assessment of ODOT’s assets and systems operations. A vulnerability and risk assessment will not only help ODOT develop a full suite of potential strategies and actions for adaptation, but also help with the prioritization process of these actions in order to efficiently and effectively utilize resources for preparing the transportation system for climate change impacts.