Multnomah County has been awarded a $1.4 million grant through the Federal Highway Administration’s National Culvert Removal, Replacement, and Restoration Grant Program that will help boost salmon migration in Beaver Creek. This first of its kind funding will go toward the Transportation Division’s design and permitting phases of the Troutdale Road Culvert Replacement Project. The project will replace the current culvert on Beaver Creek at Troutdale Road with a 100’ span bridge. Beaver Creek joins the Sandy River, near downtown Troutdale.
“Beaver Creek is a significant stream despite its size, producing 4% of the juvenile coho, and 3% of the juvenile steelhead in the tributaries of the Sandy River. Many people in the community aren’t aware of that. Moving this project forward will certainly help increase the numbers of salmon and steelhead in the future,” Multnomah County Transportation Division Water Resources Specialist Roy Iwai said.
The proposed new structure will be able to withstand higher stream flows caused by rapid snow melt from climate change. The bridge will also help restore the upstream migration of threatened salmon and steelhead fish as well as the downstream movement of sediment and large wood.
In addition to restoring natural waterways, the project will widen the road on top of the bridge, adding bicycle lanes and sidewalks that are not currently on this section of road that connects downtown Troutdale to Mt Hood Community College, neighborhoods and shopping areas.
“Investing in our infrastructure in ways that benefit people and wildlife should be a priority at Multnomah County – and it is,” Multnomah County Chair Jessica Vega Pederson said.. “The fact that this project restores a natural waterway and increases accessibility to transportation in the Troutdale and Beaver Creek area is a big win. I appreciate the commitment of these federal dollars for such a critical and timely and optimistic investment.”
The Transportation Division, which is housed in the County’s Department of Community Services, is one of nine grant recipients across Oregon. The annual competitive grant program awards funding to eligible organizations for projects that are focused on the replacement, removal and repair of culverts or low-head dams that improve or restore fish passage for anadromous fish. Anadromous fish species are born in freshwater like streams and rivers. They spend most of their lives in the ocean and migrate back to freshwater to spawn.
“The County has worked for over a decade to build the support we have for this project,” Department of Community Services Director Margi Bradway said. “This funding opportunity is a once-in-a-lifetime win for our Transportation Division to meet multiple goals: protecting water and building a multi-modal transportation system.”
Transportation plans to apply for future grant opportunities to fund the Construction Phase of this project. Construction could start in the spring or summer of 2026, pending funding.