State Rep. Jules Walters sent a letter to Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) Interim Director Chris Warner calling the agency's handling of the Abernethy Bridge project "an ongoing failure."

Walters, a Democrat who represents West Linn's District 37 in the Oregon House of Representatives, wrote the letter after ODOT representatives presented at a Sept. 1 West Linn City Council work session. Oregon City News Online first reported the letter on Tuesday, Sept. 8.

The I-205 Abernethy Bridge widening and seismic reinforcement project, which spans the Willamette River between Oregon City and West Linn, began in 2022.

It was originally scheduled for completion in fall 2026 but has been pushed to May 2027 at the earliest, according to ODOT's presentation at the work session.

Residents in the historic neighborhood near West Bridge Park have reported years of vibrations, noise as late as 3 a.m., property damage and denied damage claims.

"This is not a minor inconvenience to be managed with a routine progress email," Walters wrote. "This is an ongoing failure of this agency's obligation to the people it serves."

The letter escalates a dispute that played out at the Sept. 1 work session, where residents and council members pressed ODOT on the project's toll on the neighborhood.

Resident Rachel Lena Esterline told the council her mother's home foundation damage had been assessed at $147,000 on the outside alone. A neighbor's claim was denied that morning, Esterline said.

ODOT denied their claims.

City Councilor Kevin Bonnington said he personally measured peak noise at about 95 decibels during nighttime visits around 11 p.m. or midnight, with averages between 75 and 85 decibels, the West Linn Tidings reported.

ODOT Area Manager Vidal Francis acknowledged at the work session that noise was "a pretty big issue" and said all shaft drilling, the project's most disruptive work, was complete.

Francis also disclosed that ODOT's major projects team, which initially oversaw the bridge project, had been dismantled.

In the letter, Walters said Council President Mary Baumgardner's questions about what proactive steps ODOT had taken to protect residents "went unanswered, or were answered so vaguely as to be meaningless."

Walters demanded "a substantive response, not another status update" addressing denied claims, noise and light impacts, and immediate changes to operating practices at the site.

No public response from ODOT to the letter was available as of Tuesday, Sept. 8. Mayor Rory Bialostosky directed staff at the Sept. 1 work session to bring a resolution removing ODOT's noise ordinance exemption to the council's Tuesday, Sept. 8 regular meeting.