ODOT shake-up. Director suddenly resigns

 
By Taxpayers Association of Oregon
OregonWatchdog.com

Oregon Department of Transportation Director Kris Strickler just made a surprise announcement that he is resigning at the key moment when ODOT budget is being debated voters with the statewide referendum petition drive. The resignation puts the near-billion dollar Rose-Quarter project in jeopardy. There were two ODOT resignations on this specific ODOT (boondoggle) project this year alone.

The resignation came with a completely fluff self-praise statement so devoid of the disasters and scandals surrounding ODOT. See the resignation letter below:

———————————
Subject: It has been an honor

Good afternoon, ODOT,

I write to share that on January 2, 2026, I will step down as director of this great agency. These last six years have been the greatest honor and highlight of my career.

From day one I have focused on highlighting our operations and maintenance needs, and to achieve sufficient and reliable funding for those vital services. The work each of you do on a daily basis is unparalleled and a true inspiration. I thank Governor Kotek, the Oregon Transportation Commission, and the Legislature, for their leadership and tireless support to fund that work. With funding for the foundational operations needed to keep the agency and system functioning now in place, this is the time for me to transition and for new leadership to take the baton.

Over the last six years, we’ve made it through some extraordinary situations, and I have been proud to serve alongside you through each of them. Within months of becoming ODOT Director, Oregon and our agency was hit by both the COVID pandemic and the 2020 Labor Day wildfires. Those crises – traumatic and terrible for the public and the agency – forced us to rethink how we do our work and what our work means to Oregonians. In each of those times, you stepped up. You tackled emergencies we never could’ve predicted and did so with a fierce sense of urgency, compassion, and dedication.

Together, we put the same energy toward making improvements in our project delivery efforts and customer service counter interactions, protecting Oregon’s infrastructure and its citizens from natural events, and supporting the many new initiatives that were requested of us. You’ve done all this while national and worldwide inflationary trends have impacted the cost to perform our work and increased the demands of what is expected from you.

We should be proud of what our agency has achieved. It would be impossible to list all of your accomplishments, but I wanted to highlight a few to remind you of the great work each of you do on a daily basis. That work includes constructing many great projects, such as our effort to improve safety in the Bend North Corridor Project on Highway 97 in Bend; to reduce congestion on OR 217 in Washington; to restore a historic treasure with the Mitchell Point Tunnel in the Gorge; to make safety improvements on Cabbage Hill between Pendleton and La Grande; to rebuild the Hooskanaden Slide area of 101 north of Brookings; beginning the much needed Aurora-Donald interchange and Kuebler to Delaney projects on I-5; and investing in legacy highways across the state.

In addition, your great work has:

• Provided more access for customers at DMV by adding kiosks for the first time in the history of the agency and expanding online services, all while providing additional services for Real ID.
• Streamlined permitting by implementing the new ORION system in CCD.
• Created the agency’s first State of the Agency Dashboard to inform the public of our progress and performance.
• Began development of the Capital Investment Plan that will create long-term stability in our project delivery.
• Began construction on the I-5 Rose Quarter Improvement Program, and advanced the Interstate Bridge Replacement Program work.
• Provided more safe and easy ways to bike, walk and roll across Oregon through our expanded Safe Routes to School, Oregon Community Paths, and other multimodal programs.
• Expanded transit availability and reliability through the agency’s Statewide Transportation Improvement Fund and achieved record ridership on Amtrak Cascades.
• Demonstrated to the public and decision makers the importance of day-to-day maintenance of our system.

Your work is noticed. ODOT is recognized nationally for our innovative approaches. I hear consistently from our peers that Oregon’s transportation system is one of the best in the nation. The reliability of our system is a function of your work, stepping up each day to deliver for others whom you may not even know.

The decision to leave ODOT did not come easily to me, but I know because of your work and dedication, the agency will continue to thrive and make the lives of Oregonians better. Over the next few months, the Governor and Commission will start the recruitment process for your next director.

Governor Kotek will appoint Lisa Sumption, Director of Oregon Parks and Recreation, to be interim director, effective January 2, 2026. The Governor will work with the Oregon Transportation Commission to identify a permanent director by conducting a national search. Sumption will return to OPRD at the conclusion of this interim assignment.

Thank you for working with me through the good times and the tough times. Thank you for sticking with the agency. Thank you for doing what you do best and thank you for who you are.

Oregonians count on ODOT to be there. I know you always will be.

Kris