PORTLAND, Ore. - Soaring gas prices are not translating into more tax revenue for Portland's Department of Transportation for a simple reason: people are driving less.

PDOT officials are now forecasting a budget shortfall of $2.7 million, money that was earmarked for projects from pothole repair to paving streets.

Susan Keil of PDOT said the shortfall is "serious stuff" and the department will ask the city council to give them funds from the city's "rainy day" reserve fund.

Officials also say they will scrutinize their current budget to cut costs where they can. One of the main materials in asphalt is petroleum, which makes the paving material more expensive as oil prices rise.

One project that was high on mayoral candidate Sam Adams' list was moving the old Sauvie Island bridge to Portland to create a bike and pedestrian bridge over the I-405 freeway at Northwest 15th Avenue and Northwest Flanders Street.

Adams said Wednesday that due to the possible cost of the project and the budget shortfall, the plan is now "dead and buried."

Many cyclists who talked to KATU thought the bridge idea was a good one, but others said they thought the money could be better spent elsewhere.

Portland is near the top of the list in terms of people who bicycle to work and city officials think the high cost of gas is moving people out of their cars and onto bikes or public transportation.