With $1.5B, feds seal commitment to new I-5 bridge linking Washington and Oregon

The Interstate 5 bridge over the Columbia River is considered “obsolete” by the Federal Highway Administration because its lanes aren’t wide enough, there are no shoulders and its design fails to meet the burgeoning traffic demand. (Grant Stringer/States Newsroom)

The federal government is all in on replacing the Interstate 5 bridge across the Columbia River, linking Washington and Oregon.

On Friday, area political leaders celebrated receipt of a $1.5 billion grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation. Combined with a separate $600 million award secured in December, it means the feds are shouldering roughly one-third of the project’s estimated price .

Three Washington Democratic lawmakers — U.S. Sens. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell, and U.S. Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, whose district is on the Washington side of the bridge — announced the latest award on Friday.

“Replacing the I-5 Bridge is finally going to be a reality,” Murray said in a statement . She said the $1.5 billion is “the biggest federal transportation award in Washington state history.”

The money is coming from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bridge Investment Program , a component of the $1.2 trillion, five-year infrastructure law President Joe Biden signed in November 2021.

Funds will go to the Interstate Bridge Replacement Program, the entity overseeing the project –  one of the most significant infrastructure projects in the region and along the West Coast.

Gluesenkamp Perez said she’s been fighting “tooth and nail ” for every federal dollar possible. “It’s the only way we get this colossal undertaking done – as well as ensure we feel the benefits of our tax dollars and avoid tolling,” she added.

Project planners estimate the total cost of replacing the bridge will range from $5 billion to $7.5 billion, with a likely figure of around $6 billion.

Thus far, federal grants totaling $2.1 billion have been locked down. Planners are pursuing $1 billion from the Federal Transit Administration’s Capital Investment Program. A decision on that funding isn’t expected until the project is further along.

In the meantime, Washington and Oregon have both committed about $1 billion to the bridge replacement. Tolls are counted on to raise $1.2 billion for construction plus provide an ongoing stream of revenue for bridge maintenance and operations.

One of the bridge’s two spans is over a century old, the other about 65 years old, and the entire bridge is at risk of collapse in a major earthquake.

Work is already underway in areas like environmental evaluation, toll planning, and design. Construction is anticipated to begin in late 2025 and to last until 2032.

Nearly 132,000 vehicles, on average, traveled across the bridge each weekday in 2021, according to the Southwest Washington Regional Transportation Council.

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