Oregon-Washington I-5 Bridge Project Under Fire as Costs Soar

The Oregon Transportation Fee rebuked officers with the Interstate Bridge Substitute (IBR) program on Jan. 22 for retaining the venture’s quickly rising preliminary value estimates out of public view. Commissioners questioned the venture’s viability amid rising considerations that the $6 billion price ticket may greater than double earlier than development begins.

Nonetheless, the trouble to exchange the Interstate 5 bridge connecting Washington and Oregon throughout the Columbia River continues. A Jan. 19 ruling by the U.S. Coast Guard accepted a fixed-bridge design, and IBR plans to challenge a request for proposals to contractors by the tip of 2026.

Funding stays the central problem. The latest publicly launched value evaluation for the five-mile IBR program dates to 2022 and ranged from $5 billion to $7.5 billion, with $6 billion incessantly cited. An Aug. 15, 2025, guide’s report ready for IBR estimated prices have at the least doubled to $12.2 billion and will attain $17.7 billion. The fixed-bridge estimate within the report is nearer to $13 billion.

Carley Frances, interim IBR program administrator, mentioned the estimates haven’t been absolutely vetted and he or she doesn’t count on up to date figures till March 2026. She acknowledged to the fee that “prices are positively going to go up,” reflecting nationwide development inflation.

The four-member fee brazenly questioned if the venture would be capable of proceed because of the ballooning prices of the venture.

“I simply don’t see a $12 billion to $16 billion venture being viable,” mentioned Commissioner Lee Beyer. “I’m involved in regards to the numbers leaping that far this quick. If these numbers are right, there’s no method we will do that venture. There’s simply not the cash.”

Transparency Issues

Past funding points, commissioners sharply criticized IBR management for failing to reveal the brand new estimates. Though the 2025 guide’s report circulated internally, it was not publicly mentioned or shared with the fee throughout conferences late final yr when the fee requested pointed questions in regards to the finances.

Joseph Cortright, a Portland economist and critic of the venture, obtained the report via a public data request. The Oregon Journalism Undertaking later reported on the findings, alerting commissioners of the venture’s spiraling prices.

“Let’s be actually trustworthy right here,” fee Chair Julie Brown mentioned, addressing Frances and Ray Mabey, assistant IBR program administrator. “It’s a shock to us to search out out the way in which we did. You place us all in a foul state of affairs. The workers shouldn’t attempt to cover one thing.”

Frances, who on the time of the Jan. 22 assembly had been in her place for 9 days, mentioned the doc was a part of an inside workshopping course of and emphasised that extra evaluation is required, significantly as a result of the fixed-bridge design was not accepted till this month. She declined to debate particular value figures.

Baker mentioned the data introduced via the second half of 2025 was outdated, including that IBR continued to reference financial valuations primarily based on a $6 billion estimate with out acknowledging that inside projections confirmed prices possible doubling or extra.

IBR officers mentioned the Coast Guard’s approval of a set bridge with a navigational clearance of 116 ft permits this system to proceed with a ultimate environmental affect assertion because it strikes towards a file of resolution tied to a Sept. 30 federal grant modification deadline.

IBR plans to announce up to date value estimates in March and has shifted to a progressive design-build supply mannequin. Frances mentioned the method will permit early contractor involvement fairly than embedding danger premiums in bids. Mabey mentioned IBR could challenge a request for {qualifications} forward of the formal RFP and already is aware of of at the least two groups forming, with a doable third — extra curiosity than anticipated beneath the earlier supply mannequin.

Baker mentioned that with out further funding from the 2 state legislatures, IBR should function inside current monetary commitments. Greater than $4 billion has already been dedicated via federal grants and appropriations from Oregon and Washington, not together with tolling revenues projected to exceed $1 billion.

The venture has acquired a $1.5 billion Federal Freeway Administration Bridge Funding Program grant, a $600 million U.S. Division of Transportation Mega grant and a $30 million Reconnecting Communities grant awarded in 2025 to the town of Vancouver and the Washington State Division of Transportation for enhancements tied to the IBR program.

Federal grant funding can be forfeited if development doesn’t start in 2026.