PORTLAND -- Washington Governor Christine Gregoire and Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber announced Monday that construction will start in 2013 on a $3.6 billion deck truss bridge across the Columbia to replace the current I-5 bridge.
Other designs, Kitzhaber said, would lead to additional study and delays.
In February, Kitzhaber and abandoned a bridge design that their transportation departments spent years and millions of dollars developing.
But experts said it was a costly design, and nothing like it had been built to such length.
“Our timing is important – we are seeking nearly $1.3 billion in federal funding for this project. We must secure a federal Record of Decision on our design this year to ensure the best chance of receiving full funding,” said Gregoire.
Read their full Columbia River Crossing statement
The project has been tagged with the Columbia River Crossing, or CRC. It actually encompasses about five miles of freeway alterations in addition to the bridge itself.
Public feedback on the project started in 2005. A preferred alternative based on that feedback emerged in summer of 2008. Last February, a panel of experts added three more alternatives to the mix - a tied arch, cable-stayed and deck truss design - all cheaper than the one on the table.
According to a background paper released Monday, Gregoire and Kitzhaber then asked their respective transportation department to pick the design that was most affordable, could stay on schedule during construction, minimized environmental impact, included the recommendations of prior public feedback, and overall, simply provided the least risk.
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