Transportation I-5 bridge replacement slogs through permitting as costs rise

The torturously slow pace and increasingly expensive price to replace the Interstate 5 bridge across the Columbia River have some Oregon and Washington lawmakers growing uneasy and frustrated.

After years of planning and lining up billions of dollars in state and federal funding, it continues to be an educated guess when construction will start, how much the project will cost and what the new bridge will look like when traffic finally drives over it.

Project planners had estimated the price tag for replacing the bridge would range from $5 billion to $7.5 billion, with a likely figure of around $6 billion. But legislators said last week that they now expect the total could reach $10 billion as costs have escalated 30% on transportation projects in the Seattle and Portland regions in recent years.

None of this sits well with members of a bi-state and bipartisan committee tasked with keeping tabs on the megaproject’s progress. Meeting last Monday for the first time in 10 months, several didn’t hide their pique as they pressed the administrator of the Interstate Bridge Replacement Program for answers.

https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2025/09/22/i-5-bridge-replacement-slogs-through-permitting-as-costs-rise/