Oregon Public Broadcasting

Now Portland/Vancouver residents have come up with a basic plan to replace the I-5 bridge over the Columbia, a new panel will start meeting Tuesday to turn that plan into a reality. Kristian Foden-Vencil reports.

The 10-member governor-appointed panel will meet for the first time, to begin advising the Oregon and Washington departments of transportation on construction.

What’s been decided so far is that the existing I-5 bridge will be replaced by a bridge with a bike and pedestrian path, plus light rail.

It’s also been decided that there will be fixes to various interchanges on the way to the bridge. But, says Danielle Cogan of the Columbia River Crossing Project, many things are still up in the air.

Danielle Cogan: “What really comes next is finishing the environmental impact statement process.  And then also the issue of financing – eventually what the toll rate will be. And then also a decision on the number of lanes and the bridge type.”

The eventual cost of the bridge expected to be between three and four billion dollars.