Businesses urge progress on I-5 bridge

The primary business group backing a new interstate bridge across the Columbia River fears that any delays in the process could threaten critical federal funding.

The Columbia River Crossing Coalition, which represents more than 200 businesses and organizations in Oregon and Washington, told Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski and Washington Gov. Christine Gregoire on Thursday to continue working on a solution to replace the crumbling Interstate 5 bridge connecting the two states.

The coalition voiced its concerns in a letter sent a day after local government leaders, including Portland Mayor Sam Adams and Metro Council Chair David Bragdon, called for a fresh look at the proposal. Adams said the current project proposal, with a price tag between $3 billion and $4 billion, doesn’t have support from local officials.

The coalition, in a letter signed by co-executive directors Brian Gard and Bill Fromhold, said the project needs to move forward according to its timetable. Doing so would create thousands of new jobs.

“Any delay jeopardizes essential federal funding,” Gard and Fromhold wrote. “The coalition has been and continues to be supportive of the extensive public process that has led to a design incorporating public values that too often compete against one another. While this process reflects well on all of us, even if it can seem contentious at times, we should hold it to a clear standard: that the process must contribute to, and not detract from, moving forward on a project crucial to the well-being of the entire region.”

The stance comes a day before a critical Jan. 22 bridge meeting in Vancouver. The group will analyze its performance goals for a new bridge linking Oregon and Washington, as well as 10 tolling scenarios.

The project would replace the Interstate 5 bridge, extend light rail to Vancouver, improve closely-spaced interchanges and add an improved pedestrian and bicycle path between the two cities.