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Oregon State Treasurer Ted Wheeler last week gave his first impressions of an investment grade analysis that determined that tolling the Columbia River Crossing 鈥� along with state and federal funding 鈥� would be sufficient to pay for the $2.8 billion project.

In his Jan. 10 letter to state House and Senate leaders, Wheeler outlined steps that need to be made in order for construction bonds to be approved.

Among those items that legislative leaders will need to address are:

鈥� a legally enforceable method of ensuring that the state has authority to collect tolls from Washington and set future tolling rates;

鈥� an $850 million Federal Transportation Administration grant to finance light rail components; and

鈥� a $900 million TIFIA loan from the Federal Highway Administration, repaid over the next several decades with toll revenue generated by the project.

The state needs to ensure it has 鈥渂oth the technical means and statutory framework to unilaterally collect past-due tolls and surcharges from Washington drivers,鈥� Wheeler wrote in his letter. Roughly two-thirds of the drivers crossing the bridge are projected to be driving vehicles registered in Washington state.

One-way tolls ranging from $2.19 in 2016 to $2.83 in 2022 through 2060 would be needed to cover the project’s $2.8 billion cost, according to an analysis completed by Cambridge, Mass.-based聽CDM Smith.

The analysis uses what聽Oregon Department of Transportation聽officials called 鈥渃onservative estimates鈥� and concludes that the Interstate 5 bridge project would be financially feasible via toll revenues and state and federal funding.

鈥淭he key finding from this analysis on toll-generated revenue and financing concludes that tolling the I-5 bridge produces the revenue necessary to construct the toll-funded project element,鈥� ODOT Director Matthew Garrett wrote in a letter to Gov. John Kitzhaber.

But observers question whether enough political support exists to move the CRC forward, particularly during an election year.

鈥淭he analysis concludes that it’s financially feasible based on some generally conservative assumptions,鈥� said Rep. Tobias Read, D-Beaverton, who will serve as co-chairman of the ; next week it will review the CDM Smith analysis and receive a status update of the CRC project. 鈥淚’ve talked to people individually and heard a variety of perspectives. But the questions that people ask and what they say is not always reflective of how people vote.鈥�

The CRC was the construction industry’s top legislative priority in 2013 because at its peak it would create about 20,000 jobs with average annual pay around $42,000, said Mike Salsgiver, executive director of Associated General Contractors’ Oregon-Columbia chapter. The overall economic benefit to the region would be in the billions of dollars, he said.

鈥淲e’ve got to get moving on this and go,鈥� he said. 鈥淥ne of the hardest things about the Pacific Northwest is that public processes take so much time and don’t let you get to decisions. We just need to set a timeline and just go.鈥�

Approximately $185 million has been spent on CRC project planning over 15 years, Salsgiver said.

If the bridge were not replaced, he said, gridlock could persist on I-5 or structural failure could occur 鈥� either via an earthquake or aging.

鈥淎t the end of the day, the facts that we have been discussing the last 15 years are still in front of us,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he I-5 bridge is the last bottleneck on the I-5 corridor.鈥�

Joe Cortright, an economist with Portland-based Impresa Inc., has been an outspoken critic of the CRC project and said more investigation needs to be done into what he called CDM Smith’s 鈥渙ptimistic assumptions.鈥�

Cortright cited predictions that tolling would create a massive diversion of traffic from I-5 totaling 42,400 vehicles per day, including 26,800 by 2016 onto the toll-free I-205 bridge. By 2022, when the toll would increase by 15 percent, approximately 76,700 fewer vehicles would use I-5, with 39,500 diverting to the I-205 bridge, according to the analysis.

After 2022, toll rates would not increase and diversions would likely level off, according to the report.

鈥淔ewer people will be using the bridge than are using it today, which begs the question: 鈥榃hy are you spending all this money?’鈥� Cortright said. 鈥淭he project could be marginally financially viable, but it will be a transportation disaster.鈥�

At next week’s joint committee meeting, lawmakers will learn about continued availability of federal funding and the status of conversations with Washington state, Read said. Lawmakers could decide to bring the issue to a special session in February, he said.

For the first phase of the CRC to move forward, the Legislature would need to again approve a provision of $450 million. The Legislature did so last year under the condition that the Washington State Legislature follow suit; it declined.

Columbia River Crossing update

鈥� Projected revenue from tolls would be adequate to repay debt service needed through 2060, according to the CDM Smith analysis.

鈥� Tolls would generate between $1.35 billion and $1.57 billion from the opening of the bridge through 2060.

鈥� The聽Federal Transit Administration’s New Starts program would provide $850 million.

鈥� The Federal Highway Administration‘s Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act聽program would provide a $900 million loan.

鈥� Applications for federal funding still need to be made, according to ODOT.

鈥� Presentations will be given to the聽Legislative I-5 Replacement Bridge Oversight Committee聽on Jan. 14 in Salem, according to ODOT.

鈥� More information is available at .