The Oregon Department of Transportation has selected a construction manager/general contractor to lead a controversial Portland freeway expansion effort. The agency announced Monday an intent to award a contract to Hamilton Sundt a Joint Venture, in association with Raimore Construction, for the I-5 Rose Quarter Improvement Project.

The joint venture teams Springfield-based heavy civil specialists Hamilton Construction and Arizona-based Sundt Construction. Raimore Construction, a minority-owned firm certified by the state’s Certification Office for Business Inclusion and Diversity, is based in Portland.

Estimated to cost up to $795 million, the project will widen a 1.8-mile stretch of Interstate 5 between Interstate 405 to the north and the Morrison Bridge exit to the south. A request for proposals issued in April listed a guaranteed maximum price of between $575 million and $635 million for the CM/GC contract.

The project lost the support of key backers earlier this month when Albina Vision Trust announced it would no longer support the project due in part to a lack of freeway caps included in current plans. The interstate was built through historically Black neighborhoods in the 1960s, and Albina Vision Trust has advocated for the caps as a means to restore communities displaced by the freeway’s construction.

After Albina Vision Trust pulled its support for the project, public officials including Gov. Kate Brown, Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler and Commissioner Chloe Eudaly followed suit, saying they would not endorse the project without the backing of communities of color.

According to an ODOT press release, involving a CM/GC early in the design process will help meet the project’s emphasis on providing “restorative justice for communities harmed by previous government actions.”

The contractor will work with community members to help shape the project’s design, identify subcontracting and procurement opportunities for COBID-certified firms and build capacity for minority workers. According to the RFP, ODOT anticipates Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) participation goals of about 18 to 22 percent; the project also includes workforce goals of 25 percent minority male workers, 14 percent female workers, and 20 percent apprentice workers.

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