Oregon and Washington state leaders on Tuesday released an updated price tag for the Interstate Bridge replacement project that fell closely in line with documents unearthed months ago by critics of the long-planned expansion.

The total cost estimate for the bridge and 5-mile corridor of Interstate 5 rose to $13.5 billion to $15.2 billion, with a “most likely cost” of $14.4 billion, according to a joint statement from state highway officials. That price tag lands within highway officials’ earlier estimated range of $12.2 billion to $17.7 billion.

Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek and Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson doubled down on their support for the project despite rising costs.

“We need a new bridge and it’s time to start building it,” Kotek expressed in the joint statement.

By focusing on “a core set of projects,” she stated, the states can deliver a “modern, earthquake-ready bridge, with no bridge lifts, less traffic congestion, extended light rail and better options for people walking and biking.”

Tuesday’s cost estimates were the first released by the two states since 2022, when program officials gauged the cost at $5 billion to $7.5 billion. Since then, construction costs have run hotter than overall inflation, mostly because of materials and labor and fluctuating tariffs.

The Interstate Bridge replacement (IBR) program team, made up of Oregon and Washington transportation departments, plans to hire a contractor in 2027 to complete design work. The bridge is regarded as at risk of collapse in a major earthquake.

“The bridge must, and will be replaced,” Ferguson stated. “Delaying a major project has never made costs go down. We’ve achieved important progress in the past year, and we will continue to move forward by focusing on the core mission of replacing the bridge.”

Highway officials and state leaders refocused Tuesday on the more modest goal of replacing the two bridge spans, connecting them to I-5 and extending light rail service to Vancouver. Those aspects would total $7.65 billion, according to the joint statement.

Light-rail service may be needed to access some federal funding, but some elected officials and residents in Vancouver have protested bringing Portland-based light rail to Southwest Washington.

Joe Cortright, an economist and director of Portland-based City Observatory who has been a persistent critic of the project, said the state transportation departments were misleading constituents by focusing on half of the project.

“The high-level bridge requires elevated freeways on both the Oregon and Washington sides of the river, with new interchanges elevated high into the air to reach the new roadway,” Cortright stated Tuesday. “ODOT and WSDOT have intentionally designed this so once you start, you must build everything. The reality is they’ll never stop with Phase I. Start construction and you’re signing up for $15 billion and 20 years of construction hell.”

The IBR program currently has $5.5 billion in available state and federal funds.

“This funding is sufficient to continue the states’ momentum and begin the construction process while working toward further improvements to the larger corridor on both sides of the bridge,” the team stated Tuesday.

Highway officials are pursuing an additional $1 billion in funding through the Federal Transit Administration‘s Capital Investment Grants program.

“Managing our risks, including schedule, is imperative,” ODOT interim Director Lisa Sumption stated. “We are committed to moving this program into construction and completing this critical infrastructure for our region and the economy.”

Contractors and union representatives have touted the project, saying it would bring huge economic benefits in wages and other spending.

“We’re pleased to see this part of this moving forward now, and it’s time to get this project built,” said Mike Salsgiver, executive director of the Associated General Contractors‘ Oregon-Columbia chapter.

He lamented that it’s taken so long to replace the aging bridge.

“It also demonstrates the cost of the delay,” he said. “If we’d done this 15 years ago, it probably would have cost less than $3 billion.”

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Oregon transportation commissioners on Thursday blasted leaders of the Interstate Bridge replacement program for keeping them in the dark for months as projected construction costs soared by billions of dollars.

Poor communication — and the massive cost increase itself — could jeopardize the push to build a new, seismically resilient bridge carrying Interstate 5 over the Columbia River, commissioners said.

“The narrative now is so negative that you guys could put the bridge in jeopardy simply because you’re not willing to have these conversations until the numbers are perfect,” Commissioner Jeff Baker said.

Thursday’s Oregon Transportation Commission meeting came only days after news broke that cost estimates for the project had more than doubled, to a range of $12.2 billion to $17.7 billion. The previous estimates, from 2022, were $5 billion to $7.5 billion.

The cost estimates were stated in an Aug. 15 document unearthed by City Observatory, a Portland think tank, through a public records request.

Oregon Department of Transportation and Interstate Bridge replacement (IBR) program officials have said the estimates were not shared publicly because they were not finalized, an explanation that seemed to exasperate commissioners who were working with years-old cost assumptions.

“You put all of us in a bad situation by having information that you may not have given to elected officials or to committee members or to others, and tried to contain it and tried to figure out what to do,” Chairwoman Julie Brown said.

Baker expressed frustration that he learned of the new cost estimates from media outlets and not IBR program officials.

“As commissioners, we’re not getting our information from you,” he said.

An official cost estimate will be available in March, IBR program officials said.

“It’s incumbent upon us to get information out, which obviously has been a breach of trust with folks,” said Carley Francis, the IBR program’s newly appointed interim director.

The commission had received assurances in October 2025 that a fresh cost estimate would be available in December 2025, Baker said.

“This is a moving target, and it’s been moving and moving and moving,” he said.

IBR program officials blamed some of the delay on an earlier-than-expected decision by the U.S. Coast Guard to approve a 116-foot navigational clearance, making a fixed span possible. With the approval in hand, more accurate estimates can be produced, officials said.

Yet IBR program officials did not dispute the 11-figure cost estimates that drew headlines, and Francis conceded the estimates and underlying document were “robust.”

The ballooning price tag could make the project infeasible, Commission Vice Chairman Lee Beyer said.

“If those numbers are correct, we can’t build this project,” he said. “There’s no way you’re going to get the money to do it at this point.”

The Interstate Bridge replacement project is broken into 29 different packages, including the bridge itself and seven interchanges on a 5-mile corridor spanning Oregon and Washington.

IBR program officials have discussed sequencing those packages, in part of logistical necessity and in part to spread costs. But Baker cautioned that sequencing should not be used to hide the true cost of the project, or its impact on other transportation infrastructure priorities in Oregon.

“I understand it’s a process that has worked in Washington, and we’ve been guilty of it here at times, but the direction of the Legislature and the feeling of this commission is that’s not the appropriate way to do it,” Baker said. “We should scope it. We should come up with a budget. We should put everything out there — because at $13.6 billion, what do you think that’s going to do to our ability to handle projects around the state if that bridge is draining that tank?”

With the Coast Guard’s approval, a supplemental environmental impact statement can be finalized and a record of decision made for the project. Oregon and Washington transportation leaders also face a Sept. 30 deadline to allocate $927 million of a $1.5 billion federal grant.

In the meantime, the project is moving forward. Engineers are testing ways to strengthen the soils around the bridge. They’re using a test site adjacent to the I-5 southbound Hayden Island exit.

“There are different techniques that have different results,” said Ray Mabey, assistant program administrator. “Each one of them is fairly expensive, and we want to make sure that we address and pick the right one.”

The IBR team is also looking ahead to bidding for the massive progressive design-build contract for bridge construction.

At least two teams, maybe three, are expected to bid on the contract, Mabey said. Other packages will be broken into parts small enough for local contractors to tackle.

IBR program officials are “making sure that we have packages that are sized appropriately for biddability, but also our local contractors,” Mabey said. “We’re not hearing a desire to have construction packages sized that only draw on the worldwide companies.”

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