A committee overseeing the project to build a third bridge over the Willamette River in Salem is closer to choosing a design.

The Salem River Crossing Oversight Team on Thursday shortened a list of five potential designs to three, Oregon Department of Transportation spokesman Lou Torres said. The two designs that were eliminated were the least expensive and most expensive options.

“Now what they’re beginning to do is look at what type of a bridge they want to put in there,” Torres said.

The three conceptual designs the committee recommended pursuing are:

• A steel-tiered arch design, estimated to cost from $165 million to $210 million

• A cast-in-place concrete box girder design, estimated to cost from $120 million to $170 million

• A precast concrete steel girder design, estimated to cost from $100 million to $240 million

Torres said he expects the committee to choose one of these options later this year. Also, an environmental assessment for the project is scheduled to be completed this year.

The bridge would span the Willamette River in North Salem to reduce congestion on the city’s Marion Street and Center Street bridges. However, without money allocated for the project, it remains far from reality, Torres said.

“The big hurdle is and will be the funding issue because funding has not been determined for the project yet,” he said. “We’re still quite a few years out.”

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Salem city officials envision a massive network of ramps and bridges that stretches from Highway 22 and Wallace Marine Park to the Salem Parkway and Interstate 5.

However, they would like to hear what the rest of the community thinks about that.

Members of the Salem City Council listened to more than two hours of testimony on the proposed $630 million bridge Monday night, many of it from people vociferously opposed to the project.

Given the number of people who wanted to speak on the bridge — as well as their passion for the subject — Council decided to extend the public hearing until May 13. People can submit written testimony up until that date, said Julie Warncke, the city’s transportation planning manager.

Additional verbal testimony will also be taken at the May 13 meeting. However, Council cordially invited those who have already spoken to keep their seats (and their peace).

“I think that’s to maintain councilors’ sanity,” Warncke said.

Members of the Salem River Crossing Task Force met for six years before agreeing to recommend the $630 million bridge to city officials in August. However, the idea of a third bridge to link West Salem to the rest of the community has been tossed about for decades.

Earlier this month, Council adopted a list of proposed amendments to the bridge proposal (known as “Alternative 4D”).

The Salem City Council is not the final word on the matter. The bridge project must also be approved by officials representing Marion and Polk counties as well as the Salem-Keizer Area Public Transit District and Salem-Keizer School District.

More information about the project is available on the city’s . Comments can be emailed to citycouncil@cityofsalem.net.

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After six years, $5 million and hours of public testimony, members of the Salem City Council agree that Salem needs a new bridge.

Now they just have to decide when and where to build it and how much it will cost.

Don’t expect those decisions any time soon, said Salem’s Transportation Planning Manager Julie Warncke. It could be months before the city council makes a formal decision. In fact, council members have yet to formally vote on whether Salem needs another bridge.

Their agreement Nov. 28 was more of a general consensus after two public hearings where members of the public packed the council chambers. Some of them supported a new bridge across the Willamette River connecting West Salem to the Salem Parkway and Interstate 5. Most people opposed it.

Now council members are kicking the idea of bridge around amongst themselves, Warncke said. “In general, the councilors agreed we need another bridge,” she said. “It wasn’t a vote. It wasn’t a decision. That’s a technicality, but it’s an important technicality.”

In the meantime, the council is still accepting written testimony for and against a bridge for a public hearing that closes Dec. 10. Warncke said more testimony could be taken Dec. 10, but she rather hopes the council will hold off until it holds more work sessions.

“These work sessions are really the council’s opportunity to consider the proposals,” she said. “They’re in process of trying to provide their input on what a bridge should look like.”

Members of the Salem River Crossing Task Force recommend a $630 million bridge after spending $5 million on consultants and architectural concepts, but that’s just the latest proposal. The idea of building a third bridge has been discussed and studied for more than 30 years. Still, Warnke said no firm decisions are forthcoming.

“It’s still early in the process,” she said.

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Heather Swanson and other members of the West Salem Neighborhood Association are not quite sure what to make of the idea of a bridge providing a direct flow between West Salem and Interstate 5.

The association has not taken a formal stand on the issue, said Swanson, the group’s vice chair. That might change after a meeting at 7 p.m. Nov. 19 at Roth’s IGA conference room on Wallace Road NW.

“That’s kind of what the meeting is about, to make sure we have enough information to take a full position,” said Swanson. “We haven’t done that yet because they hadn’t nailed down a specific site yet.”

Members of the Salem River Crossing Task Force met for six years and spent $5 million before they voted 10-7 in August to recommend a $630 million bridge running from Wallace Road into the Highland neighborhood of North Salem before connecting with the Salem Parkway and Interstate 5.

The Salem City Council began considering the recommendation this month, extending a public hearing on the issue through Dec. 10. However, council members are holding a work session to discuss the bridge at 7 p.m. Nov. 28.

Salem’s Transportation Planning Manager Julie Warncke is scheduled to attend the West Salem Neighborhood Association’s meeting to address questions and concerns.

There are a lot of concerns about a possible third bridge connecting West Salem to the rest of the community, Swanson said. Residents and businesses will likely be displaced. There is also talk of partially paying for the bridge through tolls. All this requires a great deal of discussion before the association takes a formal stand, she said.

“Our speculative guess is that it will be better for people who don’t live in West Salem,” said Swanson.

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At least 100 people would have to find new homes if a proposed bridge is built linking West Salem to Interstate 5.

Some 70 businesses would also have to relocate.

However, Julie Warncke, the transportation planning manager for the city of Salem, said people shouldn’t start packing their bags just yet. The new bridge could still take years to construct.

“It might be generous to say we’ve reached 5 percent of the design,” she said.

The figures of about how many homes and families (85 to 90) and businesses (65 to 75) would be displaced are very raw and preliminary, Warncke said. No one should get upset right now, she added.

Nonetheless, elected officials from the affected city, county and state agencies on Aug. 23 endorsed a plan for the $630 million project. They approved an option presented to them by a citizens advisory group that spent six years going over alternatives.

Building the new bridge was not an overwhelming consensus among the group. While 10 of them voted for the bridge, seven of them voted for doing nothing. That’s hardly a mandate for elected officials, Warncke said. “They basically supported what only 10 people on the task force wanted,” she said.

There was more consensus among elected officials. The dozen or so people on that group decided to send the recommendation back to their city councils, boards of commissioners and other governing bodies for consideration and input.

Warncke said elected officials will meet again at a yet-to-be-decided date in November for further discussions.

Bob Krebs, a member of the Salem Area Mass Transit District, supported the proposal but still pushed for more public transportation in Salem. He noted that most people going over the current Marion or Center Street bridges usually reach their destinations within a mile of the Willamette River.

Both the advisory group and the oversight team of elected officials have been meeting for six years to discuss river crossing issues in Salem. As arduous as the process has seemed, Warncke said it should speed up a little now.

“There’s still a lot of bureaucracy, but yes, we’re on the journey,” she said. “We’ve made a pretty big step by coming up with a recommendation.”

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Elected officials from city, county and state government meet from noon to 3 p.m. in Salem on Thursday to discuss the possibility of a new bridge connecting West Salem to the Salem Parkway and Interstate 5.

This will be the first meeting of the Salem River Crossing Oversight Committee and will be held at 100 High St., Suite 200, in Salem. Members will get their first look at a proposal from a citizen task force that recommends a new $630 million bridge. The task force took six years to make its proposal.

The ultimate decision rests with the Federal Highway Administration. Julie Warncke, the transportation planning manager for the city of Salem said a new bridge could still be years in the future.

Warncke said there has been little discussion yet of how the new bridge – or any project – would be funded. Task force members have focused on what do rather than how to pay for it. What little brainstorming there has been has brought up ideas ranging from using federal grants to charging tolls.

Tolling is a possibility, at least initially, said Dan Fricke of the Oregon Department of Transportation. To pay for a new bridge, he said, tolls would have to be charged on both the new and existing bridge.

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