Portland City Council voted unanimously on Wednesday to authorize issuance of revenue bonds totaling up to $80 million (plus associated costs) to finance curb, ramp and street improvement projects in the city.

The ordinance provides funding for Americans with Disabilities Act upgrades through fiscal year 2026–2027 in compliance with a federal settlement agreement. The bonds will be repaid over 15 years, with annual debt service estimated at $7.68 million to be split evenly between the city’s general fund and transportation operating fund.

As part of the settlement agreement, the city of Portland is required to provide at least 1,500 new or remediated, ADA-compliant curb ramps per year through 2030.

The bonds will finance a portion of projected curb, ramp and street improvements required by the settlement agreement through fiscal year 2026-2027. During that time frame, the balance of annual projected settlement agreement costs is expected to be funded within related Portland Bureau of Transportation capital improvement budgets and/or other transportation revenues.

The funding will be used to complete a minimum of 1,500 new or remediated, ADA-compliant curb ramps in the next two fiscal years, plus reimbursement for certain related project expenditures that occurred in fiscal year 2024-2025 in compliance with the settlement agreement.

During a City Council meeting on April 23, PBOT Director Millicent Williams said that the project is on pace, but delivery of ramps is an expensive venture. The bond funding will allow the project team to continue its work at its current pace. PBOT designed the ADA ramps in-house, Williams said.

PBOT’s intent is to return before the council in two years to seek additional funding.

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The strongest oscillator in the world is digging more than 200 feet beneath the bottom of the Willamette River as part of work to seismically upgrade the Abernethy Bridge, which carries Interstate 205 between West Linn and Oregon City.

The 200,000-pound machine, affectionately named ‘Oscar the Oscillator,’ is digging to allow construction of 12-foot shafts for the bridge’s new support columns.

Abernethy Bridge, which opened in 1970, is one of nine bridges being seismically strengthened or replaced as part of Oregon Department of Transportation‘s I-205 Improvements Project.

Other work includes adding a third travel lane to seven miles of the freeway between Stafford Road and Oregon Route 213 to reduce congestion. Approximately 100,000 travelers move through this section every day, said Della Mosier, deputy director of ODOT’s Urban Mobility Office. The area suffers from traffic congestion around seven hours each day and sees about 150 crashes each year.

Kiewit Infrastructure is leading the construction, and Malcolm Drilling is contributing to the project.

Crews need about three to four weeks to create each shaft for the support columns, and so far, they have completed six of 28. The process starts with Oscar digging by oscillating back and forth. That advances a steel casing downward. The casing will protect the hole from caving in when being excavated and later become the sides of the foundation in its final configuration.

Once soil is loosened, a large bucket is attached to the oscillating equipment and lowered into the hole. The bucket can remove a scoop of dirt able to fill a standard dump truck, Mosier said.

This process of oscillating, advancing the steel casing, and excavating continues slowly until the basalt bedrock is reached about 200 feet down. Once casing is anchored, steel caging is installed.

“For a hole that is around 200 feet deep, it is difficult to have a crane that is tall enough to lower a cage that is 200 feet into the hole,” Mosier said.

So, the cages are built in sections 60 to 90 feet long. Two to three cages are needed to fill each hole, Mosier said. A crane is used to lower each section, which is then spliced with the next one.

Once the steel cages are in place, approximately 700 to 1,000 yards of concrete is poured to complete the shaft. For the first shaft completed in August, roughly 48 sensors were placed in the caging to track concrete density, said Ritch Schubert, marine operations manager at Kiewit. But none of the others will have sensors.

The project is anticipated to be complete in fall 2025.

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The Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development has issued $810,000 in grants to support 15 communities as they work to implement the Climate-Friendly and Equitable Communities program. Its aim is to strengthen transportation and housing planning, reduce climate pollution, and make communities more equitable.

Communities receiving assistance are Albany, Ashland, Bend, Central Point, Corvallis, Eagle Point, Eugene, Grants Pass, Keizer, Marion County, Medford, Philomath, Salem, Springfield, and Talent.

The grants provide consultant and direct assistance for building community engagement plans and studying potential areas to allow more climate-friendly development to occur. Those areas include city centers, town centers and transit corridors. Communities will update plans to have increased development where people can live, work, shop and play; improved facilities for walking, bicycling and transit; and reduced parking mandates to free up land for housing and other services.

Oregon’s work to address climate concerns has been in progress for more than a decade, starting with establishment of a greenhouse gas emissions reduction policy by the Legislature in 2007. The Oregon Department of Transportation has earmarked more than $15 million to support implementation. DLCD is seeking additional resources.

In 2020, the Oregon Land Conservation and Development Commission directed the DLCD to draft updates to state transportation and housing planning rules, and to convene a rulemaking advisory committee to help guide rule development to reduce greenhouse gases from driving.

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Portland City Council on Wednesday approved an emergency ordinance to authorize solicitation of bids for a project to improve safety along 82nd Avenue, between Northeast Klickitat Street and Southeast Lambert Street.

82nd Avenue is one of Portland’s most dangerous streets and needs critical safety improvements, Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty said on Wednesday. Through House Bill 5006, signed into law by Gov. Kate Brown last year, the state appropriated $150 million for repairs and improvements along 82nd Avenue. The state’s initial contribution of $80 million, from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), will be used to pay for safety and maintenance projects, as well as planning for future phases.

In April, Portland City Council approved transfer of ownership of 82nd Avenue from the Oregon Department of Transportation to the city as well as acceptance of $80 million in ARPA funding.

“Because the initial funding must be obligated by Dec. 31, 2024, and spent by Dec. 31, 2026, PBOT is prioritizing investments that were identified in previous planning processes and meet critical safety needs,” Hardesty said.

Many more investments are planned for the corridor, Hardesty added. Over the next several years, the Portland Bureau of Transportation and ODOT will add or upgrade a total of 17 crossings on 82nd Avenue to improve safety.

In this project, crossings with signals will be constructed on 82nd Avenue at Northeast Klickitat Street, Northeast Schuyler Street, Southeast Clinton Street and Southeast Schiller Street. The crossings will include median islands with trees. The project was designed by an in-house engineer, PBOT capital projects manager Nicole Pierce said.

“Safe pedestrian crossings and medians like these are some of the most effective measures we have to reduce or eliminate fatal and serious injury crashes,” she said. “These new pedestrian crossings with tree-lined median islands will provide safe and comfortable places for people to cross 82nd Avenue.”

The total project cost is approximately $6.1 million. The work may be constructed in whole or in part by the city of Portland, or the city may seek bids for any portion of the project, the ordinance states.

The project is set to go to bid this winter. Construction is scheduled to begin in summer 2023.

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By Hope Yen

The Associated Press

WASHINGTON — A long-delayed plan to dismantle Interstate 375, a 1-mile depressed Detroit freeway that was built by demolishing Black neighborhoods 60 years ago, was a big winner of federal money on Thursday. The $104.6 million award was the first Biden administration grant given to tear down a racially divisive roadway.

Transportation grants totaling $1.5 billion were handed out to  thanks to increased funding from the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure law.

The money will allow Michigan to advance its $270 million effort to transform the stretch in Detroit into a street-level boulevard. Connections will be made to surrounding neighborhoods and amenities, such as bike lanes, will be added. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg previously said he would make racial justice a priority in his department’s funding awards. Black Bottom and Paradise Valley, two of the city’s predominantly African American neighborhoods, were razed as part of the 1950s creation of an interstate highway system, displacing 100,000 Black residents and erecting a decades-long barrier between downtown and communities to the east.

Hailed by city and state leaders as help to rectify a past racial wrong, the federal money represents a key first step that advocacy groups say will inspire dozens of citizen-led efforts under way in other cities to dismantle highways.

But advocates cautioned that Michigan’s plan to build a six-lane city boulevard risks simply replacing one busy roadway with another. Some Black residents, meanwhile, worry they could be priced out of the city by new business development and shiny condo buildings that promise direct links to downtown.

With plans dating back to 2013, the highway removal is now estimated to begin as soon as 2025 – two years earlier than expected. Construction could wrap up by 2028.

“This stretch of I-375 cuts like a gash through the neighborhood – one of many examples I have seen in communities across the country where a piece of infrastructure has become a barrier,” Buttigieg told The Associated Press. He joined Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan and several Black residents in Detroit on Thursday to spotlight the grant.

“With these funds, we’re now partnering with the state and the community to transform it into a road that will connect rather than divide,” Buttigieg said.

Other winners Thursday of the Infrastructure for Rebuilding America, or INFRA, grants include $32.5 million for Flagstaff, Arizona, to build pedestrian underpasses to reconnect lower-income neighborhoods isolated by a 1-mile segment of railroad to downtown; $100 million for Clear Creek County, Colorado, to upgrade 8 miles of the I-70 Mountain Corridor; $110 million for New York to expand refrigerated warehouse space at its Hunts Point food distribution center; and $70 million for Chicago to improve rail track.

Detroit’s project would create a slower-speed boulevard that aims to improve safety by removing a steep curve and adding LED lighting, while removing 15 old bridges and two stormwater runoff pump stations and building wide sidewalks, protected bike lanes and pedestrian crossings.

Whitmer had originally sought as much as $180 million in federal money for the project. Because that would have been a tall order under the Biden administration’s Reconnecting Communities pilot program, which was funded by Congress at just $1 billion over five years, the Transportation Department opted to award Michigan $104.6 million under the federal INFRA discretionary grant program, which has a bigger total pot of $8 billion over five years.

Christopher Coes, assistant secretary for transportation policy, said the Detroit grant reflected Buttigieg’s pledge to make Reconnecting Communities a broad “principle” of his department – not just a single program – with many efforts under way. Money under that specific $1 billion pilot will be awarded late this year or in early 2023.

Ben Crowther, advocacy manager for America Walks and coordinator for the Freeway Fighters Network, praised the new federal grant. While there are over 50 grassroots efforts around the country aiming to remove or repurpose highways, only three cities – Detroit, Syracuse, New York and Somerville, Massachusetts – have demolition plans that are shovel-ready, making them prime candidates for federal funding.

“The fact the Detroit project is now moving forward really speaks to the priorities that U.S. DOT has set for reconnecting communities that are trickling down to the state level,” Crowther said. While community debate will likely continue over the best design and whether a six-lane boulevard is a good approach, he said, the new federal focus on equity is “a lot of inspiration for local groups for that reason alone.”

Still, some Black residents worry the new boulevard could only create more problems.

Sam Riddle, political director of the Michigan National Action Network and a longtime resident of the area, says to truly address racial inequity, city officials need to take a more holistic approach to improving Black livelihood, such as construction of affordable housing.

“They’re not going to right a historical wrong where Black businesses were wiped out,” Riddle said. “What they’re going to do is repeat the same mistake that prices out majority-Black Detroit.”

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In the early 1990s, Oregon was one of the first to adopt statewide administrative rules requiring transportation planning based on roads sized to accommodate vehicles during the height of demand – typically the pm peak hour. Although the rules contemplated planning for alternative transportation, the focus was on single-occupancy-vehicle congestion during the business-hour commute. Couple that with minimum parking requirements that were based on, for example, square feet in a grocery store or the number of seats in a theater – with little attention to peak times of usage or shared parking opportunities. The result is dispersed uses surrounded by parking that discourages walking, cycling and investment in public transportation. Residential, off-street parking mandates not only separates homes from supporting commercial uses but also significantly increases the cost of housing. A variety of sources have estimated that the cost of requiring off-street parking to multifamily housing adds $20,000 to $60,000 per unit.

In response to Oregon falling further and further behind in achieving greenhouse gas emission reduction targets set by the Oregon Legislature in 2007, Gov. Kate Brown issued Executive Order 20-04 mandating that all agencies, including the Department of Land Conservation and Development (DLCD) and the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) adopt rules directing local plans to meet these goals. The resulting Climate Friendly and Equitable Communities (CFEC) rules imposed new planning obligations that, despite applying statewide, are primarily directed at the Portland-metro area and Oregon’s other seven metropolitan areas, including 52 of its most populous cities.

The obligations get complicated quickly but the one that is easiest to understand and will likely see immediate impact (and perhaps greatest immediate consternation) is that local governments may no longer require off-street parking in transit-serving areas or for certain uses. As of Jan. 1, 2023, metropolitan governments are prohibited from applying any regulations that impose minimum off-street parking mandates within three-quarters of a mile of a rail transit stop or within half a mile of “transit corridors.” The definition of “transit corridor” can change based on subsequent transportation planning, but for purposes of the immediate deadline, it includes bus service with a scheduled frequency of at least four times an hour during peak service.

Portland long ago eliminated off-street parking minimums within the urban core, much of which is served by MAX light rail and streetcar lines, so the new rules will not have much impact there. However, TriMet offers peak-hour bus service more than once every 15 minutes snaking through most Metro-area suburban areas, so the rules will likely have a significant impact for new development whether it is commercial, industrial, single-family or multifamily. Further, local governments are prohibited from requiring off-street parking for special uses such as residential units smaller than 750 square feet, group homes, affordable housing, shelters, and day care facilities. These rules do not preclude development from electing to provide off-street parking subject to any otherwise applicable maximum limit regulations.

Although there may be some flexibility in timing where appropriate progress is made, by June 2023, affected cities must either repeal all parking mandates within their boundaries or adopt a package of parking reform options including, for example, charging for all off-street parking separate from rent (even for commercial and industrial uses), imposing a tax on parking revenue, and adopting parking maximums. By Sept. 30, 2023, cities with populations exceeding 100,000 that elect not to remove parking mandates must charge on-street parking prices equivalent to at least 50 cents per day per spot for 5 percent of the total on-street parking supply, with an increase to 10 percent of the supply by Sept. 30, 2025.

With respect to reviewing applications for new development, by March 31, 2023, all cities must require that at least 40 percent of parking spaces in new multifamily or multiuse developments have conduits to serve electric vehicle charging. As of June 30, 2025, all transportation modeling accomplished for development review must show that the project will not increase vehicle miles traveled (VMT). This last standard may prove challenging and may require a whole new evaluation framework for developers and public and private transportation engineers who up to this point are focused on mitigated impacts from vehicles rather than not having them.

What might be of greater interest to planning policy wonks is that these rules require local governments to study and identify areas suitable for designation as Climate Friendly Areas (CFAs). The rules provide that by the end of 2023, all larger non-Portland metropolitan cities such as Eugene/Springfield, Bend, Salem/Keizer/Albany, Corvallis/Philomath, Grants Pass/Medford/Ashland must submit to the DLCD a CFA study and follow up with implementing CFA plan policies, zoning designations and development standards. CFAs must be sized, either together or separately, to accommodate at least 30 percent of the total identified number of housing units necessary to meet all current and future housing needs.

This feeds into the housing needs analysis obligations imposed by HB 2001 from a few years ago. Only lands with high levels of alternative transportation and in proximity to urban centers may qualify. In addition, these studies must include a Housing Production Strategy Report explaining how equitable housing objectives will be achieved, including how the city is affirmatively furthering fair housing opportunities for communities of color, low-income communities, people with disabilities, and other state- and federal-protected classes as well as addressing homelessness, affordably homeownership, displacement and gentrification. The DLCD is to evaluate the accuracy and sufficiency of each report against a series of review criteria and either approve or remand the report for further study. Implementing CFA zones and development code standards, including prioritization of public buildings, open spaces, as well as block length maximums, must be adopted within one year thereafter.

On the strictly transportation planning side, the rules mandate transportation system plan (TSP) major amendments and detailed transportation modeling on a schedule for local government compliance. Portland Metro and Salem/Keizer/Albany initial study efforts must be accomplished no later than May 31, 2024. The rules require authorizing greater development in transit corridors and downtowns, prioritizing multimodal performance measures (as opposed to focusing solely on capacity enhancements for vehicles), and prioritizing public investments accordingly. Again, all transportation modeling may not increase VMT per capita. Given increases in background traffic, particularly pass-through traffic which local governments independently cannot control, the framework for this modeling will take additional work.

Although the DLCD and ODOT have committed to assisting local governments in these efforts, the existing legislative funding commitment extends only to cover the project deadlines within this biennium. The DLCD received $768,000 from the Legislature to be used for equitable engagement and scenario planning for potential CFA area. The city of Springfield has estimated its planning costs will far exceed its proportional share of this appropriation. Although Minneapolis and San Francisco have adopted regulations prohibiting off-street parking requirements, Oregon is the first state to attempt to force cities into a more urban, dense, multimodal model that includes all larger cities. The success of this effort will hinge on the Legislature’s commitment to fund local government efforts and the public’s willingness to embrace transforming Oregon into a future that prioritizes fighting climate change over accommodating cars.

Edward Sullivan is a retired practitioner of land use and municipal law with more than 50 years of experience. Contact him at esulliva@gmail.com.

Carrie Richter is an attorney specializing in land use and municipal law at Bateman Seidel. Contact her at 503-972-9903 or crichter@batemanseidel.com.

The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed in the preceding commentary are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of the Daily Journal of Commerce or its editors. Neither of the authors nor the 91��Ƶ guarantees the accuracy or completeness of any information published herein.

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The Oregon Department of Transportation has issued a notice of intent to award a contract to Kiewit Infrastructure West to handle the first phase of the I-205 Improvements Project – an effort to provide safer and more reliable travel within the corridor.

The project’s first phase includes a seismic upgrade of the Abernethy Bridge, an expansion of the structure to accommodate three lanes in each direction, safety improvements of interchanges at Oregon Route 43 and Oregon Route 99E, and installation of a sound wall near exit 9 on southbound I-205. Work on Abernethy Bridge, which carries Interstate 205 between Oregon City and West Linn, is expected to begin this summer and last through 2025.

When completed, these improvements will “help make everyday travel safer and healthier for Oregonians, while also supporting a vibrant state economy,” Brendan Finn, director of ODOT’s Urban Mobility Office, stated in a news release. Additional work along the I-205 corridor is planned; schedules are in development.

Per participation goals for the project, approximately $35 million to $40 million will go to certified disadvantaged business enterprises. Qualifying firms are small businesses that are at least 51 percent owned by people who identify as Black, Hispanic, Native American, Asian-Pacific Islander or Subcontinental Asian, and women and other individuals on a case-by-case basis.

This is the first ODOT project to participate in a pilot workforce development program under the Federal Highway Administration. Hires will be prioritized from economically distressed zip codes (those with lower levels of income, education and employment) in Multnomah, Marion, Clackamas and Washington counties. ODOT expects 8 percent of the total 1.1 million-1.5 million labor hours to be completed by residents of identified zip codes.

In addition, 5 percent of workforce hours must be performed by members of the Confederated Tribes of Grande Ronde as part of ODOT’s agreement with the Council for Tribal Employment Rights. Aspirational targets call for 20 percent of hours to be worked by minorities, 14 percent by females, and 20 percent by people in apprenticeship programs.

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With the additions of six airline gates and seven restaurants, the expansion of Portland International Airport‘s Concourse E is a big deal for travelers.

The 830-foot-long expansion, designed by Hennebery Eddy Architects and Denver-based Fentress Architects, is one project of many large ones within the Port of Portland’s huge PDX Next initiative. Others that will take place over the next several years include: remodels of concourses A and B, construction of larger security checkpoints, refurbishment of ticketing and baggage drop spaces, and the addition of rental car space. Work is expected to continue through at least 2024.

The $215 million Concourse E project is about five months from completion; it’s expected open in June. Skanska USA Building, the project’s general contractor, also is working with Hoffman Construction as a joint venture on the upcoming overhaul of the main terminal and security checkpoints, among other improvements.

The concourse expansion is taller than the existing section and has a lot more windows that will let in a lot of natural light. Three types of glazing with different opacity are being used.

In addition, the south side will feature a curtain wall system to maximize natural light and minimize heat gain inside. This feature and others are contributing to pursuit of a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design gold rating.

Right now, a host of craft workers are working on both the interior and exterior of the concourse extension. Carpenters, plasterers and laborers with Performance Contracting Inc. are framing the interior walls, ceilings and soffits, and also applying fireproofing. Meanwhile, plasterers and laborers with Professional Lath and Plaster are applying acoustic dampening material to the same walls prior to painting.

Electricians from Oregon Electric Group and O’Neill Electric are also busy with interior work, while flooring specialist Top End Terrazzo of Los Angeles is installing terrazzo tile.

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Metro is asking the public to comment on to spend portions of $43 million in regional flexible transportation money.

Projects will receive funding during the 2022-24 budget cycle. Cities and counties were asked to put forward their high-priority transportation projects for consideration, and they responded with 23 projects that would cost a combined $78 million. Metro is tasked with winnowing the list.

The proposals include:

• a $5.1 million request to add buffered sidewalks on Courtney Avenue, from River Road to Oregon Route 99 east in Clackamas County;
• a $6.5 million request to add grade-separated sidewalks and bike paths along Oregon Route 43 in West Linn;
• a $3.9 request from Milwaukie to build a walking and biking “greenway” on Monroe Street to connect the city’s neighborhoods with downtown and the Clackamas Regional Center;
• a $4.5 million request from Portland to provide upgraded pedestrian crossings and protected bike lanes on Southeast Belmont and Morrison streets; and
• a $5.5 million proposal to extend the Springwater Trail in Sellwood.

Interested parties have until Oct. 7 to submit public comments.

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Years after Washington politicians derailed a bistate effort to replace the Interstate Bridge, current state leaders are working to demonstrate that they’re serious about returning to the table.

In the five years since Washington refused to pay its share of Columbia River Crossing costs, growth has exploded on both sides of the river. Portland became one of the nation’s fastest-growing cities, and Vancouver suburbs such as Camas gained thousands of residents. Traffic has only worsened as more commuters and more freight haulers have pushed onto Interstate 5.

A wave of support for revisiting the project in Southwest Washington has been building. Now, the Vancouver City Council, Clark County and three ports have asked the Washington State Department of Transportation to push forward with a new I-5 bridge project.

Vancouver Mayor Anne McEnerny-Ogle will lead a city delegation on a visit to Gov. Jay Inslee’s office in November. Last year, Inslee signed into law a bill that calls for starting a planning committee for a future Columbia River bridge.

McEnerny-Ogle said she plans to ask Inslee to open an office dedicated to the project. Taken together, the efforts are a major push for a generational transportation project.

“I think we’re going to see something,” McEnerny-Ogle said in an interview last week. “We’re very excited. I think this is going to start working out.”

In another sign of the interest in Washington, a delegation of state lawmakers recently visited the Interstate Bridge.

Oregon leaders left the Columbia River Crossing debacle frustrated with Washington’s abandonment of the project. Yet elected officials south of the Columbia, including Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler and Gov. Kate Brown, have made public statements that suggest they’re open to reviving the discussions.

“Gov. Brown is encouraged our partners in Washington are ready to renew constructive conversations on this vital piece of transportation infrastructure,” spokeswoman Nikki Fisher stated in an email. “The current bridge is a seismic risk, a freight bottleneck and a barrier to effective public transportation.”

Washington leaders said they’re optimistic Brown will re-engage in the project after the Nov. 6 election. She faces a strong challenge from Republican Knute Buehler.

Renewed interest in the bridge comes against a backdrop of strong growth throughout the region. Vancouver’s population grew to 175,673 in 2017, an 8.1 percent increase since 2010, according to the Census Bureau. Portland grew 11 percent during the same period, to 647,805 residents. Some small towns in the area have seen even stronger growth. For example, Camas, Washington, grew 20.5 percent to 23,331 residents in 2017.

Semitruck traffic has worsened as shippers have put more cargo containers on trucks instead of ships and trains.

“The freight has changed tremendously,” McEnerny-Ogle said.

More projects are popping up in downtown Vancouver, where workers and visitors rely on access to I-5. And the master plan for the sprawling Waterfront Vancouver development, led by Gramor Development, calls for building 3,300 residences within a few blocks of the Interstate Bridge.

Gramor President Barry Cain said a new I-5 bridge is all but inevitable.

“Everybody seems to agree that there will be another bridge,” he said.

Mass transit was a sticking point during planning for the Columbia River Crossing, with Washington residents protesting any potential light-rail links to Portland. It’s not clear whether that opposition has changed.

Federal transportation grants needed for a new I-5 bridge require it to accommodate high-capacity transit in a dedicated guideway. That could mean light rail, or it could result in a dedicated bridge lane for Vancouver’s Bus Rapid Transit system.

McEnerny-Ogle said it’s too soon to talk about light rail.

“This is such a new project,” she said. “We know we need to examine all of the potential mass-transit options available for the new project.”

Many observers worry that light rail would change Vancouver.

“As nice as light rail is, as soon as Portland got it, they stopped building new roads,” Cain said.

Some of the studies done for the Columbia River Crossing could simply be updated, McEnerny-Ogle said.

Few transportation projects generate contracts as large as a bridge. Cost estimates for the Columbia River Crossing, contained in a 2011 final environmental impact statement, ranged from $3.3 billion to $4.1 billion. Construction costs have surged since, making a new bridge likely even more expensive.

There are discussions of other ways to connect Oregon and Washington, including a bullet train that would run from Vancouver, British Columbia, to Portland. The Washington Department of Transportation released a study in February that found constructing ultra-high-speed rail would cost $24 billion to $42 billion. Trains could run at more than 200 mph.

Washington’s study estimated an ultra-high-speed rail would generate 38,000 construction jobs and $29 billion in labor income annually during a 10-year construction period. The idea faces a number of obstacles, including the addition of an international border to many competing municipalities.

There’s also an effort led by transportation marketing veteran Susan Bladholm to start a ferry from west Vancouver to downtown Portland. The Frog Ferry, as it’s called, would start on the Columbia River and navigate up the Willamette, reaching as far south as Lake Oswego.

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