Federal agencies have published the final supplemental environmental impact statement for the Interstate Bridge replacement project, a milestone that moves the potential $14.4 billion infrastructure package closer to construction.

The federal document lays out a modified locally preferred alternative centering on a single-level fixed-span bridge, an additional lane in each direction on Interstate 5, ramps to connect I-5 to downtown Vancouver, Washington and an extension of the MAX light-rail system into Vancouver.

The 944-page study from the Federal Transit Administration and the Federal Highway Administration examines various scenarios for building the bridge. The modified locally preferred alternative calls for two spans of three lanes each.

Two park-and-ride lots would be built to accommodate 1,270 vehicles. One would be near the planned Waterfront Station and another near the future Evergreen Station.

Industry groups hailed the step forward for the project, which Oregon and Washington leaders have been trying to move into construction for more than 20 years, dating to the Columbia River Crossing effort.

The final SEIS is a “key next step,” said Mike Salsgiver, executive director of the Associated General Contractors‘ Oregon-Columbia chapter.

The bridge replacement “is critical for the region’s safety, for the reliability of the transportation system and for the economic viability of the region,” Salsgiver said.

Funding is a looming challenge for the project as the price tag has ballooned. Oregon and Washington officials have narrowed their focus to replacing the two bridge spans, connecting I-5 and extending light rail into Vancouver. Those aspects would total $7.65 billion, officials from the two states revealed in March.

“Funding is always a challenge, so having a project of this magnitude depending on federal and state funding packages could definitely create some problems if it’s not handled well,” Salsgiver said.

Salsgiver is traveling this week to Washington, D.C., to discuss Interstate Bridge project funding and other matters with members of Oregon and Washington’s congressional delegations and Trump administration officials.

Project backers are trying to avoid a repeat of the federal government awarding funding and then pulling back, as occurred last year when President Donald Trump’s budget bill rescinded more than $400 million from the I-5 Rose Quarter Improvement Project.

As part of the Interstate Bridge project’s narrower focus, the light rail extension has been pared back, from downtown Vancouver to an elevated station near the Columbia River’s edge.

Transit discussions remain ongoing between the two states and federal agencies, Salsgiver said.

“That policy ping-pong has been going back and forth for years,” he said. “They just need to address and resolve things in that arena. It’s definitely doable but will require some focus and dedication.”

Joe Cortright, a Portland economist and prominent critic of the Interstate Bridge replacement project, said the one described in the federal study cuts against reality.

“It’s basically an EIS for a project that they pretty much said they can’t build,” Cortright said.

He criticized project officials for moving forward before completing an investment-grade analysis. That report is expected to forecast traffic counts and toll revenues. The Oregon Department of Transportation is relying on 2019 traffic data, from before the pandemic changed commuting habits, Cortright said.

The project office reports 143,400 trips were taken daily in vehicles and all other modes in 2019.

“The traffic analysis is wrong and woefully outdated,” Cortright said. “Traffic has gone down since then.”

The tolling analysis is critical to the project’s financing, Cortright said.

“Basically, anything that isn’t paid for with tolls, the two states will have to pick up,” he said. “So, it has real financial implications.”

An investment-grade analysis would almost certainly show far less traffic on I-5 in a tolling scenario, Cortright said.

The report considers a long list of possible impacts. Among them: Construction would require the demolition of the Normandy Apartments, a building with 33 affordable units on Seventh Street in downtown Vancouver.

Fort Vancouver National Historic Site would also see some impacts from highway and bridge construction. Noise and views would be affected, and the project team would need to acquire 0.4 acres from the historic site along State Route 14 west of the Vancouver Land Bridge.

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