No funds for new I-5 bridge, say senators

State senators weren’t brimming with enthusiasm Thursday for finding as much as $650 million to pay for the Columbia River Crossing project.

“I know that Oregon is struggling with the same issue we are,” Senate Transportation Chairwoman Mary Margaret Haugen, D-Camano Island, said at the end of an hourlong presentation. “We don’t have a lot of money. In fact, we have no money.”

Estimates presented to the Senate Transportation Committee, meeting at the Hilton Vancouver Washington, indicated the crossing project would cost $3.4 billion to $3.9 billion, including:

-- Replacing the Interstate 5 Bridge, $1.1 billion to $1.4 billion.

-- Rebuilding freeway interchanges and improving roads on both sides of the Columbia River, $1.6 billion to $1.7 billion.

-- Extending Portland’s light-rail system into Vancouver, $700 million to $800 million.

That last estimate assumes that light rail would be built on a separate transit bridge.

Officials are studying a “stacked transit” alternative, where light rail would be placed underneath the freeway bridge, as a way to save money and reduce the project’s overall footprint.

Rough financial plans call for Washington and Oregon to provide one-third of the $3.4 billion to $3.9 billion, with the federal government contributing one-third and bridge tolls covering the rest.

But each of those three pieces looks iffy at best. Most Clark County commuters aren’t eager to pay $1,000 or more a year in bridge tolls, and the federal financial outlook is bleak.

U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., last month told The Columbian that it would be “extremely difficult” for the federal government to provide even the minimum contribution backers expect.

Columbia River Crossing supporters are counting on Murray to use her position as chairwoman of the Senate appropriations subcommittee on transportation to deliver $400 million to $600 million in federal highway funds. (The remaining portion of the federal contribution would be light-rail construction dollars doled out by the Federal Transit Administration.)

But Murray cautioned it would be difficult to obtain even $400 million in highway funds. With the federal highway trust fund facing a projected $3.4 billion deficit, Murray wouldn’t discuss prospects for snagging $600 million, saying “those words, that amount, can’t come out of me.”

Washington and Oregon transportation officials also aren’t eager to discuss specific amounts.

Matthew Garrett, Oregon transportation director, told Senate Transportation Committee members Thursday that officials are in the early stages of crafting a transportation package for the 2009 Oregon Legislature that would include “traditional” funding approaches.

“Embedded in that conversation is the Columbia River Crossing,” he said.

Following the presentation, Garrett said funding options include increases to gas taxes and vehicle registration fees, but he declined to discuss the size of the overall package or how much money could be raised for the crossing project.

Benton questions project

State Sen. Don Benton, R-Vancouver, the only Clark County legislator on the Senate Transportation Committee, quizzed Garrett on how much money Oregon would provide for ongoing studies and other work.

Garrett replied that Washington has contributed $60 million but Oregon has provided only $15 million. The state will try to even out those amounts during the 2009 session, he said.

Benton also wanted to know if any tax or tolling breaks would be given to Clark County residents who work in Oregon and pay $150 million in income taxes to that state.

“We will pay the lion’s share of tolling because we commute to work,” Benton said.
Garrett, however, was noncommittal.

“I dare not go farther than that,” he said. “We just have not had those discussions.”

Benton, in an interview following Thursday’s presentation, questioned the wisdom of spending millions to develop a project with an uncertain financial future.

“The fact of the matter is if we don’t know where we are going to get the money to build it, then why are we spending the money to study it?” he said. “This is akin to rolling the dice in Las Vegas with $60 (million) to $100 million of citizen money on the table.”

Benton is a longtime opponent to the Columbia River Crossing project and believes efforts should be devoted to building a third bridge. Replacing the I-5 Bridge would ensure that a third crossing won’t be built for 50 to 75 years, he said.

“It’s just a big gamble is my point,” he said. “And I’m not willing to gamble with taxpayers’ money until we have some firm commitment from the federal government and especially from Oregon, which has been unwilling to step up to the plate with their share of the planning money.”

But Paula Hammond, Washington’s transportation secretary, said it’s necessary to do environmental studies and other work to secure funding.

“If we don’t show some leadership in our state … we aren’t doing our jobs,” she said following Thursday’s meeting.

Hammond said she will spend two hours today in Seattle with U.S. Rep. James Oberstar, D-Minn., chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, who could play a critical role in securing federal funding for the Columbia River Crossing project.

Hammond said she will mention how the state is stepping up to pay for “mega-projects” by raising the gas tax twice in this decade and by embracing tolling for replacing the I-5 Bridge and the state Highway 520 floating bridge in Seattle.