The eye-popping cost of a new Columbia River Crossing — currently estimated on the high end at $3.6 billion — is enough to make many elected officials reach for the reset button.
But plenty of money has already been spent.
Oregon, Washington and the federal government have dedicated $134 million just to cover planning through June 2011.
“It is a lot of money,” said Mandy Putney, a CRC spokeswoman who works for consultant David Evans & Associates. “But it’s an efficient use of public funds to get this far down the road.”
What else could be done with that much money? For perspective, that’s enough to build Battle Ground’s new interchange at Interstate 5; rebuild the freeway interchange at Ridgefield; construct the new 112th Street connector off Interstate 205 at Mill Plain Boulevard; and build a new bridge spanning the railroad tracks on 39th Street in west Vancouver. And you’d have almost $30 million to spare.
As of the end of February, $87 million had been expended — mostly by consultants. The cadre of experts has consumed $70 million, specializing in everything from highly technical engineering designs to public outreach campaigns. The CRC staff now occupies the entire third floor and about half of the second floor of a downtown Vancouver office tower.
The staff includes about 80 consultants, state employees and employees of C-Tran and TriMet on loan to the bistate crossing effort.
‘Best of the field’
Experts come and go as needed, and much of the technical work is conducted off-site.
“They’re able to tap into the best of the field at the time they need it the most,” Putney said. “There isn’t really one firm you’d want to hire to do every aspect of the project.”
The frenzied pace of activity is reflected in the fact that the planning effort is now costing more than $1 million a month as consultants compile a final environmental impact statement and official Record of Decision by the end of this year.
But the closer the planning comes to completion, the greater the public backlash.
“Before you go spending a million and a half dollars a month, let’s go back and see where the people are on this,” said Tom Mielke, a Clark County commissioner who has grown increasingly critical of the crossing project.
Evans & Associates is by far the single largest consultant on the project.
The Portland-based company is the prime contractor for the two state transportation departments, with five separate contracts over the past five years totaling $61 million. Evans has kept about $20 million for its own work, with $40 million going out to subcontractors.
