Interstate 5 Bridge bill advances in House

The House Transportation Committee passed a measure Wednesday evening declaring the Interstate 5 Bridge a project of statewide significance.

The measure’s companion bill in the Senate passed on Tuesday, but the language in the bill calling the bridge project one of statewide significance was removed.

House Bill 2095, sponsored locally by state Reps. Sharon Wylie, D-Vancouver; Monica Stonier, D-Vancouver; Brandon Vick, R-Felida and Paul Harris, R-Vancouver, kept the original language intact. Although House lawmakers are hopeful they can keep the statewide significance designation as part of the final legislation, they are readying themselves for negotiations once it hits the Senate.

That “statewide significance” designation would help expedite the permitting process if the bridge project were to move forward.

The measure continues to call for an inventory and cataloguing of all the previous work done on the Columbia River Crossing. It would create a legislative action committee, made up of key stakeholders and department of transportation employees in Oregon and Washington.

The bill also carves out $350,000 for the necessary work and mandates an inventory report from the Washington State Department of Transportation back to the Legislature by Dec. 1. It continues to keep any talk of mass transit vague.