Rep. John Ley shares his thoughts on the decision by the U.S. Coast Guard to approve proposed I-5 Bridge replacement project
Rep. John Ley
18th Legislative District
I’m extremely disappointed that the Coast Guard approved the 116-foot bridge. That negatively impacts future commerce, not to mention several current up river users. We will spend $141 million of the people’s money on a “bridge too low” to “mitigate” harm to four current firms.
In the end, there still isn’t the money to build the $17.7 billion bridge. It’s highly unlikely the Trump administration will approve any additional funds. We know the current $3.1 billion the Interstate Bridge Replacement Program (IBR) plans to get from the federal government remains “at risk.”
My understanding is the bridge is NOT being engineered to withstand a “maximum” earthquake from the Cascadia Subduction Zone of magnitude 9.0. The engineers call that the “2,500 year standard.” The IBR is not even designing it to the second highest standard, the “1,000 year standard.” Instead, the IBR team is only planning to design and build to a “500 year standard.”
What a sad farce. Using fear to scare the people into thinking they need to destroy the current two bridges, instead of repurposing them. All to deliver the unwanted MAX light rail 1.83 miles into Vancouver.
In the end, I continue to believe the project is essentially dead, because the two states cannot afford it. TriMet is near bankruptcy. Oregon’s transportation budget is in huge trouble, and they may have trouble funding the rest of their $1 billion obligation for the “promised” $1 billion.
The IBR team, including WSDOT Secretary Julie Meredith, are now mentioning they will build the IBR in “phases.” If they break the project into 4 or 5 phases, it’s guaranteed to cost MORE. So bye bye to the $17.7 billion “high end” cost. Say hello to a $20 billion or more “phased” approach cost.
We shall see when the IBR team will submit their answers to the 10,000 citizen questions/comments. Then how long will it take the federal government to review them before they can consider issuing a Record of Decision.
The drama and the waste of taxpayer money continues.
The people’s top priority is for a bridge that provides significant traffic congestion relief and saves them time. The IBR proposal, which allocates 54 percent of the bridge surface to transit, bikes and pedestrians, fails to deliver what the people want.
The people do not want tolls. The people of Southwest Washington do not want light rail.
Also read:
- C-TRAN ridership grows for fourth consecutive year
C-TRAN ridership topped 5 million trips in 2025, marking the fourth straight year of growth. - Opinion: ‘If they want light rail, they should be the ones who pay for it’
Clark County Today Editor Ken Vance argues that supporters of light rail tied to the I-5 Bridge replacement should bear the local cost of operating and maintaining the system through a narrowly drawn sub-district. - Opinion: IBR falsely blaming inflation
Joe Cortright argues that inflation explains only a small portion of the IBR project’s cost increases and that rising consultant and staff expenses are the primary drivers. - Letter: The Interstate Bridge Replacement Program’s $141 million bribe can be better spent on sandwich steel-concrete tubes
Bob Ortblad argues that an immersed tunnel using sandwich steel-concrete tubes would be a more cost-effective alternative to the current Interstate Bridge Replacement Program design. - A sub-district vote could be a way to go to pay O&M costs associated with light rail
Clark County Council members heard details on how a voter-approved C-TRAN sub-district could be created to fund long-term operations and maintenance costs for light rail tied to a new Interstate Bridge.
Just live Gavin Newsoms Bullit train after billions of taxpayer dollars have been spent . Never left the station.
jamesljudkins@Yahoo.comthis bridge started out at3-4billion now it is 17billion something doesnt add up!
Math is the problem here. Coast Guard did not lower the requirement. 72 from water surface plus the 116 from bridge surface is 188 high. Don’t be miss lead!