New cost estimates and withheld information have raised fresh questions about transparency inside the Interstate Bridge Replacement Program
A recent report by Oregon Journalism Project reporter Nigel Jaquiss details internal documents showing IBR consultants completed updated cost estimates months before legislators were told no new figures were available. Those estimates put the I-5 Bridge replacement project as high as $13.6 billion, far above earlier public numbers. In response, some lawmakers say they were misled, while IBR officials maintain the figures were only draft estimates. This poll asks whether the public believes IBR staff were truthful with lawmakers about the project’s true cost.
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Opinion: ‘The IBR team has been lying to us and thanks to a veteran Oregon journalist, we have the smoking gun’
Ken Vance argues newly obtained documents show Interstate Bridge Replacement staff withheld updated cost estimates from lawmakers and the public.
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Also read:
- Opinion: Greg Johnson’s $2 million contract delivered a huge mess
Johnson’s $1.9M pay coincided with IBR costs tripling and construction timeline doubling to 20 years. - Cracking down on rough roads along I-5 in Vancouver
Crews are rebuilding 2.2 miles of southbound I-5 using a crack, seat and overlay method through summer 2026. - Opinion: IBR Environmental Review confirms impacts to Hayden Island while leaving key safeguards undefined
59 residential displacements and up to 15 years of construction face Hayden Island under the IBR’s Final SEIS. - Vancouver prepares for 2026 pavement season
Vancouver’s $14 million pavement program will pave or preserve over 100 lane miles of street this summer. - Letter: Interstate Bridge Replacement lies and nonsense
Ortblad’s comment asked whether IBR studied routing 28,000 daily trucks to rail and I-205 by 2040.
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