The project to replace the I-5 bridge over the Columbia River is at a critical stage, which includes the race for money to help pay for it.
Now that what’s called the “locally preferred alternative” design has been chosen, the Interstate Bridge Replacement team is working on changes to the environmental impact statement, which is a critical component of the effort to get funding for the bridge replacement. Assistant project administrator, Frank Green, tells the State Transportation Commission, the estimated cost range is $5 to $7.5 billion with a target of $6 billion. “We have identified some risk, but we also have strategies to try to minimize the effects of those risks,” Green says, “How do we make sure something doesn’t push our schedule 6 months or a year and add, you know, a significant amount of potential inflation because of that?” Inflation costs are also definitely a factor with what Green described as wild swings in material costs, like lumber or steel, affected first by the pandemic and then supply chain issues.
Even though tolls will help pay for the bridge, Green says staying on schedule is also important because this is the year they go hard for federal money, including USDOT grants for bridge construction and grants for transit since the overall I-5 corridor improvements include light rail across the bridge and buses, with new stations, park-and-ride locations and other stops to make using transit more convenient.
Right now, they’re on schedule to start building in late 2025. The construction is expected to take 10 years.
Meanwhile, the State Transportation Commission is considering new technologies that could mean your car’s Good To Go toll transponder is as good as gone, but it might mean a couple of extra steps for you.
Francisco Torrealba of Blissway, which touts lower cost tech for toll collection, tells the Commission most current systems don’t take advantage of artificial intelligence, computer vision or even wireless tech that could allow cars to communicate with the system without need for a transponder. They put small, solar-powered, wireless equipment along roadsides that can read your license plate and charge you. That technology also makes it easier to charge people from out-of-state with interoperability from state-to-state you don’t get with transponders.
In Washington, where express lane tolls are reduced for carpools, WSDOT offers a switchable transponder with which you can indicate if you have enough people for a carpool. Under their system, Torrealba says you’d have to text or call ahead to let it know the number of passengers to see if you get the free toll. He says the system will also call randomly chosen cars to verify the number of passengers using a system that plays a soundbite and then has everyone in the car repeat it at the same time. That tech can then tell how many voices replied to measure the number of people in the carpool.
Torrealba says their equipment can cut down on violations and improve collection rates, and Blissway pays for it, so they’ll keep it working or they don’t get paid.
You can watch the State Transportation Commission’s meeting on TVW here.