I-5 Bridge project spans challenge as feds sign off on environmental review

The Interstate 5 Bridge replacement project is moving into its construction phase, a major win for bridge planners.

The I-5 Bridge Replacement Program announced July 1 that the Federal Highway Administration and the Federal Transit Administration issued an amended record of decision for the bridge replacement. The department of transportation signed the decision, approving the final supplemental environmental impact statement, according to a statement from U.S. Sen. Patty Murray. The move completes the federal environmental review for a crossing that’s been in the works for over a decade. Now, the states of Oregon and Washington can begin looking for contractors to start the actual bridge construction.

“I said in March that we’re going to build this damn bridge,” Gov. Bob Ferguson said on social media. “Today we took a major step forward with the completion of federal environmental review. Delay is not our friend — let’s get moving.”

Carley Francis, interim program administrator for the Interstate 5 Bridge Replacement Program, said the federal decision reflects years of study, including responding to about 9,000 public comments.

“We now get to do the work of actually building the bridge,” Francis said in a newsletter from the bridge program.

The environmental impact statement was completed in April, and the U.S. Coast Guard approved the 116-foot-high proposed fixed-span option shortly before.

“This growing momentum reflects the years of hard work our region has done to ensure this bridge finally gets replaced,” Murray said.

Murray added there’s still more to do to get the project over the finish line, but the news is positive.

The bridge replacement program will now begin working to secure permits.

Estimates released in March show the cost of replacing the 109-year-old I-5 Bridge and improving the adjacent 5 miles of freeway will likely be more than double the $5 billion to $7.5 billion estimate quoted by the bridge replacement program for the past three years.

The program’s new estimate shows that the entire project will cost between $13.5 billion and $15.2 billion.

The announcement said the bridge replacement program will move forward with the project using the $5.7 billion in available funding. That will include replacing the existing bridge; connecting it to the freeway, state Highway 14 and Hayden Island; building tolling infrastructure; and removing the existing bridge.

The program will also move forward on the light rail transit design.

The program expects to hire a contractor in 2027 with construction to begin the following year. Tolling is expected to begin in 2028.