Project Description

Columbia River Crossing is a bridge, transit and highway improvement project of the Oregon and Washington transportation departments. The project is charged with reducing congestion and improving safety problems on a five-mile segment of Interstate 5. The project area stretches from State Route 500 in Vancouver, Washington, to approximately Columbia Boulevard in Portland, Oregon, including the Interstate Bridge across the Columbia River.

Purpose and Need

Improve travel safety and traffic operations on the I- 5 river crossing and nearby interchanges
Improve connectivity, reliability, travel times and operations of the public transportation systems in the project area,
Improve highway freight mobility and address interstate travel and commerce needs in the project area, and
Improve the I-5 river crossing’s structural integrity,
To address the transportation problems on I-5, a mix of public transit and highway solutions are needed. If we do not move forward with a comprehensive long-term solution now, the problems will only get worse and more complex.

What Are the Challenges?

Traffic congestion at the I-5 Bridge currently lasts six hours and is expected to increase to 16 hours by the year 2030.
On-time freight deliveries are compromised, hampering productivity and efficiency.
Buses traveling I-5 between Vancouver and Portland get stuck in traffic and can become less reliable.
Safety has deteriorated.
- About one crash occurs daily – a rate that is two times higher than similar highways in Oregon and Washington. Crashes will grow with more congestion.
- Many collisions can be attributed to short on-and off-ramps, inadequate spaces for merging and weaving, and poor sight distances on and near the I-5 bridge.
A significant earthquake could damage the I-5 Bridge.

Current Status

The project will analyze two bridge options and two public transit options in a process to identify the best combination of options (called “alternatives”) that improve mobility and safety and reduce congestion in the project area. The result of this study will be a report called a Draft Environmental Impact Statement, which is required by the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA). The CRC project team is working to define the details of the current alternatives to allow comprehensive study and analysis during the next phase of the project.

A Brief Overview of the Alternatives

Replacement bridge with bus rapid transit
The Interstate Bridge would be replaced with a new bridge with five or six lanes in each direction. It will have three “through” lanes and two or three on/off lanes for both northbound and southbound travel, to allow vehicles to safely enter and exit the highway. The new bridge also would have a lane for bus rapid transit.

Replacement bridge with light rail
The Interstate Bridge would be replaced with a new bridge with five or six lanes in each direction. It will have three “through” lanes and two or three on/off lanes for both northbound and southbound travel, to allow vehicles to safely enter and exit the highway. The new bridge also would have a lane for light rail.

Supplemental bridge with bus rapid transit
The existing Interstate Bridge would be re-striped into four lanes with wider shoulders for northbound traffic. A new bridge would be built to carry southbound traffic and bus rapid transit.

Supplemental bridge with light rail
The existing Interstate Bridge would be re-striped into four lanes with wider shoulders for northbound traffic. A new bridge would be built to carry southbound traffic and light rail.

No build
A "no build" alternative is required and serves as a baseline for comparison with other alternatives. The existing Interstate Bridge and public transit systems would remain. Only improvements reasonably anticipated for funding and construction in the Metro and southwest Washington regional transportation plans would be considered.

Next Steps

Results of the analyses will be available for public discussion in late 2007. A formal public comment period is expected in the spring of 2008 on the selection of one alternative.

As part of the process to complete the Draft EIS and choose one alternative, the following issues will be addressed in each of the “build” alternatives.

Public transit (route, stations, and park and ride locations)
Freight improvements for connections and safety
Efficiencies (such as ramp meters, incident response, ridesharing and telecommuting)
Bicycle and pedestrian improvements
Air quality and noise reduction
Environmental effects
Cultural and historical resource protection
High occupancy vehicle lanes
Tolling, bridge type, appearance, and alignment (upstream or downstream)