Gluesenkamp Perez, Murray, Cantwell Announce Whopping $1.499 Billion Award for I-5 Bridge Replacement Project

Today, Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (WA-03), along with Sens. Patty Murray (WA) and Maria Cantwell (WA) announced that the Interstate Bridge Replacement (IBR) Program – the organization tasked with replacing the I-5 Bridge connecting Portland and Southwest Washington – will receive $1.499 billion in federal funds from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bridge Investment Program (BIP).

Rep. Gluesenkamp Perez led a letter of support to Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg alongside Sens. Murray and Cantwell in November of last year to make the Delegation’s case for robust Bridge Investment Program funding. The award follows a $600 million federal Mega grant – the largest ever at the time – the lawmakers helped secure last December for IBR. 

In February, Rep. Gluesenkamp Perez visited the I-5 Bridge with Secretary Buttigieg and met with union members, apprentices, and students in the trades – who will work on local projects like the I-5 Bridge replacement project. She has spoken directly with Secretary Buttigieg to advocate for the Bridge Investment Program funding, hosted White House Infrastructure Implementation Coordinator Mitch Landrieu to underscore the urgent need for funding to help replace the I-5 Bridge, and led a bipartisan group of colleagues to urge the House Appropriations Committee to fully fund the Bridge Investment Program.

“When we brought $600 million home to replace the deteriorating, functionally obsolete I-5 Bridge last year, I promised to keep fighting tooth and nail for every federal dollar possible. It’s the only way we get this colossal undertaking done – as well as ensure we feel the benefits of our tax dollars and avoid tolling,” said Rep. Gluesenkamp Perez. “Today, we’re bringing back more than $1.4 billion for this project that’s critical for strengthening our local economy, honoring the trades, and keeping drivers, commuters, and truckers safe and on the move. I brought Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg to the bridge to show him the dire need for replacement firsthand, as well as stressing the importance of this Bridge Investment Program grant whenever we spoke. We’re now one major step closer to getting the I-5 Bridge replaced and powering good, family-wage trades jobs in Southwest Washington.”

“This is a monumental win for Southwest Washington—now, with the biggest federal transportation award in Washington state history, replacing the I-5 Bridge is finally going to be a reality,” said Sen. Murray. “Securing this award is a testament to the strength of our Washington state delegation—and the sheer determination of countless local leaders staying the course—and shows what a difference it makes when we are united in the Other Washington, fighting to bring these dollars home. The road to replacing the I-5 bridge has not been easy, but failing to replace this bridge has never been an option to me because I know how important this is to Southwest Washington—despite being a major thoroughfare, the current bridge is ancient, unsafe, and a major source of congestion for commuters and commerce. I’ve made clear time and again to Secretary Buttigieg and others that we cannot afford to forget about this project or kick the can down the road any further—I helped establish the Bridge Investment Program and delivered strong funding for it through appropriations, and as Senate Appropriations Chair, I have been fighting hard to make sure Southwest Washington sees its fair share of those federal dollars.”

“Replacing the century-old I-5 bridge over the Columbia River will not only relieve local congestion but drive economic growth across the entire West Coast,” said Sen. Cantwell. “This third federal grant for the Interstate Replacement Bridge brings the project’s total funding to $2.1 billion—the largest federal transportation investment ever in the State of Washington. The project can now start hiring the construction companies and workers that will boost the local economy and build this vital interstate artery and make a decades-long dream a reality.”

Today’s grant marks the third federal grant awarded to the current bridge replacement project; the first, a $1 million seismic study grant, was awarded in October 2022. The bridge replacement project remains eligible for other sources of federal funding, including the Federal Transit Administration Capital Investment Grant Program.

The I-5 Bridge is a crucial linchpin in both the regional and national economy and plays a vital role in transporting freight along the I-5 corridor. IBR reports that $132 million worth of freight crossed the I-5 Bridge daily in 2020. According to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, an estimated total of $97 billion in goods traveled by truck either from Washington to Oregon or California, or from Oregon or California to Washington in 2022.

The route is also vital to international exporters; in 2021, nearly $2 billion worth of goods from California and $750 million worth of goods from Oregon were trucked to Canada via the I-5 corridor. According to the Southwest Washington Regional Transportation Council an average of 131,747 vehicles crossed the bridge each weekday in 2021, including many of the 65,000 Clark County residents who work in Oregon.

Despite the bridge’s importance, it’s rated the worst truck bottleneck in Washington and Oregon and the fifth-worst on the West Coast, with seven to 10 hours of congestion during the morning and evening commute periods.

Beyond this, there are significant issues with the aging existing bridge. One span is more than a century old and the other is more than 65 years old. Neither span has had a seismic retrofit, which is a significant concern in a region susceptible to earthquake activity: the entire structure is at risk of collapse in the event of a major earthquake. Moreover, simply maintaining the existing structure is expensive.

Annual maintenance costs are about $1.2 million per year and larger maintenance projects needed to simply maintain the bridge are expected to cost $280 million by 2040 – not including the cost of a seismic retrofit, which would be substantial. Today, these maintenance costs are split equally between the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) and the Oregon Department of Transportation.

Funding for the Department of Transportation’s Bridge Investment Program – created as part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law – comes from advance appropriations provisions that Senator Murray helped write into the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law as a senior appropriator, providing $9.235 billion over five years, and the Highway Trust Fund, providing $3.265 billion over five years – for a total of $12.5 billion over five years for the for the Bridge Investment Program.

Sen. Murray’s longtime leadership on the I-5 Bridge Replacement Project – encompassing her time as the top Democrat on the Transportation Appropriations subcommittee – includes passing into law a provision updating the Federal Transit Administration’s evaluation process for multimodal projects like the I-5 Bridge replacement to make them more competitive for federal funding; to this day the project is relying on the authorities Murray secured for the transit components of this project. 

As chair of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, Sen. Cantwell has worked to dedicate more dollars to the BIP – earlier this year, Sen. Cantwell led her colleagues in sending a letter to the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation and Urban Development urging support for an additional $2 billion for BIP in the FY 2025 Appropriations Bill.