Washington, Oregon officials celebrate 'monumental' Interstate Bridge replacement funding

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) -- Lawmakers and transportation officials from Washington and Oregon convened in North Portland Thursday morning to celebrate developments in the Interstate Bridge Replacement Project.

U.S. Senators Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell, Rep. Marie Gluesekamp Perez, as well as Federal Highway Administrator Shailen Bhatt and ODOT Director Kris Strickler were among those in attendance.

The project aims to provide seismic upgrades to the bridge connecting Portland to Vancouver, which is at risk of collapse in the event of a major quake, officials said — noting other upgrades could help relieve traffic congestion and help drive economic growth for the region.

Thursday's event also comes after the project received a major boost in July with a $1.499 billion federal award. That award brings the total federal investments for the project to $2.1 billion, which is about one-third of the estimated project costs.

Greg Johnson, program administrator for Interstate Bridge Replacement Program, called the nature of this funding "monumental," especially given the bridge's age.

"The bridge that we're looking at is 107-years-old. And if you can think back and imagine back 107 years, the traffic on this bridge was cattle and Model Ts," he said. "So we need to replace this bridge with the modern structure for the modern commerce we have that crosses this."

Senator Murray - who had been championing this project since she began her time in the Senate in 1993 - echoed this sentiment, while also stressing the need for the bridge to be structurally sound in the event of an earthquake.

"We have over 130,000 cars a weekday and nearly $100 billion of goods a year driving bumper to bumper across and antique that is at serious risk of collapse in the event of an earthquake," she noted. "We can't accept this as the status quo."

She continued, "Good things come to those who don't stop pushing, and we have not stopped pushing."

To that end, Senator Cantwell emphasized this "bridge for the future" will finally take the steps toward completion with the newly secured funding.

"This final $1.5 billion means we can start the funding on design, and ultimately construction, which could happen as early as 2026," she stated. "So I'm telling people you better start taking pictures of this bridge, because its not gonna be around much longer."

When Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez spoke at the event, she asserted the funding represents larger implications.

"It's not cheap to keep old infrastructure running. And I think more importantly, it diminishes our identity of a nation that believes in making things that last," she said. "$2.1 billion dollars is a lot of money, but it's bigger than that. It's the manifestation of our values in being the best tradespeople in the nation - in the world."

This grant was part of the Biden-Harris administration's Investing in America tour, made made possible by the bipartisan infrastructure law's Bridge Investment Program.

Watch the full event in the video above.