The bridge that’s been “almost happening” since the Columbia River Crossing era finally has the paperwork to prove it. On July 1, the Interstate Bridge Replacement (IBR) Program announced it had received federal approval to begin construction — a milestone that’s eluded this project through two name changes, a failed 2013 attempt, and more than a decade of on-again, off-again momentum.

What Actually Happened

Federal transportation agencies approved an Amended Record of Decision on July 1, completing the program’s environmental review under the National Environmental Policy Act. The approval followed publication of the Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement on April 17, and it’s the step that formally clears the way for Oregon and Washington to move from planning into procurement and permitting for the actual replacement of the I-5 bridge over the Columbia River.

It’s not a small technicality. The Federal Highway Administration and Federal Transit Administration both signed off, and program officials were direct about what it unlocks: securing the remaining permits, obligating remaining grant funding, and advancing a first funded construction phase backed by $5.7 billion in combined local, state, and federal funding.

Governors Tina Kotek (Oregon) and Bob Ferguson (Washington) both framed it as the real turning point after years of bi-state coordination. Ferguson called it “a major milestone that allows us to get moving,” while Kotek pointed to the jobs and safety case: tens of thousands of jobs and improved seismic resilience for a bridge that, as it stands now, isn’t built for a serious earthquake.

Why the Current Bridge Is the Real Story

It’s easy to lose the underlying urgency in the funding and procurement details, so it’s worth restating plainly: the existing Interstate Bridge includes spans dating to 1917 and 1958, built on timber piles sunk into sandy soils — a foundation type that engineers have flagged as a serious liquefaction risk in a major Cascadia earthquake. That bridge currently carries more than 140,000 vehicles and $132 million in goods every day. There is no redundancy in that crossing; if it fails, the region’s primary freight and commuter link between two states fails with it.

A Scoped-Down Version of the Original Vision

Longtime followers of this project will remember the scope has shrunk from what was originally proposed. Citing a March joint statement from the two governors, the program is now moving forward with a core set of projects — the new bridge span itself, connections to I-5, and light rail extension to Vancouver — rather than the full corridor overhaul. That full vision, including additional highway interchanges and broader corridor work, carried a price tag in the $13.5–15.2 billion range that the region hasn’t secured funding for. The governors’ March statement was explicit about the tradeoff: build the substantially-funded core now and create jobs immediately, rather than wait for full funding on the larger package.

Light rail is part of the plan but on a longer timeline than the road and bridge work — the structure will be built “light rail ready,” with train service not expected to begin until 2036 or later, since the roughly $1 billion federal transit grant needed for that piece likely won’t be awarded until 2030.

What This Means for Contractors

For anyone in the trades reading this: procurement and permitting are the next steps, not shovels in the ground tomorrow. But this is the point in a megaproject’s life cycle where subcontractor and supplier interest starts in earnest — pre-qualification processes, workforce agreements, and early contracting opportunities typically open up in this window, well before the first funded construction phase actually breaks ground. If you’re a contractor or supplier anywhere in the Portland–Vancouver market, this is the moment to start paying attention to IBR Program announcements directly rather than waiting for a formal bid announcement to land in your inbox.

The corridor also isn’t isolated from everything else happening in regional infrastructure right now — Metro’s approval of $1.9 billion in project funding, the Southwest Washington Regional Transportation Council’s sign-off, and this federal environmental clearance are all pieces of the same multi-year funding assembly this publication has tracked for months. With the biggest procedural hurdle now cleared, the next real signal to watch for is the first construction contract award.

Sources: OPB; KPTV; KGW; Interstate Bridge Replacement Program (interstatebridge.org); Office of Washington Governor Bob Ferguson; Cascade PBS