Billed as a "bridge replacement," the latest iteration of the Columbia River Crossing project is a costly expansion that will impose new tolls and cost upwards of $5 billion, according to an article by Joe Cortright.
Writing in City Observatory, Joe Cortright criticizes the Columbia River Crossing (CRC) project as "vastly oversized and over-priced, with current cost estimates ranging as high as nearly $5 billion (before cost-overruns)." The project, a joint venture between the Oregon and Washington transportation departments, is now billed as a "bridge replacement," a euphemism that Cortright claims obscures the true impact of what amounts to "a massive freeway expansion."
According to Cortright, the project is "a five-mile long, 12-lane wide freeway that just happens to cross a river" that will cost $5 billion and impose $5 round-trip tolls on drivers. "While the agency is hinting at the possibility of “design” tweaks—it’s apparent that their plan is to simply recycle the failed CRC proposal."
FULL STORY: The real “I-5” project: $5 billion, 5 miles, $5 tolls
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