Portland-Vancouver I-5 Bridge Gets Extra $1-5 Million In Federal Funding To Replace Vertical Lifts

PORTLAND, Ore. — Following a massive infrastructure law passed by the Biden administration in 2021, the bridge over the Columbia River on the Interstate 5 highway is getting the biggest share of the latest tranche of $5 billion in federal funding announced on Wednesday.

Federal Funding To Upgrade Ageing Bridges

Sourced from the $1.2 trillion infrastructure law signed by Biden in 2021 allocating $40 billion to bridges over five years, the funding is the biggest dedicated bridge investment in decades. While campaigning for reelection against Trump, Biden highlighted the infrastructure law that will see dozens of aging bridges in 16 states replaced or upgraded.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg confirmed that the bridges affect entire areas, ultimately impacting the economy of the whole country. To help keep people safe and keep supply chains running smoothly, the brides needed urgent major investment.

Further investment will be necessary as the American Road & Transportation Builders Association estimates bridge repairs across the U.S. will cost $319 billion.

The poorer bridges are 70 years old on average. Carrying around 167 million vehicles every day, about 42,400 bridges are in poor condition nationwide, according to the federal government. Of these, 4 out of 5 have issues with the superstructures supporting their load or the substructures that hold them up.

Included in the projects announced on Wednesday are:

• Providence, Rhode Island: $251 million to improve 15 bridges (separate from one to replace the I-195 Washington Bridge over the Seekonk River).
• Miami-Dade County, Florida: $101 million to replace 11 Venetian Causeway bridges that are almost a century old.
• Wilmington, North Carolina: Cape Fear Memorial Bridge.
• Lake Marion in South Carolina: 4 bridges over I-95.
• Lake Texoma in Oklahoma: U.S. 70 bridge.
• Ohio River connecting Steubenville, Ohio, with East Steubenville, West Virginia: Market Street bridge.
• Nogal Canyon in New Mexico: 2 bridges over I-25.
• Connecting Arkansas and Tennessee: I-55 bridge over the Mississippi River.
• Kansas City, Kansas: 18th Street bridge.

See also: The Reconstruction Of The Interstate-5 Bridge Linking Oregon To Washington Is A Step Closer

Vertical Lifts On I-5 Bridge Over Columbia River To Be Replaced

The largest of the nationwide projects is funding an additional $1.5 billion to help replace two vertical lift bridges over the Columbia River. The bridges carry I-5 traffic between Portland and Vancouver, and Buttigieg says these create “the worst trucking bottleneck” in the area.

The current round of funding is in addition to $600 million received in December. It comes as Governor Kotek pauses plans for Portland tolls on the I-5 and 205.

Buttigieg planned to highlight other projects that will receive $500 million or more with a visit. These include:

• Cape Cod, Massachusetts: Sagamore Bridge.
• Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Interstate 83 South bridge.
• Mobile, Alabama: One of the Interstate 10 bridges.