Date:  Thursday, July 08, 2010

Contact: Ann Briggs, WSDOT Communications, 360-705-7077, abriggs@wsdot.wa.gov  
Patrick Cooney, ODOT Communications Division, 503-986-3455, Patrick.j.cooney@odot.state.or.us  

VANCOUVER – Washington and Oregon transportation officials today praised the release of a new national freight capacity report that recognizes the I-5 Columbia River bridges as one of the most significant chokepoints for the movement of freight from West Coast ports.

The American Association of State Highway Transportation Officials’ report, "Unlocking Freight," is the second in a series of reports that identify the need to increase capacity in our transportation system to unlock gridlock, generate jobs, deliver freight, and connect rural communities.

"Unlocking Freight" argues that significantly more freight will move on the nation’s highways in the coming years. By 2020, the U.S. trucking industry will move three billion more tons of freight than it hauls today, which will put another 1.8 million trucks on the road.

For Washington and Oregon, more trucks mean more congestion for the I-5 crossing, which provide access to downtown Vancouver; the ports of Portland and Vancouver; rail connections; and industrial, warehouse, and distribution facilities.

More than $40 billion in freight crosses the I-5 bridge each year between Washington state and Oregon. Large truck traffic is expected to rise 77 percent in the next 20 years. Currently the area experiences four-to-six hours of daily congestion due to travel demand that exceeds capacity, high collision rates, closely spaced interchanges, poor sight distances, and a lift span bridge that rises for marine traffic about once a day. Congestion could extend to 15 hours a day by 2030, shrinking freight’s off-peak travel windows.

To address these issues, the Columbia River Crossing project was developed as a bi-state effort between the Washington and Oregon departments of transportation, along with local and regional partners, to relieve congestion and improve safety. The five-mile-long multimodal solution is expected to relieve peak-hour congestion by 70 percent through improvements to the interchanges, replacement of the bridge, and improving access to all modes of transportation. Current project cost estimates are $2.6 billion to $3.6 billion. The project anticipates funding will be shared in roughly equal amounts among Federal, state, and tolling sources.

“The Columbia River Crossing project addresses a critical chokepoint for freight and commerce along a five-mile segment of Interstate 5 between Portland and Vancouver. The bridge replacement project adds capacity, but it also provides more travel choices by extending light rail from Portland to Vancouver along with bicycle and pedestrian facilities. It is a truly multi-modal solution, integrating a new bridge, expanding transit and improving the transportation system,” said Paula Hammond, Secretary, Washington State Department of Transportation.

“The I-5 Columbia River Crossing is critical to the economic health of the Pacific Northwest. The current bridges over the Columbia River are horribly obsolete and cause the worst congestion in the state,” said Matthew Garrett, Director, Oregon Department of Transportation. “This bottleneck stalls trucks traveling up I-5 and impedes access to the ports of Portland and Vancouver, which Northwest businesses rely on to get their goods to market. Rebuilding these bridges, extending light rail across the Columbia River, and fixing interchanges will provide thousands of critically needed jobs for the construction trades and help ensure that our region’s trade dependent economy can remain strong for years to come.”

The "Unlocking Freight" report says that investing in freight capacity projects remains important for the nation’s economy and environment. More than 3.5 million people work in jobs in the freight transportation industry nationwide. And, the delays and idling trucks at bottlenecks and chokepoints exacerbate negative air quality impacts on the surrounding communities.

The report calls for more investment at the federal and state level in multimodal projects like the Columbia River Crossing. It also calls for expanding the capacity of the Interstate Highway System; and the creation of a national freight capacity program.

For more information on the I-5 Columbia River Crossing project, visit http://www.columbiarivercrossing.org/.

For more information on national freight capacity needs and to see additional state examples, go to http://expandingcapacity.transportation.org/.

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