HOOD RIVER, Ore. — The Hood River Bridge replacement project has secured a $200 million federal grant, enough to cover more than a third of the projected cost of a new bridge across the Columbia River between Hood River and White Salmon. The funding comes from the federal INFRA program, according to news releases from Washington state's federal senators.
INFRA stands for Infrastructure for Rebuilding America, although the program is officially called the Nationally Significant Multimodal Freight & Highway Projects program. It's administered by the U.S. Department of Transportation and distributes competitive funding for highway projects aimed at improving freight movement.
"The Hood River-White Salmon Bridge not only connects people on both sides of the Columbia River Gorge, it’s also a crucial linchpin in our wheat, barley, and timber trade economy," U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell said in a statement. "The new bridge will eliminate a 50-mile detour for heavy trucks and improve navigation under the bridge for barges, allowing businesses in the Pacific Northwest to get their goods to market faster."
Cantwell authored the legislation that created the program in 2015, and U.S. Sen. Patty Murray pushed for the program to receive fresh funding from the 2021 infrastructure package.
"I worked hard to secure advance appropriations for the INFRA program when we were passing the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and have worked closely with local leaders in White Salmon to make sure this region could benefit from the new investments we made in this program," Murray said in a statement. "I look forward to continuing to do everything I can to support the construction of a new bridge between White Salmon and Hood River that’s fit for the future."
The existing bridge is the only crossing point for more than 20 miles in either direction, and local officials say it's overdue for a replacement. It was built a century ago and has only two extremely narrow vehicle lanes, with no shoulders and no space for pedestrians or bikes. Much like the equally-old Interstate 5 bridge in Portland, it's not expected to survive a major earthquake.
"We actually have trucks, fruit trucks and lumber trucks, lock up mid-span," Port of Hood River executive director Kevin Greenwood told KGW last year. "That causes huge traffic problems, all the way back onto Highway 14 and I-84."
Without replacement or major renovation, the current bridge will need to be closed to truck traffic in 2030 and closed entirely in 2040, according to the news release from Cantwell's office.
The port has operated the bridge since 1950, when it purchased the structure from its original private owners, and has been working on a replacement plan for years. The project was transferred to the newly-created Hood River-White Salmon Bridge Authority last year, which includes both cities, the port and the surrounding counties.
The replacement bridge will include wider lanes, shoulders, and a separate bike and pedestrian path on one side. It will also be built higher up and with more space between the support columns, eliminating the need for a central lift span and giving river traffic a wider passage to navigate through.
The new bridge is expected to cost about $520 million, according to a November 2023 update on the project's website, and the $200 million federal grant joins about $120 million that the project has already raised from various state and federal sources, including $20 million from higher tolls on the current structure that began in September. With the INFRA grant in place, the project will need about another $200 million to reach its goal.
The planners hope to start construction by early 2026 and open the new bridge in 2029, and Monday's federal funding award will keep the work on schedule, according to the news release, ensuring that the project can progress from design to construction.
"This grant puts us one step closer to building a new bridge, which can’t come soon enough for companies like mine," bridge authority commissioner and Mount Adams Fruit CEO Doug Gibson said in a statement. "The constant closures for repairs and weight restrictions on the current bridge cost us a lot of time and money, so the new bridge will be an immediate improvement. It will boost our business and the entire agriculture industry out here. I can’t wait to see the new opportunities that come with it."
