SALEM, Ore. — Oregon legislators are working on a plan to secure $1 billion for the state's share of funding to replace the Intestate 5 bridge, but the money could come with a string attached. The draft legislation released this week includes a previously-rumored catch: an upper limit for the project's overall cost.
"The total cost of the Interstate 5 bridge replacement project may not exceed $6.3 billion after the effective date of this 2023 Act," reads Section 3 of the proposed legislation, an amendment to House Bill 2098 that would allocate $1 billion for the project, financed through bonds.
It remains to be seen whether that restriction will make it into final version of the bill, but if it does, it could put added pressure on the project to stay within the budget estimate that the Interstate Bridge Replacement Program office released in December.
That estimate put the cost of the project at $6 billion, with a range of $5 billion to $7.5 billion depending on how well the project team is able to control for cost escalation factors.
"I was one of the individuals that asked for (the cap) to be in there," said Rep. Susan McLain, who co-chairs the Joint Committee on Transportation and is one of the legislators who drafted the Oregon financing plan. "At this point we could have further discussion and decide if it is in fact a reasonable number."
The committee held an initial hearing for the amendment Thursday, with a public hearing expected to follow at some point in the next two weeks, according to McLain. She previously told KGW that she hoped to see the legislation pass in early May.
There's some urgency to the financing question because the project is approaching a deadline to submit applications for federal funding, and those applications require state funding commitments in advance, Interstate Bridge Replacement Program Administrator Greg Johnson told the committee.
The Washington legislature already allocated $1 billion of its own as part of a transportation package last year, so the ball is in Oregon's court.
The draft amendment's cost cap language didn't come up during Thursday's hearing, with most of the discussion instead focused on the configuration of the replacement bridge and the expected sources of funding.
KGW reached out to ask the IBR project office if it had any comment about the idea of a project cost cap and if the team was confident that it could keep the project cost below $6.3 billion. They did not reply on Friday.
The expectation that each state will contribute $1 billion stems from an earlier and much more preliminary cost estimate that put the overall price of the project at around $4 billion and assumed an even four-way funding split between Oregon, Washington, the federal government and tolling revenue.
After the updated estimate raised the cost to $6 billion, Johnson said his office wouldn't ask for more money from the two states, and would instead seek additional federal funding to close the gap.
A proposed funding breakdown included in his presentation at Thursday's hearing listed about $0.2 billion in earlier funding, $1 billion from each state, at least $2.5 billion from the federal government and about $1.24 billion from tolls.