The U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Infrastructure Project Assistance program awarded the Interstate Bridge Replacement (IBR) program in Washington a $600 million Bridge Investment Program grant in December.
To celebrate the funding, U.S. Sen.Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee chairwoman, toured the Interstate 5 (I-5) bridge and hosted a roundtable discussion with former U.S. Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) and local stakeholders.
“We’re here today to talk about not just the $600 million ‒ which, we’re very thrilled about that investment ‒ but now within the next month we’ll probably be getting feedback on the $1.5 billion request for the [Bridge Investment Program],” Cantwell said. “Being able to show the federal government we can be ready on the next phase of design and preparation so we can really capitalize on those bridge dollars.”
The grant will fund approximately 8 percent to 12 percent of the estimated $5 billion-$7.5 billion project costs.
Nearly $2 billion worth of goods from California and $750 million worth of goods from Oregon were trucked to Canada via the I-5 corridor in 2021, and an average of 131,747 vehicles crossed the bridge each weekday. The corridor is the fifth-worst truck bottleneck on the West Coast and the worst in Washington and Oregon.