Lars Larson addresses the delay in updated cost projections of the I-5 Bridge replacement project
Lars Larson
The Northwest Nonsense
You wanna bet Interstate Bridge Replacement Program (IBR) Administrator Greg Johnson didn’t drop the Interstate Bridge ten-billion-dollar-price-bomb at Portland City Hall this week because the legislature’s plan for a record tax hike got held up?
Only five years ago, Johnson told Oregon and Washington the new I-5 Bridge would cost less than $5 billion. Two years later, his estimate jacked up 50-percent to $7.5 billion.
Standard practice for ODOT … lowball the hell out of a project and tell the buyers – citizens – the bad news when it’s too late to shout “stop.”
Johnson has promised a new cost estimate over and over for the past two years … each time delaying it … like someone who just doesn’t have the guts to deliver bad news.
No one expects the new number to be less than $9 billion … and most, like economist Joe Cortright, predict $10 billion … more than a 100 percent increase in just five years.
I bet if Oregon Democrats had delivered that historic record tax increase they planned last weekend, Johnson would have dropped the news this week.
Instead, he now promises the new estimate later this year or early next year … when he plans to start construction of this already failed project.
They don’t have the money to build it.
The Coast Guard has not given its required approval
Public opposition to funding from freeway tolling remains fierce.
But as long as he hides the bad news, Greg Johnson can keep cashing the checks from his six figure salary.
- Goodbye, bumpy ride on I-5 in Vancouver
Three coordinated WSDOT projects will improve more than 6 miles of I-5 in Clark County, backed by a $25 million investment. - Nighttime work on I-5 between Ridgefield and Woodland will replace damaged concrete panels Sept. 14-19
Granite Construction will close right and center lanes nightly on I-5 between mileposts 9.5 and 21.5 through Sept. 19. - County seeks volunteers to serve on the Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee
Clark County seeks two volunteers, including one youth member, for its Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee; deadline is Oct. 11, 2026. - Washington Rep. John Ley warns ballooning bridge budget needs reality check
Rep. John Ley says the IBR ballooned from a $44M contract to a $13B–$15B project, with phase one still $2.2B short. - POLL: The IBR project is described as only 30% designed and 30% funded after more than six years of work. How confident are you in the current management of the IBR program?
IBR’s cost has climbed from $3.2–$4.8B to $15.2B while the project remains 30% designed and 30% funded.
