The Columbia River Crossing between Portland, Ore., and Vancouver, Wash., has received national priority status from the White House to expedite the project, the U.S. Department of Transportation said late Tuesday.
The executive-level status of the project, which includes the Interstate 5 Bridge, has been extended to only 20 other projects over the last five years and will help reduce its timetable by months, if not years, DOT said.
The project area stretches from State Route 500 in Vancouver to Columbia Boulevard in Portland, including the I-5 Bridge across the river.
The project, which has already received $15 million in federal funding, will reduce gridlock and improve safety problems on a five-mile stretch of I-5 through a combination of bridge, transit and highway improvements, DOT said. About one crash occurs daily, a rate that is twice as high as similar highways in the two states.
The crossing “will ease the congestion impacting one of the most important commercial routes in the country,” said Transportation Secretary Mary Peters. The presidential order “is an important step toward making this project a reality so we can get goods to market, and travelers to their destinations efficiently and safely.”
“With the environmental streamlining that this Executive Order empowers, we can cut red tape without cutting corners,” she said.
The priority designation, under Executive Order 13274, was requested jointly by the Oregon and Washington Departments of Transportation. It will help speed decision-making by officials while maintaining all federal and state environmental review requirements, DOT said.
