The Clark County Council won’t endorse a letter in support of a federal grant opportunity to help replace the aging Interstate-5 bridge over the Columbia River.
During an Aug. 2 “council time” meeting, the council discussed supporting a letter advocating for funding from the National Infrastructure Project Assistance program. Also known as the “Mega Grant Program,” the Interstate Bridge Replacement Program (IBRP) would apply to pay for a portion of the $2.5-$3 billion the replacement project intends to source from federal funding.
The letter, addressed to U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, was a late addition to the agenda, added the afternoon before the council time meeting. Clark County Council Manager Kathleen Otto said the letter was sent to the council through the Clark County Transportation Alliance, a network of local and regional governments alongside other groups with interests in the county’s transportation system.
The letter was presented as-is from the alliance, with the council considering edits before its final approval and transmission.
Because it was related to the grant request, Councilor Sue Marshall cautioned about making too drastic of changes to the letter, so as not to undermine efforts to secure the needed federal funding.
She said it’s been a “delicate process” to have the bridge replacement project move forward as much as it has.
“This is a large chunk of the funding that will enable the bridge to go forward, and that’s really a critically important thing, to be sure that we are able to replace the bridge,” Marshall said.
Councilor Gary Medvigy did not support signing off on the letter, saying it conflicted with past positions by the council on the bridge replacement. He felt the IBRP was too similar to the Columbia River Crossing, or CRC. The CRC was a past effort for bridge replacement that died in 2013 when the Washington state Legislature did not commit funding to the project.
“It’s the CRC revisited,” Medvigy said about the current program. “All they’ve done is change the narrative.”
Although he supported bridge replacement in general, Medvigy did not support the IBRP, he said. Concerns over tolling and the requirement for light rail as a mass transit element in the program rubbed some of the council wrong, both past and present members.
“I don’t know that we’ll ever get agreement on what needs to be said to the transportation secretary, but this letter isn’t it,” Medvigy said.
Councilor Michelle Belkot mentioned she serves as the Clark County representative for the Oregon Department of Transportation’s Regional Toll Advisory Committee.
“Most of the people and stakeholders on the toll committee don’t even agree with tolls,” Belkot said.
Although Medvigy and Council Chair Karen Bowerman supported making changes to the letter before final submittal, Belkot was against using the letter as a base completely. Marshall and councilor Glen Yung supported approving the letter as-is.
Yung believed the IBRP is “very far from perfect.”
“That being said, this is a transportation project that is dictated completely by politics, unfortunately,” Yung said.
He agreed a third crossing over the Columbia River was critical for the region. Given the politics behind transportation over the river, he didn’t see it possible to entertain such a project until the I-5 bridge was replaced.
“We will never get anywhere until that bridge is replaced,” Yung said.
Without majority support for any move, any action on the letter failed.
Council members did indicate they wished to make their own statement focused on the equity component contained in what they rejected as a whole. Whatever that statement will be will come before the council at a later meeting.
