PORTLAND, Ore. — State lawmakers hoping to receive an updated cost estimate for the Interstate Bridge Replacement (IBR) project at a meeting on Monday came away disappointed. IBR team members said the estimate would need to be delayed to next year because it depends heavily on an upcoming U.S. Coast Guard decision about whether the new bridge will need a drawbridge section.
“We do not have a numbers update for you this month,” incoming interim IBR program administrator Carley Francis told lawmakers early in the meeting. “I know that was some portion of expectation, but I don’t want to hide the fact that that is not what we have ready right now.”
IBR last estimated the cost of the megaproject at $6 billion in early 2023, and has stuck with that figure even as project leaders have admitted that it’s become outdated and the updated estimate is likely to be higher. The new estimate has been in the works for months, and at the last meeting in September, multiple lawmakers on the bi-state committee that oversees the project pressed the team to have it ready for the December meeting…