At a Dec. 15 public hearing on the Interstate Bridge Replacement project, government employees who have been working for years to replace the I-5 bridge over the Columbia River told a bistate committee of lawmakers they did not have new cost estimates for the project.
Project staffers first said back in January 2024 they planned to release new cost estimates. Two years later, staff appeared chagrined at last month’s meeting about the lack of information. “I apologize,” said the newly named interim administrator of the project, Carley Francis, who also heads the southwest region for the Washington Department of Transportation.
The lack of cost information came as unwelcome news to the 16-member panel, who expected updated numbers. (The most recent estimates date back to December 2022, when staff said the project would cost $6 billion.)…