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THE ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, MAY 31, 2022
INTERSTATE 5 BRIDGE
Kotek, Drazan, Johnson have competing visions
By SAM STITES
Oregon Public Broadcasting
As candidates turn from their May pri-
mary races to the November general elec-
tion, there is no shortage of massive issues
facing the state for them to focus upon.
But few issues are as physically imposing
as the Interstate 5 bridge across the Colum-
bia River.
And one of the three candidates vying
to be Oregon’s next chief executive is
likely to shape key aspects of the bridge’s
replacement.
Democrat Tina Kotek, Republican
Christine Drazan and non affi liated candi-
date Betsy Johnson off er diff ering views
on what the project should prioritize, as
advocates seek priorities for equity, cli-
mate and vehicle capacity over a bridge
that’s been decades in the works.
The one thing they all agree on is this:
Oregon and Washington state cannot aff ord
to kick the can down the road any longer.
The previous iteration of the project
— the failed Columbia River Crossing
— spent more than $150 million in tax-
payer money from 2005 to 2013 with lit-
tle to show for it besides studies and design
concepts.
In 2019, Oregon Gov. Kate Brown and
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee announced
they were reviving the project to replace
the twin-truss bridges built in 1917 and
1958. And the total price tag has grown
from around $3 billion to nearly $5 billion.
Bradley W. Parks/Oregon Public Broadcasting
The Interstate 5 bridge connecting Washington state and Oregon across the Columbia River as seen
from Vancouver, Washington.
next 50 or 100 years.”
Kotek, who declined an interview for
this story but off ered a statement, said
she’ll also prioritize getting the bridge
replaced, but placed emphasis on how
Oregon could boost public transport rather
than more car travel.
“We need a safe bridge that will serve
future generations, provide transportation
choices like high-capacity transit, and be a
better solution to helping solve our climate
crisis,” she said in an email.
As the Democratic candidate, Kotek’s
promise comes with some complexities.
Her campaign is heavily funded by some
of the state’s largest labor interests. That
includes unions representing carpenters,
iron workers and electricians, all of who
stand to gain contracts from a megaproj-
ect like the Interstate 5 bridge replacement.
The former House speaker is also
viewed as the candidate who will stand up
for environmental interests. While there’s
no substantive confl ict between labor and
environment, unions representing working
families fundamentally want to see proj-
ects that provide many good-paying jobs.
Union representatives told Oregon Pub-
lic Broadcasting they think Kotek would
support apprenticeships around big proj-
ects like the bridge replacement, a move
unions want to help train the next genera-
tion in tradecrafts.
Northwest Carpenters Union p olitical
d irector Matt Swanson said the state’s con-
struction workforce needs a leader who
will champion policies that support new
workers — particularly women and people
of color — gaining valuable experience.
“Any investment in infrastructure is
going to put carpenters to work,” he said.
“We want to make sure that any elected
offi cial that gets our endorsement is going
to lead on those issues in a way that really
Competing visions
With an infl ux of federal cash and Ore-
gon’s favorable economic forecast, all
three of the women seeking to be the next
governor see a window of opportunity to
fi nally build the bridge.
“As governor, I’ll get that bridge built,”
said Johnson, who recently stepped down
after two decades in the Oregon Legisla-
ture to run for governor. “I think that is a
key responsibility of the governor to take
a lead role, not outsource this conversa-
tion to third parties like Metro, or the c ity
of Vancouver.”
Drazan, a former state representa-
tive from Canby and leader of the House
Republican caucus, said she’s also an
advocate for building the bridge, and that
she would take an active role to balance
the many competing interests.
“It’s really important that these conver-
sations stay focused on this transportation
question,” Drazan said. “There has to be
additional weight and priority given to the
transportation needs in the region for the
looks at the communities that we need to
create jobs in and the needs of those com-
munities. Tina Kotek is someone that’s
always been accountable to working
people.”
Swanson said projects of this magnitude
require a complicated balance between
creating jobs and keeping the state focused
on aggressive climate goals. That’s why
the union is backing Kotek, who Swanson
believes has credibility across all fronts.
Climate activists, however, are putting
pressure on state lawmakers and other key
decision-makers to scale back the project
to reduce vehicle emissions while encour-
aging bike and pedestrian crossings, as
well as public transit.
Earlier this month , hundreds of teen-
agers from across Portland gathered for
a climate strike in front of C ity H all. The
event was the latest in a series of ongo-
ing protests put on by the Sunrise Move-
ment, a youth-based activist group calling
on the Oregon Department of Transpor-
tation to center climate justice in its proj-
ects, such as the bridge and I-5 Rose Quar-
ter expansion.
“Right now, our leaders have a choice
to make,” said Adah Crandall, a student at
Grant High School, and one of the Sun-
rise Movement’s leaders. “They can either
continue to side with the climate villains
that are destroying our planet, or they can
side with the young people who are gath-
ered here today, fi ghting for our future.”
Wider lanes, more cars
One of the most signifi cant decisions in
the bridge’s future, and an area where the
next governor of Oregon could have infl u-
ence, is how many lanes of traffi c and how
much public transport will happen on the
next I-5 bridge. That’s where Kotek, John-
son and Drazan start to diverge.
Proponents of a bridge wider than the
current bridge’s three-lane confi guration,
such as Drazan, say the region needs to
think about future demand — whether
that’s gas or electric vehicles — and mov-
ing freight more effi ciently through a corri-
dor with international signifi cance.
Project managers recently announced
their preferred bridge scenario, which
includes just four lanes in each direction.
That’s down from 12 and 10 lane confi g-
urations analyzed in the Columbia River
Crossing. They also want to pursue light
rail instead of express buses. None of these
recommendations are fi nal and will require
input from several committees.
Oregon and Washington state lawmak-
ers say they’re concerned the project man-
agers are coming in with too narrow of a
vision for what a new bridge might look
like, and that not adding traffi c lanes will
only further exacerbate the chokepoint that
exists for passenger vehicles and freight.
Drazan criticized the way some trans-
portation projects in Oregon have been
slow to emerge, even as the state allocates
billions of dollars toward them. She said
the state Department of Transportation is
mired in the complicated politics of plan-
ning while the trucking industry suff ers.
Jana Jarvis, the president of the Ore-
gon Trucking Association and a member
of the bridge project’s community advi-
sory group, said she worries the needs of
regional freight businesses aren’t being
fully heard, especially if the I-5 bridge will
not grow notably wider.
“I have repeatedly requested that this
proposal move forward with more capac-
ity than one auxiliary (lane),” Jarvis said.
“We’re going to continue the drumbeat on
adding capacity to the bridge. It’s incon-
ceivable to me that we’re going to put
$5-plus billion into a new structure, with
only marginal capacity improvements.”
Johnson said Oregon’s primary need is
a “safer, bigger” bridge.
“And by bigger, I mean more capac-
ity to serve more cars and more freight,”
Johnson said. “That’s the purpose of this
bridge.”
Johnson voted in favor of the 2013
package Oregon funded, which included
light rail as a part of that eff ort to replace
the bridge. Now, she said, she will push to
get the bridge replaced with or without the
inclusion of public transit options or bike
and pedestrian paths.
“It is time to have a sense of urgency.
I will not let the demands of light rail or
bike lanes hold the bridge hostage,” John-
son said.
Congratulations
to the Recipients of the
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Way to Go!
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