EDITORIAL: The best bridge is the one that can get built
The frustration is understandable. But as plans for a replacement Interstate 5 Bridge are tweaked and twisted, critics must remember that the best bridge is the one that can be built.
The Vancouver City Council this week unanimously approved a resolution opposing the latest change to the proposal - a change that would bring Portland's light-rail system to Vancouver's waterfront but not farther north. The current plan has light rail continuing to Evergreen Boulevard.
There are, indeed, issues with the new proposal. Vancouver City Manager Lon Pluckhahn noted in a staff report that Vancouver has been planning on waterfront and Evergreen light rail stops since 2022. The Evergreen stop would provide links to C-Tran's bus system, including bus rapid transit lines known as the Vine.
Terminating the light rail line at the waterfront would complicate those plans, perhaps to the point of impossibility. The waterfront MAX station, just north of the bridge, is designed to sit 90 feet above the waterfront, with access provided by elevators.
That is feasible for a standard MAX station. The Washington Park stop on Portland's Red Line and Blue Line sits 260 feet below ground - the deepest transit station in North America. That stop is within walking distance of the Oregon Zoo, Portland Children's Museum, World Forestry Center and Hoyt Arboretum.
But trying to link an elevated station with other transit options is another issue. As Vancouver City Councilor Erik Paulsen said, according to Oregon Public Broadcasting, "It is effectively hovering over the waterfront of downtown Vancouver. That is not an effective place to connect three Vine lines and all of our other transit lines. So, no, that does not work for the city of Vancouver."
The reason for the proposed change is one that shadows any vast infrastructure project: money. Officials last month revealed that the estimated cost of the full project - a new bridge, updated interchanges and arterials, and a light-rail extension - had ballooned to $14.4 billion. Previous estimates were approximately $6 billion, and the sharp increase has led to doubts about the future of the bridge.
Gov. Bob Ferguson has pledged to complete the project and include light rail but said it could be constructed in a phased approach. "I'm not looking backwards," Ferguson said during a press conference last month. "We're building this damn bridge. That's happening."
He added, "My job as governor is to make sure that we focus on what we can do right now and what's most important right now."
Wasted time is wasted money, meaning that what can be done now should be the focus of all stakeholders. The Columbia River Crossing proposal, which was scuttled in 2013, had a projected cost of $3.5 billion. The fact that 13 years of delay have quadrupled the price for a new project should lend a sense of urgency to the current plan - even if it is rife with imperfections.
Halting light rail at the waterfront might be nonsensical, meaning that a bridge that is designed for future light-rail access could be the better alternative. Or, perhaps, extending light rail to Evergreen Boulevard in the original construction might prove to be feasible. And make no mistake: The eventual inclusion of light rail is important for the region's economic, climate and modernization goals.
But as the project moves forward and multiple voices are heard, the focus must remain on the bridge that is the core of the project. And the best bridge is the one that can get built.
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This story was originally published April 18, 2026 at 7:23 AM.