EDITORIAL: Clarity, accuracy from start of project critical
May 13-Among the biggest frustrations for taxpayers is the inability of government to accurately estimate the cost of infrastructure projects.
Constant cost overruns - and construction delays - undermine public trust in government. They generate a reluctance to support large projects and produce an intractable cynicism. Whether a result of unforeseen circumstances or intentional obfuscation, governments at all levels often appear incapable of giving taxpayers a reliable price tag for construction.
Residents of Washington and Oregon saw an example recently with the Interstate Bridge Replacement Program. After years of saying the cost of the project would be between $5 billion and $7.5 billion, administrators early this year revealed a new estimate of up to $17 billion.
The fact that costs had increased was not surprising. But the amount of the increase - and the revelation that officials were slow in publicly revealing the new estimate - threatens to scuttle the entire project.
That is just one example - and an extreme one - of the unsolvable puzzle that is infrastructure spending. But another arrived this week as Vancouver City Council members were told that the cost of a new public works operations center has climbed from $177 million to $225 million - a 27 percent increase. City staff attribute the increase to regulatory requirements, inflation on materials and labor costs, tariffs and supply-chain issues.
While critics will be tempted to blame local officials for a lack of foresight, the issue of cost overruns is not unique to Vancouver or Washington or the United States.
As the authors of "How Big Things Get Done" wrote in 2023: "Though some kinds of projects are particularly likely to go bad, and some places seem to have a harder time building them than do others, the problem is, in fact, global, and it affects digital infrastructure as well as bridges, tunnels, subways, airports, and buildings."
Or as a paper for Governing.com surmised in 2024: "Problems with estimating infrastructure costs start at the very beginning, due to the often-complicated process of running cost estimates. The political pressure to keep costs low can result in unrealistic projections. More frequently, the agencies starting new projects, such as roads, train lines or school facilities, fail to account for all the variables in construction."
There also can be incentives for underestimating costs - and there is nothing new about that. From the mid-1920s into the 1970s, Robert Moses oversaw a half-century of public works projects in New York. As the 1974 biography "The Power Broker" details, Moses learned early in his career that once a project is started, public officials will pay for cost overruns rather than halt the project. The beginning of construction is essentially the issuance of a blank check for future expenses.
Still, clarity and accuracy from the start must be the goal. As The Columbian wrote editorially about the price of a new Interstate 5 Bridge: "Overcoming those obstacles requires transparency on the part of planners - the kind of transparency that builds trust, directly and honestly answers questions and allows the public to know what is going on."
A new public works center is the largest public capital project undertaken by the city of Vancouver. And city officials have effectively outlined the need for the center and its importance to current and future operations. But the newly announced price increase adds to public frustration and doubt that government can act efficiently.
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This story was originally published May 13, 2026 at 7:06 AM.