The Oregon and Washington departments of transportation have drafted recommendations to scale back plans for a replacement Columbia River Crossing bridge and save $650 million on what had been estimated as a $3.1-billion to $4.2-billion project.
Much of the savings comes from shrinking the number of lanes to 10 from 12, eliminating two ramps and reusing the existing highway bridges over North Portland Harbor. “The bridge could be reconfigured to accommodate 12 lanes in the future,” says Carley Francis, Columbia River Crossing spokesperson.