Draft Refinement Recommendation

Draft Refinement Recommendation could reduce CRC project costs by $650 million

In June 2009, the CRC Project Sponsors Council (PSC) directed project staff to analyze the project for potential refinements that could produce cost savings while maintaining the project’s environmental, economic, transportation, and safety benefits. After five months of meetings with project partners and reviewing different refinements, the CRC staff prepared a draft recommendation that was presented to the Project Sponsors Council Dec. 4, 2009 for consideration. During the meeting, PSC members heard testimony from dozens of people, asked for additional information and decided to continue the discussion on the recommendation at its Jan. 22, 2010 meeting. The draft recommendation, if adopted, would reduce the project’s cost.

The draft recommendation includes savings of up to $650 million to current highway plans (about 20 percent of the total highway cost), including a 10 lane bridge over the Columbia River. As a result of the cost-saving analysis and recent decisions on bridge design, officials now estimate the most likely cost of construction to be $3.2 billion, within a range of $2.6 to $3.6 billion. Previous estimates were $3.1 - $4.2 billion.

This proposal includes:

Eliminating a dedicated ramp (braid) to access Victory Boulevard from I-5 southbound
Eliminating an elevated ramp (flyover) across I-5 as part of the Marine Drive interchange
Reusing the existing highway bridges over North Portland Harbor
Eliminating elevated structures over Hayden Island and lowering the profile of the interstate
Reducing the width of the I-5 bridge to accommodate 10 traffic lanes instead of 12
Removing one planned highway lane between SR 14 and SR 500
Eliminating the ramps to I-5 northbound from SR 500 and from I-5 southbound to SR 500