January 23, 2024

Hood River bridge project gets $200M

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Hood River-White Salmon Bridge Authority is set to receive $200 million in federal funds to replace an aging bridge over the Columbia River, about 50 miles upstream from Portland.

The $200 million Department of Transportation grant announced yesterday is expected to cover nearly 40% of the total $520 million project cost.

The project will replace the bridge and improve transportation between the city of Hood River in Oregon and the communities of White Salmon and Bingen in Washington.

The DJC reported in November that the existing 4,418-foot-long steel bridge is nearly 100 years old and carries two narrow lanes — each measuring 9 feet, 4.75 inches wide. It also has height and weight restrictions for vehicles, lacks sidewalks and bicycle lanes, poses a navigational hazard to watercraft, and was not built to modern seismic code.

The authority is currently seeking a design-build team for the replacement bridge. Proposals for that opportunity were due yesterday.

Project planners estimate cars will be able to travel twice as fast on the new bridge, with travel speeds increasing from 22 mph on the current bridge to 45 mph on the new one. It will have a 12-foot-wide shared-use path for bicyclists and pedestrians and is expected to reduce vehicle crashes, emissions, and overall travel time.

With the federal funds, the total raised for the project is now $318 million. This also includes $80 million from Washington state, $25 million from Oregon and $13.6 million in other federal funds.

If the bridge is not replaced, the authority says it would have to be closed to truck traffic in six years and closed to all traffic in 2040.