THE GORGE — On Jan. 22, the Hood River-White Salmon Bridge replacement project received a large influx of funds to the tune of $200 million. The funds came by way of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s INFRA (Nationally Significant Multimodal Freight & Highway Projects program) grant. The federal program awards grants for infrastructure projects around the country. Among the many who have worked on the project, Sen. Jeff Merkley has been advocating for almost a decade.
U.S Sen. Jeff Merkley
“It’s been a big issue for Hood River County, the town of Hood River and for White Salmon across the way,” Merkley told Columbia Gorge News.
The Hood River-White Salmon Bridge Authority was the recipient of the grant and has now raised more than half of their final funding goal of $520 million. According to the project website, they currently have nearly $320 million in committed funds.
“This funding comes at the perfect time, and will allow us to stay on schedule with building the new bridge,” said Mike Fox, co-chair of the Hood River-White Salmon Bridge Authority. “Because our project is shovel-ready within the next 18 months, these funds will ensure we will move beyond design into construction.”
Rep. Jeff Helfrich
Contributed photo
The state of Washington has allocated $80 million — $75 million through the Move Ahead Washington transportation program and another $5 million grant — and Oregon has contributed $25 million. With the help of Rep. Jeff Helfrich the project received $20 million through Oregon’s 2023 legislative session and an earlier $5 million planning grant from House Bill 2017.
“One of my top priorities during Oregon’s 2023 session was securing funding for this bridge. I was able to get the state of Oregon to commit $20 million to this project and will continue to advocate for more Oregon dollars to support this endeavor,” Helfrich said.
U.S. Sen. Patty Murray
The project also received a $3.6 million grant from USDOT Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) program to help support development of the bike and pedestrian components on the bridge. U.S. Sen. Patty Murray was instrumental in securing $7.5 billion for the RAISE program, which is funded via the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee of the Senate Appropriations Committee. As Senate Appropriations Chair, Murray has advocated strongly for Washington state’s RAISE grant applicants.
“I worked hard to secure advance appropriations for the INFRA program when we were passing the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and have worked closely with local leaders in White Salmon to make sure this region could benefit from the new investments we made in this program,” Murray said.
Leveraging these new funding commitments, the project is in the process of selecting a progressive design-build contractor who will design and construct the new bridge and is on schedule to start construction in 2025.
Q&A with commissioners
On Jan. 24, the Hood River-White Salmon Bridge Authority (HRWSBA) held a Q&A session on Facebook. The online forum was hosted by Commissioner Fox; Marla Keethler, mayor of White Salmon; Jacob Anderson, board co-chair and Klickitat County commissioner; and Mike Shannon, project director, to name a few.
“Especially with this funding coming in, but even prior to that the authority getting in place was another huge milestone. And it really set the stage for what we’re now in the midst of, which, is a year of a lot of activity,” Keethler said.
Most questions surrounded tolls, some residents raised the notion of designing an visually pleasing bridge that fits the backdrop of the Columbia River Gorge. Graphic renderings are available at HoodRiverBridge.org and illustrate what the new bridge and approach spans could potentially look like.
“It was actually developed a couple of years ago, as part of our permitting process. It’s called the preferred option. It’s basically a concrete cantilever, box girder type of structure,” Fox said. “There’s ways that we can make it prettier than just an ugly, concrete box.”
One way they are doing that is by creating the Bridge Aesthetics Committee (BAC), which will develop the Aesthetics Guidance Memorandum to help the design team make choices on the new bridge’s appearance. Keethler added that the committee will be represented by residents, but also local organizations.
“We are also planning some public workshops and online events. So even if you’re not on the BAC, there’s still going to be ample opportunities for members of the public to participate,” said Jessica Pickul, JLA public involvement program manager and event facilitator.
Questions were submitted via the comment section and one viewer asked if the roundabout on the Washington side is going to be included in the construction of a new bridge.
Shannon explained that they are still early in the design phase and it is just a concept, but project staff “envision a potential roundabout on the Washington side.”
Another asked if they expect the state of Oregon to match funds contributed by the state of Washington.
“Yeah,” said Anderson. “We want $125 million from Washington and $125 million from Oregon. [Oregon] was able to get us $20 million this last year, and they will hopefully be doing a transportation package in 2025 where they can come up with the difference.”
The bridge authority will meet next on Feb. 12 at 2 p.m., followed by the first BAC meeting on Feb. 13 at 5:30 p.m.
Commented
Sorry, there are no recent results for popular commented articles.