Columbia River Crossing

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The Columbia River Crossing project is a bridge, transit and highway improvement project for I-5 between Vancouver and Portland. It is co-sponsored by the Oregon and Washington Departments of Transportation, and is working to address the congestion, mobility and safety problems on I-5 between State Route 500 in Vancouver and Columbia Boulevard in Portland.

City Focus
The City of Vancouver has been working on the Columbia River Crossing project for several years. This is an important project for the community, and there are many opportunities for the public to continue learning about the project and provide feedback.

In July 2008, the City of Vancouver and the five other local project partners selected a replacement I-5 bridge with light rail to Clark College as the Columbia River Crossing’s Locally Preferred Alternative (LPA).

Community Connector Project Design concept selected
The Community Connector design concept submitted by Gustafson Guthrie Nichol/Allied Works Architecture Team has been selected by a jury comprised of distinguished professionals from across the United States. The competition was between four outstanding design teams and was initiated to develop a conceptual design for a Community Connector that would reconnect the Fort Vancouver National Site to downtown Vancouver and help meet federally mandated mitigation requirements. This mitigation is triggered by the planned widening of I-5 in proximity to the West Barracks area of the Fort Vancouver National Site, which will occur in conjunction with the Columbia River Crossing (CRC) project to replace the I-5 bridge over the Columbia River.  With a design concept in hand, City staff will initiate more detailed coordination with the CRC designers and engineers during the CRC planning and engineering phases. Please click here to get more information, including images of the selected design.

Bridge Design Images
The volunteer Columbia River Crossing Urban Design Advisory Group (UDAG) made a recommendation in September on a design concept for the replacement I-5 bridge and two alternatives for the North Portland Harbor bridge. The Architectural Design Concept images are available at http://www.columbiarivercrossing.org/FileLibrary/ 

Tolling and Traffic
Visit the Columbia River Crossing Web site to learn more about how tolling can help fund the project in a way that is best for taxpayers, users of the bridge, and nearby communities.

What's Next?
Before a final design can be developed, key decisions will be made on project elements, including:

• Number of auxiliary lanes and design of the I-5 bridge
• Highway and interchange design
• Pedestrian and bicycle pathway location and design
• High capacity transit alignment on Hayden Island and Vancouver
• Travel demand management strategies
• Sustainability plan
• Mitigation plan
• Financing and tolling plan

Ongoing public input on these elements is critical to the project development process. Additional analysis of the environmental and community effects of the project will be included in a Final EIS, expected in late 2009.

Information on these decisions and public information and comment opportunities, please visit the Columbia River Crossing website.

Past City Council Workshops

On-demand video coverage from CVTV.

CVTV Programs

Past City Planning Commission Meetings

Feedback

The City of Vancouver is interested in your opinions about the Columbia River Crossing project. Take this quick survey to find out how your ideas compare to your neighbors.

Picture Library - See what a new bridge might look like

Links to graphics and other key documents.

Video Library

See what your neighbors and local business owners are saying about the CRC Project!

More Resources on the Web