Bridge planners running up tab on I-5 span

Construction is at least two years away, but the Columbia River Crossing has run up a tab of $108.5 million in planning costs as of the end of September.

Those costs are escalating as planners shift toward the home stretch of a multibillion-dollar project more than a decade in the works.

Underscoring the complicated and costly nature of the endeavor, a new expert review panel is due to convene for the first time this week.

Crossing planners haven’t yet estimated the cost of this new 16-member panel, which meets Wednesday at the Washington Department of Transportation’s regional office in Vancouver. The panel will focus on the design of the new Interstate 5 bridge across the Columbia.

Like everything else with this project, it won’t be cheap. Spending has escalated as planners work toward a final environmental impact statement and a formal record of decision. Officials had hoped to meet those milestones by the end of this year, but they’ve now been pushed back to mid-2011 as engineers incorporate design changes on Hayden Island sought by Portland elected leaders.

Planners and consultants burned through $10.7 million between July and the end of September – $3.5 million per month. Crossing officials say the money spent to date is in line with what they expected by this point.

Currently estimated to cost $3.6 billion, the proposal would replace the existing twin three-lane drawbridges across the Columbia with 10 lanes, extend Portland’s light-rail transit system to Vancouver and improve five miles of I-5 between state Highway 500 and Marine Drive in Portland.

The project is tapping $134 million in state and federal funding set aside to plan for the project.