Columbia River Crossing, Road bridge connecting Oregon and Washington across Columbia River

The Columbia River Crossing was a proposed freeway megaproject, not a built structure: from 2005 to 2013 Oregon and Washington planned to replace the Interstate Bridge, a pair of through-truss spans over the Columbia River. The northbound span dates to 1917 and its companion opened in 1958; each carried three lanes with no emergency lanes and had a vertical-lift span on the Washington side. The plan, blocked in July 2013, would have added light rail and ten lanes on a double-deck truss.

The Columbia River Crossing was a proposed megaproject, not a built structure: from 2005 to 2013 Oregon and Washington planned to replace the Interstate Bridge, a pair of through-truss spans. The northbound bridge dated to 1917, nine years before the U.S. Highway System, and carried U.S. Route 99; its companion opened in 1958 for southbound traffic. The Washington State Senate blocked funding in July 2013.

The name "Columbia River Crossing" was the project label used from 2005 to 2013; Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber's 2013 bill H.B. 2260 renamed it "The Interstate 5 Bridge Replacement Program", a rebranding noted by local and national journalists. The crossing itself carries Interstate 5, which replaced U.S. Route 99 as the route number here.

The bridges are open to vehicle traffic around the clock, though they lack emergency lanes for disabled cars along the sides. Peak traffic times can bring congestion, so traveling during off-peak hours tends to be faster.

The Columbia River Crossing was never built: the Washington State Senate refused $450 million in July 2013, ending a project that had already spent $175 million of roughly $227 million allocated, much of it on subsurface testing. The 1917 and 1958 Interstate Bridge spans it was meant to replace still carry I-5 today.