Pamplin Media Group – MultCo Seeks Federal Grant to Replace Burnside Bridge

The $5 million grant will be used in the design phase of the Burnside Earthquake-Ready Bridge project.

One of the biggest questions for the Burnside Earthquake-Ready Bridge Replacement Project in Multnomah County was: “How will it be funded?”

Thursday, April 7, the County Board of Commissioners authorized employees to apply for $5 million as part of the US Department of Transportation’s Rebuilding Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity Grant Program.

“Go ahead and get some cash,” Commissioner Jessica Vega-Pederson said, and thanked Megan Neal, the county’s project manager, for the application.

The 2021 Infrastructure and Jobs Investment Act has earmarked $1.5 billion for discretionary projects through the program this year.

The district plans to use the grant at the project design stage. The scholarship requires 20% matching funds, which will come from vehicle registration fee income, according to county officials.

Employees expect the county to select a contractor to design the bridge this fall.

If the county gets the grant, officials will still have a long way to go to fully fund the $825 million to $915 million project.

The county has access to about $300 million for the project in local vehicle registration fee proceeds. To make up the difference, employees are working to secure funds from local, state, and federal sources such as the 2021 Infrastructure Package.

The county aims to replace the Burnside Bridge with a span that can withstand a major earthquake in the area, to serve as a lifeline across the Willamette River.

Geologists say there is a one in three chance that an earthquake of magnitude 8.0 or higher will occur in the region within the next 50 years, likely to cause widespread damage to buildings, roads and other infrastructure. It has been more than 300 years since the last major earthquake along the Cascadia Subduction Zone, a fault in the Earth’s crust that stretches from British Columbia to northern California.

Last month, the board approved cost-saving measures that would reduce the project’s cost by as much as $240 million. The project cost was originally estimated at more than $1 billion.

County officials have directed staff to develop cost-saving measures for the project due to epidemic-related price increases for construction materials and labor. Officials also cited inflation as a factor in rising costs. In addition, Metro’s regional transmission bond, which would have contributed $150 million to the project, failed in 2020.

In May, the public can review and comment on a supplementary draft of the project’s Environmental Impact Statement, which will document cost-saving measures and their impacts. The Federal Highway Administration will be required to approve a final environmental impact statement in late 2022.

Design work is expected to begin in late 2022, with construction to begin in 2025, and pending funds secured.

For information on the project, visit www.burnsidebridge.org.

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