(The Center Square) – One of the sharpest critics of design plans for the Interstate Bridge Replacement project connecting Oregon and Washington says the project should be equated to the California high-speed rail “boondoggle”
“It is an out-of-control transportation project that it is going to deliver zero. Absolutely nothing,” said Rep. John Ley, R-Vancouver, in a Tuesday interview with The Center Square.
“If I say, picture the California high speed rail, you get a picture of a rail line that suddenly drops 100 feet to the ground, with no train on it, no tracks on it and nothing done,” he said.
“The project is $100 billion unfunded, behind schedule, all of that. The IBR….it’s the same thing. The whole project has exploded from $3.2 billion to now potentially $17 or $18 billion.”
California voters passed a bond measure in November 2008 approving a $9.95 billion bond to finance the high-speed rail project.
The Center Square reported that as of June 2025, no track had been laid.
Ley said like with California’s exploding cost estimate for high-speed light rail, the IBR project continues to climb in cost, with timelines pushed out over and over again.
The Vancouver lawmaker is also sharply critical of adding light rail to the new span.
“Almost nobody wants it,” said Ley adding that he believes ridership estimates are greatly exaggerated. “It will remove almost zero cars off the highway. The tolling’s going to cause 40 to 50,000 vehicles to divert [onto Highway 205]. It is a total mess, and it is a rip off of the whole state of Washington.”
During a March 17, 2026 press conference, Governor Bob Ferguson said the IBR project is moving ahead with current design plans.
“Replacing this 109-year-old bridge with a modern structure is essential to Washington and Oregon,” said Ferguson. “It’s critical for our economy. It’s critical for public safety and it’s critical for the thousands of good paying jobs that come with this project.”
Ley told TCS a vote taken by Oregonians last week rolled back a recent gas tax and fee hike. He sees it as evidence voters there will not support tolls on the new bridge.
“On May 19th, 83% of Oregonians, every single county in the state of Oregon, rejected that tax increase for transportation, gas taxes, and all of that, and tolling is prohibited throughout the state of Oregon other than the I-5 Interstate Bridge,” he said.
“That becomes a challenge on the Oregon side. It is permitted now, but Oregonians clearly don’t want to pay the tolls.”
Ley also noted that current Washington law would allow tolls on the new bridge to go much higher than current estimates.
As reported by The Center Square, rates are forecast to vary from $1.55 to $4.50 per trip.
The updated plan calls for construction on the replacement bridge to start in 2028, with tolling to start at the same time. Drivers will be tolled on the old bridge to pay for the new bridge.
“The language that allowed tolling on the I-5 Interstate Bridge said you can charge up to the highest toll allowed in the state of Washington. So, when the Transportation Commission approved tolling increases from $10 to $15, the maximum toll they could charge on the IBR became $15,” Ley said.
“Now they’re talking about at some point in the future, we need to increase it to $18. Guess what? They can come back and charge up to $18 per toll,” he added.
Only about $5.5 billion in funding has been secured by both states for the IBR project, leaving a large deficit for the anticipated price tag nearly three times that amount.
The project is not expected to be complete in all phases until around 2045.
