CORRIDORS OF THE FUTURE
Fact Sheet

CORRIDOR: Interstate 5 (I-5) - Washington to California

Submitted by:

California, Oregon, and Washington State DOTs

Corridors of the Future funding:

• $15 million in Interstate Maintenance Discretionary (IMD) funds for the Columbia River Bridge Crossing (CRBC) project between Oregon and Washington.

Project Description:

The application addresses infrastructure improvements to I-5 from the U.S. border with Canada, through the states of Washington, Oregon, and California, to the U.S. border with Mexico. The application consists of three state reports that describe individual State corridor development priorities and approaches to improving I-5. The application also includes improvements to the CRBC in the Portland, OR, and Vancouver, WA, metropolitan area. In addition to I-5, the regional freight/passenger rail corridor is included for designation within the Eugene, OR to Vancouver, B.C. portion of the corridor. Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) improvements and an Alternative Fuels Corridor are included.

The projects proposed in the application offer the opportunity for moderate congestion reduction and mobility improvements. The CRBC offers the opportunity for significant congestion reduction and mobility improvements within the Portland, OR and Vancouver, WA metropolitan area.

Status:

The projects discussed in the application are in various stages of development. The CRBC project is among the most important and significant of the proposed projects for the corridor. A draft environmental impact statement is scheduled to be completed by February 2008.

Corridor Statistics:

The entire I-5 corridor is over 1,350 miles with approximately 550 miles traversing through urban areas. Currently, the average daily traffic throughout the entire corridor is approximately 71,000 with a maximum over 300,000. Average daily truck traffic is near 10,000 with a maximum over 35,000. Among the 550 mile urban segments, over 65 percent is currently under heavy congestion.

Without any further improvement to the corridor, the projected 2035 average daily traffic will be over 150,000 which includes over 22,000 trucks. By 2035, over 95 percent of urban segments will be under congestion. Congestion for non-urban segments will increase from the current 31 percent to over 85 percent.

Press Release: U.S. Department of Transportation Names Six Interstate Routes as "Corridors of the Future" to Help Fight Traffic Congestion, I-95, I-70, I-15, I-5, I-10, and I-69 selected, 9/10/07

FHWA Press Room