CRC rendering

Officials released a rendering of the proposed Columbia River Crossing before it was shelved in 2014. Washington lawmakers are taking another swing at replacing the span that connects Portland to Vancouver.

(Columbia River Crossing)

OLYMPIA, Wash. -- Washington's House of Representatives has passed a bill seeking to jumpstart plans for replacing the Interstate 5 bridge over the Columbia River.

KOIN-TV reports that the measure, filed by Vancouver Democrat Sharon Wylie, aims to start preliminary planning work related to the project. It's one of the first steps in getting a new bridge project going after the last effort, the proposed Columbia River Crossing, fell apart in 2014 after tens of millions of dollars were spent.

Wylie said bridge congestion is worsening due to increased truck traffic and the construction of a new casino north of Vancouver.

The bill, along with a related one in the Senate, passed 60-38 Monday. It calls for an inventory of work done for the Columbia River Crossing project and would create a committee of stakeholders and Department of Transportation employees in Oregon and Washington.

Engineers say the existing bridge could collapse in a big earthquake. Cost estimates for the last bridge project neared $3 billion.

Sen. Annette Cleveland, who co-sponsored the Senate version, told The Oregonian/OregonLive last month that not dealing with the aging bridge "would be really irresponsible."

"It is limiting our ability to grow our economy, to move freight," the Vancouver Democrat said. "We have a future generation that is expecting us to act responsibly."

The Columbia River Crossing had been in development for more than a decade before its demise. It was to include light rail into downtown Vancouver, bike and pedestrian lanes, a new bridge and a significantly widened freeway and multiple new interchanges along a five-mile stretch of I-5. The federal government agreed to kick in more than a third of its estimated cost.

But the light rail and plans to charge tolls inspired a conservative, anti-government backlash, according to reports in The Oregonian/OregonLive. Washington pulled out of the project in summer 2013. Oregon tried for months to complete the project on its own but eventually gave up in March 2014.

By then, project sponsors had spent $190 million.

-- The Associated Press