A bill that would restart the planning process for a new I-5 bridge over the Columbia River continues to cruise through the Washington Legislature.

The Washington Senate gave its approval 44-4 to SB 5806 Monday. It had already passed the House and now goes to Gov. Jay Inslee.

The bill, originally drafted by Sen. Annette Cleveland, D-Vancouver, would establish a Joint Oregon-Washington legislative action committee to work on several fronts, including beginning a process towards development for a new bridge.

The bill would appropriate $350,000 for the Washington Department of Transportation to sort data generated by the ill-fated Columbia River Crossing project that could be pertinent to the construction of a new replacement bridge.

"What this bill represents on a technical level are key initial steps to get this important project moving," Cleveland said.

But Washington will need a partner in Oregon to get it done. And so far, Oregon officials have made it clear that a revived Columbia River bridge project is not on their near-term to-do list.

The prior attempt to get a replacement bridge built died in 2014 after Washington pulled its support.

Ron Arp, of Identity Clark County, a Southwest Washington business group, cheered the Senate's vote adding that it should show Oregon that there is bipartisan support for reviving the bridge project in Washington. "The folks in Oregon wanted to see that," Arp said. "The next step is for our Legislature to reach out to Oregon's."

This time around, there are not hundreds of millions of federal dollars waiting to be spent on the project. On the other hand, Ard said, this time the focus is strictly on a replacement bridge. The failed Columbia River Crossing included a five-mile stretch of freeway, multiple expensive interchanges and light-rail extension in addition to the bridge.

-- Jeff Manning

503-294-7606, jmanning@oregonian.com