WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama will give an important boost to the fractious Columbia River Crossing project on Monday, ordering the $3.5 billion replacement bridge across the Columbia River be given "expedited" status.



The move, confirmed Friday evening by a White House official, is designed to clear away federal barriers to the jobs-rich project, which has been beset by squabbles over its design and cost by assorted interests in Oregon, Washington state, Congress and among local officials.



"The Administration is committed to doing its part to help communities across the country move forward with these critical projects as quickly and efficiently as possible," Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said in a statement to be released on Monday. The Oregonian was given an advanced copy.



While the move is largely bureaucratic the White House insists it will have real effect and could speed up the replacement of what many consider one of the West Coast's worst choke-points for commuter and commercial transport. There's no financing attached to this latest move, but it's seen as a statement of the White House's commitment to the project.





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"Coordination among agencies will save between several months to more than a year on these projects," the White House said, in making the announcement.



The Columbia River Project is one of four "nationally and regionally significant surface transportation projects" getting special attention from the President. The idea is to solve long-standing traffic snarls while accelerating projects that promise lots of jobs.



The others on Obama's list are the Point Defiance Bypass in Washington state, along with other major projects in North Dakota and Maine.



Gov. John Kitzhaber, who has been battling to win assurances that Oregon will finance its part of the project, welcomed the news.



"This federal support will help coordinate CRC's federal permits and demonstrates confidence that this project will get done," he said in a written statement. "Now it is time for Oregon and Washington to show our commitment so we can get this going."



Washington Gov. Christine Gregoire also applauded Obama's announcement. "Our businesses and citizens are working hard to recover from the economic recession, and they can't afford losing the I-5 connection across the Columbia River from an earthquake, or for freight and commuters to be stuck in traffic during bridge lifts and accidents," she said.



Obama's decision to highlight the four projects is part of his "We Can't Wait" initiative. The effort was triggered after Congress failed to move on a package of bills sponsored by the White House to jump start the economy.



When Congress balked Obama ordered government agencies in March to find ways to unilaterally boost investment and projects to create jobs. Under that order, the Office of Management and Budget is charged with overseeing a government-wide effort to make the permitting and review process for infrastructure projects more efficient and effective, saving time while driving better outcomes for local communities.



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