Wilsonville Collaborates to Reduce Traffic Congestion at I-5 Boone Bridge Chokepoint

May 30, 2019 — The City of Wilsonville is working with the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) and elected officials to advance legislation that would fund a critical first step toward completing traffic improvements and seismic upgrades to the I-5 Boone Bridge over the Willamette River.

Introduced by Sen. Alan Olsen of Canby and amended by Rep. Courtney Neron of Wilsonville, Senate Bill 1021-1 would provide $3.5 million to ODOT for preliminary engineering and design to develop the “I-5 Wilsonville Facility Plan.” The project, adopted by ODOT in July 2018, recommends a new I-5 southbound ramp-to-ramp auxiliary lane from Exit 283 to Exit 282A and seismically upgrades the Boone Bridge to withstand a Cascadia 9.0 earthquake.

At a May 20 work session, the Joint Transportation Committee unanimously provided SB 1021-1 with a “Do-Pass” recommendation and referred the bill to the Joint Committee on Ways and Means Subcommittee on Transportation and Economic Development. Currently, SB 1021-1 does not have a hearing scheduled before the Joint Committee on Ways and Means.

Wilsonville Mayor Tim Knapp testified before the Joint Transportation Committee on May 15 in support of SB 1021-1. Knapp said that while the I-5 Boone Bridge carries nearly as many vehicles as the I-5 “Columbia River Crossing” Interstate Bridge linking Oregon and Washington, it carries one-third more semi-trucks.

A southbound ramp-to-ramp auxiliary lane would reduce slow-downs, accidents, commute times and costly freight delay by providing more space for drivers to safely merge. The auxiliary lane would also allow local traffic entering from Wilsonville Rd. to exit without merging at Charbonneau (282B) or onto State Highway 551 (282A), an Oregon Route 99E connector that serves Canby, Molalla and Woodburn.

The $3.5 million appropriated by SB 1021-1 would facilitate ODOT’s undertaking of preliminary engineering and design to yield a firm cost estimate and position the state to leverage federal highway funding; the total project cost is estimated at $120 million.

For further information on the status of the proposed legislation and supporting materials, visit ci.wilsonville.or.us/I-5BooneBridge.