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Yesterday, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced plans to replace the aging Interstate 5 Columbia River Crossing bridges and build an interstate transit link can now advance between the states of Washington and Oregon.

The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) issued a “record of decision” that represents the final clearance of the $3 billion project’s environmental review and allows Oregon and Washington to begin right-of-way acquisition and construction.

The Columbia River Crossing project will replace the I-5 bridges over the Columbia River that connect Vancouver, Wash., to Portland, Ore. The project entails bridge, transit and highway improvements, and is considered a long-term comprehensive solution to address safety and congestion problems on five miles of I-5. The project will be funded through a combination of state and federal sources.

The nearly three-mile light-rail portion of the project will extend from the Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon’s Expo Center MAX station in Portland to Clark College in Vancouver. The transit-rail project will reduce the duration of daily congestion on I-5 near the Columbia River by nearly 60 percent, USDOT officials said in a prepared statement.

“We are making the long-sought after rail transit link between Portland and Vancouver possible,” said Federal Transit Administrator Peter Rogoff. “This is the type of forward-leaning project that will greatly benefit the entire region well into the future.”