Primary Place of Business for Bridge Authority will be in Oregon

The Primary Place of Business for the new Hood River-White Salmon Bridge Authority will be in Oregon

Thanks to great community input and your participation in the Headquarters Location survey, the Bistate Working Group (BSWG) has selected Oregon as the primary place of business (PPB) for the Hood River-White Salmon Bridge Authority. The Bridge Authority will form this summer as the new governing body for the replacement bridge. This group will be responsible for all decisions related to the new bridge, from design and construction to future tolling.   

To better understand the communities' priorities around this decision, the bridge replacement team ran a Headquarters Location survey. The survey ran for about two weeks in December and received 1,925 submissions, 556 of those included additional comments and questions. Most (76%) participants were in support of locating the PPB  in Hood River, Oregon. Given the significant financial benefits to choosing Oregon, the BSWG agreed with the public opinion on this decision.

Apart from the future financial benefits to locating the PPB in Oregon, the Bridge Replacement team recognizes and heard from the community that Washington residents want equal representation and consideration in all matters regarding the new bridge. To support this, the team is looking at options to locate an office on the Washington side of the Columbia River, in addition to equal Oregon/Washington representation on the Bridge Authority. This will provide our Washington residents more access to support and resources without the extra burden of crossing the bridge.

To read more about the regulatory differences between Oregon and Washington click here.