A $4 billion effort to replace the Interstate 5 Bridge over the Columbia River may collapse because of political squabbles and lack of money, officials said.

Even after new designs were unveiled for what a Columbia River crossing might look like and after two years of planners and local officials talking about financing the new bridge with tolls (an idea strongly supported in Portland but at least as strongly opposed in Vancouver) local leaders still disagree on how to solve the issue.

“If there are no tolls to manage the bridge itself; if there’s no light rail to pay for this project, and unless this project gets more affordable, I’m not going to support it,” Portland Mayor Sam Adams said Friday.

Vancouver’s Mayor Royce Pollard, who has said he does support a small toll said his community is embracing light rail. “Sam has to be careful,” said Pollard. “He should not be dictating to the city of Vancouver or putting ultimatums on the table. There’s lots of areas in which I could put ultimatums on the table, and if he forces me to do it, I will.”

Pollard is up for re-election this November and is in a tight race with Tim Leavitt who said a toll of any amount is unfair to the 60,000 Clark County residents who commute daily to Portland for work.

“The way I see the process [that] is rolling out now is we’re going to have to look at a scaled back project,” he said.

Portland restaurant owner and business community leader Michael Zokoych said he needs more from the people in charge to fix the traffic mess.

Right now we don’t seem to hear the voice of leadership about how to get this problem solved,” he said. “What we hear is bickering.”

Engineers said they are looking to scale back on some of the costs of the project, but so far there is no federal money committed to it.

In an initial examination, Columbia River Crossing personnel have identified more than $300 million in potential savings by reducing the interchange overhauls. Reducing the number of traffic lanes could have a bigger impact but would require more study, and CRC staff would not offer a cost savings estimate on that idea as of Thursday.

As now conceived, the existing six-lane span would be replaced by a 12-lane bridge equipped for a light rail extension, and six interchanges along four miles of the freeway on both sides of the river would be overhauled.

The document released earlier in the week that contains potential designs for the bridge does not include the costs for each design.

Link to new bridge designs

The Associated Press contributed to this report.