Since replacing the Interstate Bridges at Hayden Island is apparently bogged down in (a) the need for endless studies, and (b) no one having $4 billion to throw at the project, let's abandon the effort and think small.
The Interstate and Glenn Jackson Bridges don't have enough capacity at peak hours to handle the existing demand. Instead of expensively replacing the Interstate Bridges, let's consider building a third crossing to take some of the strain off of the existing crossings.
The idea came to me as I was headed east on the Banfield Freeway near Fairview, at evening rush hour, and saw the jammed traffic headed west toward downtown and Interstate 205. We can build a four-lane or even a six-lane non-freeway bridge between Camas and Fairview, or a similar bridge at approximately NE 181st Avenue, without the bells, whistles, extra ramps, and so forth, for a lot less than $4 billion. Some of the I-205 traffic will move east to the new bridge, and some of the I-5 traffic will move east to I-205.
I think that saves about $3 billion and gets all of the same result, except the light rail. It's a good thing for the public that I don't work on commission.