The effort to construct a new Hood River-White Salmon Interstate Bridge took a huge step forward Monday, receiving a commitment for $200 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Nationally Significant Multimodal Freight and Highway Projects program.  The grant moves the amount of funding the project now has accumulated to $320 million in federal and state dollars to put toward the estimated cost of $520 million to build the bridge, while looking for another $105 million from Oregon and $50 million from Washington, with more money to come from a federal loan backed by toll revenue.  Members of the Hood River-White Salmon Bridge Authority say the funding announcement keeps the bridge project on schedule and ensure it will move from design into construction, with board member and Port of Hood River Commissioner Mike Fox noting they have made a large amount of progress in a little over two years.  Bridge commissioners plan to hold a question-and-answer session for the public on Facebook on Wednesday from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m.