A 12-lane auto-friendly bridge leading to sprawl and pollution? Now, where have I heard that before?

From today’s Oregonian:

[The Columbia River Crossing] is also designed to accommodate expected population growth. The Portland-Vancouver metro area is forecast to grow by 46 percent, to 3 million people, by 2030. Clark County is expected to exceed that: Its population could rise by 65 percent in the same period.

Portland City Council members have said at recent public meetings they fear the consequences of enabling Clark County population growth with a new bridge. It could encourage more people to live in far-flung areas of Clark County, chewing up the landscape and adding car use.

As Metro Council President David Bragdon sees it, the challenge is how to build a bridge “without 100,000 people thinking they can move to Battle Ground.”

People buy homes and locate businesses based on the transportation infrastructure nearby, says Joe Cortright, a Portland economist who chairs Gov. Ted Kulongoski’s Council of Economic Advisors.

“If we build more capacity there, what we’re saying is we want more people to live in Clark County and commute to jobs in Portland,” Cortright says. “This is contingent on keeping Clark County barefoot and pregnant economically.”

Check out the whole piece in today’s Oregonian, which examines the potentially 12-lane bridge’s possible—hell, probable—impact on sprawl in Vancouver’s suburbs.

Then, come to Debate Club tonight! Metro councilor Rex Burkholder moderates a conversation with folks like Jill Fuglister of Coalition for a Livable Future and economist Joe Cortright—both quoted in the piece above—plus people who know this bridge project inside and out.

That’s tonight at Edge of Belmont, 3350 SE Morrison, 7 pm, free and ALL AGES.