This Week in the Mercury
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Portland / Politics Metro Council Hears More Divided Testimony On The Columbia River Crossing
Posted by Matt Davis on Thu, Feb 5, 2009 at 4:43 PM
There's been more divided testimony on the proposed Columbia River Crossing at a hearing at Metro Regional Council's offices on NE Grand this afternoon.
METRO COUNCIL: President David Bragdon gets a lot of attention, but there's six other members on the council...
As with last week's city council hearing on the subject, testimony began in broad support of the 12-lane bridge. Portland Business Alliance director Sandra McDonough repeated her support of the 12-lane option, as did Frito-Lay transportation director Aidan Jones, who said Frito-Lay transports 30 million cases of its product across the existing bridge, every year. Frito-Lay trucks merge on and off the bridge 70 times a day, said Jones. "This is not a capacity issue," he siad. "It is an issue of safety, and a 12-lane bridge should not be compromised for any reason."
"I wanted to say that I'm a little bit disturbed by the types of fear tactics that people are using in their testimony...for example, testimony prior to mine suggested that somehow Oregon's high unemployment rate is a result of our poor transportation planning. Scare tactics have been used to convince us that if we don't build a 12 lane bridge our economy will collapse, people will die in hospitals, and the world will come to an end. And it's simply not so. I sat in traffic in a 16-lane freeway in Atlanta, parked," said John Reinhold, a citizen from SE Portland. "We can provide jobs with a smart and well-thought-out project, just as we can with a badly planned project," he continued.
There was also heavy use of metaphor by those in opposition to the bridge...
"Some people want ten roller-coasters, others want twelve roller-coasters. I'm a little worried, though. Have we really thought through how much people love roller-coasters?" said Carl Larson, a citizen of SE Portland, whom I also recognized from his work for the Bicycle Transportation Alliance (BTA). "I urge Metro to demand congestion pricing on our asphalt playgrounds," he continued. "We can't afford to build them without it. I'm not a fan of our current rickety little playground, but I'm fairly certain that building a Columbia River Six Flags runs contrary to the reasons I moved to Portland."
"While I'm willing to accept that we need a house of some kind, I'm unwilling to believe that we need the mansion proposed by the CRC team, particularly with the study that has been paid for by the people building the bridge," said Michelle Poyourow, from the BTA. She encouraged an independent inspection team for the plans for the bridge.
Councilman Rex Burkholder said Poyourow's was a "clever analogy," but that he didn't agree with it.
"If anybody's noticed, the country's broke, we really don't have any money, we'll be borrowing the money for this bridge from the Chinese," said citizen, Jeff Bernards. "All the people who came up here and spoke had no idea of where they were going to get the money from the bridge. They just want. And that's what's wrong with the country."
"I wouldn't loan you any money to buy you a bridge unless you were willing to tax the people using the old one to show some support for the new bridge," Bernards continued. "I think what you're really doing is encouraging an old-style economy, and that's over."
Others have made their protests in visual form:
CRC PROTEST: Somewhat difficult to understand...
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Let me explain. They're what PJ ORourke refers to as the 'perenially indignent' and can be seen gathering largely starting in late spring.
On other occasions, such as the above, childish theatrics and tantrums by the (yes I am generalizing) trust funded and non-job holding pop up around the city.
They don't actually do anything positive for anyone, otherwise known as 'raising awareness.'
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""Some people want ten roller-coasters, others want twelve roller-coasters. I'm a little worried, though. Have we really thought through how much people love roller-coasters?" said Carl Larsen, a citizen of SE Portland, whom I also recognized from his work for the Bicycle Transportation Alliance (BTA). "I urge Metro to demand congestion pricing on our asphalt playgrounds," he continued. "We can't afford to build them without it. I'm not a fan of our current rickety little playground, but I'm fairly certain that building a Columbia River Six Flags runs contrary to the reasons I moved to Portland."
Maybe staying wherever the fuck you were before and working on these issues may have been a better idea. Maybe?
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Uh, who gives a shit why you moved to Portland, Mr. Larsen? "Everyone stop what you're doing! Carl Larsen lives here now! Let's ask him how we can change for him."
I hope that councilors at Metro and the City are able to simply look at the types of people who testify at these things and understand which side is populated by responsible adults.
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Except the paid lobbyists, whose job it is to be there; but they should be treated with caution as well because of that.
Asking for public testimony during the workday is never going to give a balanced verdict on people's opinions (see: city council meetings). It's almost as hopeless as extrapolating public opinion from a KATU website poll.
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I don't expect people to give a shit about why I moved to Portland and yes, the amusement park analogy could be better, but I was there to make a point: more lanes beget more traffic and discussing the bridge's design before agreeing on a demand management approach (read: tolls) is irresponsible. That point was made.
The best point made yesterday, though, was made by Councilor Robert Liberty: If the freight community is SO concerned about safety, why are they so singularly focused on this bridge? 82nd Avenue is easily as deadly and could be improved tremendously with only $5 million. This point made it clear to me that "serious concerns about safety" is really just another way of saying "we hate getting stuck in traffic as a result of fender benders."
Thanks, Matt, for continuing to cover CRC.
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