This Week in the Mercury

Savage Love

Columns

Savage Love

Getting Canned


Learning Curves and Rhyming Giants

Music

Learning Curves and Rhyming Giants

The Who, Where, When, and Why of What Hearts



  |  

Friday, March 6, 2009

Transportation / City Hall Today in $4.1 Billion Commuter Bridge News

Posted by Sarah Mirk on Fri, Mar 6, 2009 at 2:30 PM

Another official step in the march toward a 12 lane Columbia River Crossing: this morning, the Project Sponsors Council (the twelve regional transit and government leaders guiding the bridge) voted unanimously in favor of approving the 12 lane option Mayor Adams proposed to Portland's City Council last week.

The vote to go ahead with the largest single transit project in our region's history took place at, where else? Corporate Woods business park in Vancouver, Washington.

1c6d/1236373147-corporate_woods.jpg

Vancouver's Corporate Woods - Where Portland's Most Important Transit Decisions are Made!

I actually missed the first half hour of the meeting because I have never been to Vancouver and got horribly lost. I wound up, I kid you not, at a cemetery between an Evangelist megachurch and an Albertsons where I said a silent prayer for a future in which Vancouver and Portland are transit-linked twin cities before I called 411 for directions.

Unlike at City Hall last week, no one showed up at the Project Sponsors Council session to protest the 12 lane decision. The most interesting part of the last half of the meeting, anyway, came in the discussion over Commissioner Fritz's suggestion that the bridge's oversight board include an environmental justice advocate and a health advocate. The Project Sponsors Council was not enthused about the idea, but Metro Council President David Bragdon piped up on its behalf.

"There's this pattern of making claims that this project will reduce emissions. Why are we worried about subjecting that to scrutiny?" he asked. In the end, the group decided to add a new bullet point "changing the performance goals to include talking to other department agencies." A single vague bullet point! Ba-da-bing! Score one for environmental justice oversight of a $4.1 billion project!

8b26/1236373596-sam_adams.jpg

Sam Adams, David Bragdon and friends at the CRC Project Sponsors Council

I talked to David Bragdon earlier this week about his support for the 12 lane option. Previously in the planning process, Bragdon spoke out in favor of eight or ten lanes. "I think personally, I think 12 lanes is too big. But with the right pricing and tolling, it's manageable," Bradgon said this week. "When I lose, I'm not going to be a crybaby about it, I'm going to move onto the next step and be constructive and effective in the next effort. If 12 lanes is what the majority wants, we should just move forward as positively as we can."

Is 12 lanes what the majority wants? On City Council, obviously, but a different kind of majority may turn out for a protest against the 12 lane bridge, April 5th in Waterfront Park.

If you're not already pissed off enough about the bridge to head to the protest, take a gander at the Governor's Jobs and Transportation Act, which gives the CRC Project $15 million a year from gas tax and car registration revenue.

 

Comments (11) RSS

Oldest First Unregistered On Registered On Add a comment
1
Whoagh:
12 regional transit and government leaders guiding the bridge
12 lanes in the bridge

Coincidence??

I'm guessing they're each aiming to have a lane named after themselves.
Posted by ROM on March 6, 2009 at 2:55 PM · Report
2
Seeing as it's Cat Friday, some posts about cats would be nice. Bonus points for pictures of cats. Thank you for your time.
Posted by A CAT, probably on March 6, 2009 at 3:32 PM · Report
3
Wait, so you whispered a silent prayer for the future of Vancouver and Portland's transportation options at Albertsons?
Posted by el cubano on March 6, 2009 at 4:04 PM · Report
4
Everybody who cares about the future of Portland and its role as a sustainable city, and who wishes to hold our elected officials accountable for the promises they make while campaigning for our votes (that's you, CRC Sam!), please come to the rally on April 5th, at Waterfront Park.
Posted by peejay on March 6, 2009 at 4:16 PM · Report
5
CRC Sam is a sellout. Idiot troll contributes nothing.
Posted by a.O on March 6, 2009 at 6:02 PM · Report
6
The rally is to show our elected officials that we don't want a megabridge. That there are other options to this 12 lane project that's being greenwashed under the guise of sustainability and "watchdog " mobility councils. We need to show the public some of those options to create a livable Portland for future generations. You don't have to agree with every point but if you want less bridge and think there are better ways to spend 4 billion dollars show up at the April 5th rally, noon, waterfront park.
Posted by metal cowboy on March 6, 2009 at 7:26 PM · Report
7
I DO want a mega bridge.
Posted by CH on March 7, 2009 at 9:58 AM · Report
8
The country will be too bankrupt to fund this bridge. The idea that automobile transportation will increase will soon catch up to the reality of the economic situation: The age of cars as primary method of transportation is over.
Posted by NIG GER on March 7, 2009 at 1:16 PM · Report
9
Oh yeah. Corporate Woods! It's right by the... oh... um. What the fuck!?
Posted by Will Radik on March 7, 2009 at 2:55 PM · Report
10
April 5th. That is now in my schedule.

POS bridge. :(
Posted by Adron on March 9, 2009 at 6:09 PM · Report
11
what if i need to drive 13 cars across the bridge at once?

WHAT THEN?!?
Posted by revphil on March 9, 2009 at 8:25 PM · Report

Add a comment

Our Friends

Our Enemies

/images/adoftheweek.gif

ad of the day

The Handyman Pro - Your Honey-Do Specialist
Don’t let our name fool you. The Handyman Pro, LLC is a repair and remodel service provider with over 25-years experience. We cover all aspects of construction and repairs for residential and commercial clients.go


post an ad

All contents © Index Newspapers, LLC

115 SW Ash St. Suite 600
Portland, OR 97204

Contact Info | Privacy Policy | Production Guidelines | Terms of Use