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Thursday, November 19, 2009

Transportation CRC Pitches 10 Lanes, Will Politicians Bite?

Posted by Sarah Mirk on Thu, Nov 19, 2009 at 3:24 PM

Why did I drive all the way to Salem this afternoon just to attend one meeting entitled “Informational hearing on the status of the Columbia River Crossing”? Because I’m interested in how backers of the big bridge are pitching the project to state legislators.

Last spring, legislators were highly skeptical of funding the then-$4.2 billion project. The transportation committee nixed $30 million in Columbia River Crossing (CRC) planning funds from the state budget. After coming under fire from local, state and national politicians over the project’s cost and environmental impact, the CRC staff this month announced a simpler plan: the slimmed-down project proposes a 10 lane rather than 12 lane bridge and makes other cuts that reduce the project budget by $650 million.

So now the bridge is back. Today’s hearing on the CRC was not open to public testimony, which means only invited speakers testified about where the project is at. All of those invited speakers were supporters of the project, namely Washington State Department of Transportation Secretary Paula Hammond, Oregon Department of Transportation’s Matt Garrett and Richard Branman and NE Portland Representative Tina Kotek.

And what’s the sales pitch? Same as it ever was: jobs.

“The question I get asked when we talk about this is, ‘When are we going to start building?’ Kotek told the transportation committee, describing the project as a “win-sin situation” that would create 20,000 jobs in the region.

Garrett and Branman stressed that the current congested bridge disadvantages Oregon business and keeps new business from locating here. “Here is a project, where if we make the investment, brings up to 20,000 jobs,” said Garrett. “It will be a gift that keeps on giving."

On my way out of the meeting, a union representative snagged me and hit home the same message. "Do you know what the unemployment rate is right now in construction? Thirty-five percent!" said Joe Esmonde of IBEW 48, adding that they also supported the Oregon League of Conversation Voters. "We're not redneck sons of bitches, you know."

Members of the committee were wary of looking critical of the controversial project. When asking basic questions about the refined project, Representatives Bentz, Berger and Kahl prefaced their remarks with, “I’m a supporter of the project…” Representative Mike Schaufler went further, launching into a fiery oration about the need to break ground on the $2.6-3.6 billion project ASAP. “It is criminal to delay, obstruct, deny and prohibit this project from going forward. Every day we wait is one more day that workers aren’t out there working,” said Schaufler. “I’m done. I don’t need another public meeting”

Representative Kahl, who has been an outspoken critic of the bridge project in the last year, seemed swayed by the $650 million in cuts. “I’m becoming increasingly satisfied with the design of the bridge,” said Kahl, noting that he is still concerned about the lack of solid support for light rail in Vancouver or any discussion of land use policy in the discussion about a bridge that critics say will lead to sprawl.

In critics’ opinions, pitching an obscenely-high, impossible-to-fund budget and then reducing it to a slightly-less obscene figure does not represent progress. “My overall first impression take is it’s pretty similar to the original project, essentially repackaging the same thing. It’s still a megabridge,” says Mara Gross of Coalition for a Livable Future, one of five groups that called for the project to pay for a $4 million independent analysis of what to do about the corridor rather than rolling forward with the state highway departments’ plan.

Environment Oregon’s Brock Howell listened in to the meeting and pointed to the $72 million the project has so far spent on planning and outreach. “WSDOT and ODOT have done a fantastic job of organizing this, they clearly have a lot more financial resources than the public interest,” says Howell.

Environment Oregons Brock Howell is in a coalition pushing to restart the CRC process, but the project is rolling forward.
  • Environment Oregon's Brock Howell is in a coalition pushing to restart the CRC process, but the project is rolling forward.

 

Comments (8) RSS

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1
"Oregon League of Conversation Voters" all talk, no action.
Posted by just kidding on November 19, 2009 at 3:57 PM · Report
2
Keep in mind that the 10 lane bridge can still become a 14 lane bridge by just moving some paint around. And then they can claim again that current bridge isn't up to modern highway standards and therefore has to be replaced.
Posted by Matthew D on November 19, 2009 at 3:58 PM · Report
3
If it really comes down to jobs being the key factor, can't we just fund more appropriate public works projects like erecting a 2,000 foot granite phallus in the middle of the Columbia River instead of fucking the entirety of inner-city Portland with a zillion lanes of freeway?
Posted by Pangloss on November 19, 2009 at 4:53 PM · Report
4
When the hell are the people in charge of the CRC going to realize the existing bridge isn't the goddamned problem. It makes no difference how many lanes the bridge has when it dumps into a congested I-5 through Portland. Until I-5 gets fixed, there will always be congestion. It's that damned simple. I agree with the above poster about funding different projects. It will do more good in the long run.
Posted by ujfoyt on November 19, 2009 at 5:08 PM · Report
5
I thought someone debunked the jobs argument already. A project of this magnitude will need to look outside the Portland area for a capable firm. I'm sure the jobs will be created, but the majority won't be local. Wish I could remember where I read this...

And a $650 million dollar concession sounds nice, but honestly we're still stuck with a $3,550,000,000 bill.
Posted by gabriel amadeus on November 19, 2009 at 5:57 PM · Report
6
If its just really about creating jobs, just cut 'stimulus' checks for everyone who will go out and buy stuff, improve their houses, etc. I can think of some pretty sweet stuff to get for 3-5 $Billion, and this bridge isn't exactly what comes to mind first. In addition to additional pollution, construction delays, (some temporary jobs) and sprawl, the bridge really doesn't seem to do a whole lot of good for portland. estimating that about 50% of the budget is materials and 50% is going into folks' pockets, 15000$/job-year is what you get in salary+ benefits assuming 20k jobs * 5years. I have trouble believing that 20k jobs are coming from this project, and even if they do, they will probably not start for another 5 years, after we're out of this recession. We should consider funding this during a boom time so that the jobs come during the next recession, perhaps?
Posted by Allan on November 19, 2009 at 5:57 PM · Report
7
At least they didn't get rid of that extra lane for the gravy train.
Posted by real_life on November 19, 2009 at 8:52 PM · Report
8
I was, a supporter of the original bridge, all 12 lanes, but only if it included light rail well into Vancouver, and NO tolling.

But the "refined" bridge makes most of it's cost cuts on Hayden Island. Those changes will destroy the quality of life on the island, demolishing our only grocery store/pharmacy, putting our main cross street 21 feet below grade (water table is only 10 feet down, can you hear the pumps running for the next 100 years?), destroying most of our local businesses that serve our elderly residents, trashing the Hayden Island Plan we spent two years developing (based on the bridge they "sold" us, not the refined bridge), etc.

I also wonder how much of the "bridge costs" are actually highway improvements on the Washington side, not the actual bridge.

The whole thing has quickly mutated into a mess, and if it can't be built "right" then it shouldn't be built at all. I know we need the jobs here, and frankly, I'm disappointed with our mutual federal delegations for not arm twisting the federal government for the bulk of the costs on this bridge in the first place. It's not our fault they opened up the treasury to Halliburton, Goldman Sachs, AIG and such and now they want us to pay for that mistake with tolls for the next how many years?

If they can't build it right, then they need to drop the whole project till they can either pay for it, or do another design that does not destroy the Oregon side of the project.
Posted by Ed Garren on November 19, 2009 at 9:03 PM · Report

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