This Week in the Mercury
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Transportation David Bragdon Takes Down CRC
Posted by Sarah Mirk on Thu, May 20, 2010 at 10:20 AM
Lame duck Metro Council President David Bragdon didn't wave protest signs outside the first meeting of the Columbia River Crossing "independent review panel" yesterday but, boy, did he lay the smackdown inside. It seems like he's going to do everything he can his last few months in office to change the course of the $3 billion megabridge to Vancouver. His testimony articulately sums up the reasons the CRC is shot:
- David Bragdon and Sam Adams at a CRC meeting last year
Successful mega-projects elsewhere, whatever their other merits or demerits, ranging from Boston’s Big Dig to Denver’s international airport, only come to fruition when the coalition in support of them consistently expands — and those coalitions only expand when issues are addressed in a meaningful, inclusive, and problem-solving manner, and a variety of disciplines and creative solutions are brought to bear.He spelled out the problems with the current bridge plan in four bullet points:By contrast, proposed mega-projects tend to stall, as this one has, and fail, when they are imposed from above, are sold simply on the basis of platitudes not based in fact or financial rigor, or are the product of one agency’s or one professional discipline’s toolbox to the exclusion of all the other tools in the transportation toolbox.
After my nearly three years of involvement — again, three years which started with me as a vote in favor of the conditional LPA [Locally Preferred Alternative] — my reluctant conclusion is that the current CRC proposal by the state highway divisions dramatically fails both of those basic tests: it has not been proven to be a cost-effective solution to the many challenges in this corridor, and it has not been planned and developed in an innovative or inclusive manner.
• Concerns that the size and management of the widened freeway bridge would simply send the traffic bottleneck farther south into Portland.
• Lack of "21st century forecasting and modeling techniques" to show how the expanded freeway would create more incentive for single occupancy car trips.
• Interchanges that "fit the context of our neighborhoods (i.e. don't squash Hayden Island)
• And, of course, a finance plan that reflects what Oregonians and Washingtonians will actually agree to pay for the project.
Ouch.
1
He's right about most of his points, but he overlooks the fact that when the widening of I-5 that is being worked on now is finished, it will move the choke point further south into Portland. The only way to prevent this is to spend mega-bucks on widening I-5 through Portland. And why does no one complain abpout the traffic jam in the morning and evening rush to get into and out of Portland. These traffic jams are much worse than the I-5 bridge, but no one talks about them. The traffic jams I am referring to are on the south side of Portland and encompass both I-5 and I-205.
2
Um, he doesn't overlook it, it's his point #1.
And so it should be. The currently planned bridge simply will not ease overall traffic flow (and it'll probably make it worse). All the environmental / bikey / financial arguments in the world don't matter a jot if the bridge isn't going to work.
We need a commission to look at Portland's entire freeway system, not just one small part of it. I suspect the best plan would (somewhat counter-intuitively) be to kill I5 on the Eastbank and the earthquake-prone Marquam bridge, so there's multiple lanes leading from the Fremont Bridge past the Rose Quarter onto I84 East (the worst bottleneck of all), and divert I5 traffic onto an expanded I405 / I205. Maybe that won't be the best solution, but we should be considering things like that, not taking blinkered looks at one small segment of the system.
Sadly, to date most of the anti-CRC protests have come from people wanting to reduce car use etc. Right solution (stop the CRC), wrong reason; and they're not attracting as much support as they should be as a result.
And so it should be. The currently planned bridge simply will not ease overall traffic flow (and it'll probably make it worse). All the environmental / bikey / financial arguments in the world don't matter a jot if the bridge isn't going to work.
We need a commission to look at Portland's entire freeway system, not just one small part of it. I suspect the best plan would (somewhat counter-intuitively) be to kill I5 on the Eastbank and the earthquake-prone Marquam bridge, so there's multiple lanes leading from the Fremont Bridge past the Rose Quarter onto I84 East (the worst bottleneck of all), and divert I5 traffic onto an expanded I405 / I205. Maybe that won't be the best solution, but we should be considering things like that, not taking blinkered looks at one small segment of the system.
Sadly, to date most of the anti-CRC protests have come from people wanting to reduce car use etc. Right solution (stop the CRC), wrong reason; and they're not attracting as much support as they should be as a result.
3
Bra-fucking-vo, Mr. Bragdon.
Thanks so much! The CRC is dead, dead, DEAD. I'm going to dance a jig.
Thanks so much! The CRC is dead, dead, DEAD. I'm going to dance a jig.
6
The bridge isn't going to happen for a long long time because our Congresspeople see this discord and won't fight for funding anymore. That's why it's starting to seem so crazy to vote on this one issue (i.e. for Metro President). If it isn't clear that the whole issue is moot by the election, it will be soon afterwards.
Bragdon: "By contrast, proposed mega-projects tend to stall, as this one has, and fail, when they are imposed from above, are sold simply on the basis of platitudes not based in fact or financial rigor, or are the product of one agency’s or one professional discipline’s toolbox to the exclusion of all the other tools in the transportation toolbox."
That perfectly describes EVERYTHING that Portland planners do. That anyone associated with Portland or Metro planning projects could utter this with a straight face is one of the most amazing examples of hypocrisy I've heard in a long time.
Bragdon: "By contrast, proposed mega-projects tend to stall, as this one has, and fail, when they are imposed from above, are sold simply on the basis of platitudes not based in fact or financial rigor, or are the product of one agency’s or one professional discipline’s toolbox to the exclusion of all the other tools in the transportation toolbox."
That perfectly describes EVERYTHING that Portland planners do. That anyone associated with Portland or Metro planning projects could utter this with a straight face is one of the most amazing examples of hypocrisy I've heard in a long time.
7
"By contrast, proposed mega-projects tend to stall, as this one has, and fail, when they are imposed from above, are sold simply on the basis of platitudes not based in fact or financial rigor, or are the product of one agency’s or one professional discipline’s toolbox to the exclusion of all the other tools in the transportation toolbox."
He added, "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to head over to the transit mall and take the streetcar down to the OHSU tram."
He added, "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to head over to the transit mall and take the streetcar down to the OHSU tram."
10
The sellwood (and the Marquam) have been designated as in "poor" condition. The I-5 bridge to the couve is rated as "fair"
thanks Bragdon for saying it. Someone had better make political hay off of all this crap.
thanks Bragdon for saying it. Someone had better make political hay off of all this crap.
11
Don't buy or repeat the Myth the bridge is dead. There are plenty of Portland Democrats in Salem who support this bridge. They are telling us it will create 20-30 thousand jobs. This is not a $3 billion bridge, it's gonna be more like $5 billion or more.
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