As reported by the O’s Joe Rose, the “Bridge Review Panel” for the Columbia River Crossing, convened in response to the Independent Review Panel’s concerns about the unproven “open web box girder” design has recommended terminating that design and choosing from among three other design types:
- Cable Stay
- Tied Arch
- Deck Truss
The 146-page report (PDF, 4.2M) also touches on other constraints, including possibly looking for some flexibility in the air-space restrictions around Pearson Air Park.
Question: what does this change mean for the project schedule, and does it require revisiting the Draft Environmental Impact Statement?
14 responses to “The Box Girder CRC is Dead, Long Live the CRC”
Median bicycle/pedestrian path: NO THANKS
Build in stages, starting with a bridge for local traffic, light rail and bike/ped facilities. Start tolling now to pay the bills and close down the substandard I-5 on/off ramps once the local bridge is open. Then see how things are working out and if necessary, proceed with new freeway bridges.
I like Lenny’s thinking. To build on that, they could also replace the antiquated railroad bridge to the west with a new 4 track span that would eliminate the required S-turn for ships and allow for expansion of freight and passenger rail services between Oregon and Washington.
Lets not forget to add mass transit between Portland and Vancouver. 5 or 6 express buses/day does not mass transit make.
On the 26 corridor to downtown, Max carries what, 40% of passengers? There is barely any modeshare across the river besides SOV and heavy trucks.
Regarding the schedule: Matt Garrett (ODOT Director) testified at the legislature this week that construction would start in 2013 (after record of decision in 2011 and right-of-way purchase in 2012). Hard to believe, since there is no request for construction money in the 2011-2013 budget.
Lets not forget to add mass transit between Portland and Vancouver. 5 or 6 express buses/day does not mass transit make.
The total length of the proposed MAX route in Vancouver is 1.5 miles. Likely, a number of people will drive to get to it.
At less than one million apiece you could buy a lot of express buses for the cost of this bridge, such as “double talls” that can carry 100 people.
the dysfunctional relationship between vancouver and the portland metro area will not be solved by this expensive bridge.
mass transit should ultimately help, but not at the cost of 5 billion for a bridge.
if the feds want to give us a couple of billion to build an arterial bridge and make some improvements on I5 through northern North Portland, i’m all for it.
otherwise, it’s an unwise investment and may lead to more problems, rather than less
Current C-Tran express buses provide NO service at all to where the bulk of Clark county residents are going to work: Rivergate, Swan Island, Columbia Corridor, Interstate Corridor, Lower Albina. C-Tran even fails to run Limited service down the I-5 corridor to connect with the MAX Yellow Line at Delta/Vanport which could serve some of these trips.
Current C-Tran express buses provide NO service at all to where the bulk of Clark county residents are going to work: Rivergate, Swan Island, Columbia Corridor, Interstate Corridor, Lower Albina. C-Tran even fails to run Limited service down the I-5 corridor to connect with the MAX Yellow Line at Delta/Vanport which could serve some of these trips.
Is there any explanation for this state of affairs?
It’s tempting to suspect that the existing express routes are intended only for downtown officeworkers, who regard the failure to stop is NoPo as a feature, not a bug. (Not just because of the time of an additional stop, but due to various cultural objections). Commenters here from the ‘Couv have in the past, suggested as much, but it would be interesting to hear other explanations.
In particular–is C-Tran legally limited in the sorts of service it can offer within TriMet’s service boundary; particularly if riders can use a C-Tran bus to travel between destinations within Oregon? What if C-Tran stopped at Delta/Vanport on its runs, but only dropped off heading into PDX and picked up heading north? (And while I’m sure C-Tran can prevent someone from boarding at a particular stop if they wanted, could the legally prevent a passenger from leaving the bus at a stop, and require northbound passengers to remain aboard until reaching Vancouver)?
The real question, and the one which will determine whether anything gets built, is whether the Governors recognize that for the second time in six months the ODOT/WashDOT management group has been given a resoundingly failing grade by their own hand-picked experts? One law of bureaucratic physics is that agencies that have created a mess tend to spend more energy covering up the mess than cleaning it up. That’s exactly what ODOT/WashDOT have been doing for many years on this project. Nothing will change until that management is replaced by a team that can get things done right. Simply referring the matter back to the very same management that made the mess (which the Governors made the mistake of doing last summer) will simply lead to more failure.
This whole bridge process seems surreal at this point.
Wasn’t this in the discussion like five or six years ago? What’s changed besides the cost?
And I think you have to agree with the poster @Bragdon above, this is bureaucratic lunacy.
Oregon and Washington state voters should demand that this process end immediately.
There are so many good ideas out there, why do these state agencies insist on bad ones?
Well said, David!
Current C-Tran express buses provide NO service at all to where the bulk of Clark county residents are going to work: Rivergate, Swan Island, Columbia Corridor, Interstate Corridor, Lower Albina.
And, several of us know they used to run route 191, which served the K-Mart Parking Lot (Park and Ride) and BPA Park and Ride in Vancouver then ran express to Swan Island. I also remember meeting Mr. Anderson myself at a meeting somewhere some time ago, who mentioned they canceled the route when the business supporting the route decided to pull that funding.
C-Tran even fails to run Limited service down the I-5 corridor to connect with the MAX Yellow Line at Delta/Vanport which could serve some of these trips.
There is another political issue associated with this, which should sound familiar even to non-transit folks: Washington Sales Tax vs. Oregon Income Tax. I will agree it’s a pain to try to live in one state and work in the other (I worked in Vancouver for several years while continuing to live in Oregon), while needing to utilize the transit connection between the two.
But, if it were easier for Clark Co. residents to get to jobs using a mostly sales-tax supported service to get to jobs where there is no sales tax, it would be easier for people in Clark Co. to use such transit to visit retail in Oregon instead of Washington. As another example, notice that C-TRAN runs service to Parkrose Transit Center instead of the stop closest to the Glenn Jackson Bridge, which happens to be Cascade Station.
(I don’t think this is the official position on the subject. And, I still think that if losing tax revenue is the problem, that the Vancouver office for the Washington Dept. of Revenue should be located right off I-5, with signs on that exit saying “Open 24/7/365,” and “All Vehicles With Washington Plates Must Exit.” Instead, it’s a nondescript office open regular office hours located on the back of Vancouver Plaza up on 4th Plain.)
For any commenters who are unaware: David Bragdon is the former president of Metro, whose term ended last year, and who recently took a position in New York City.