Not more than a few hours after yesterday’s post suggesting animation as a weapon against the Columbia River Crossing, this link came across my transom:
They’re by Nick Falbo, who did the great Google Earth material on the CRC a few months ago.
I love the creativity of our community. Keep ’em coming!
One response to “Ask and You Shall Receive”
Thanks to Nick Falbo for the great video presentation on Induced Demand. Recommended viewing.
My concern with the latest version of the CRC is the on/off ramp system, more than the public buzzword “12 lanes”. Through Jantzen Beach, there are “20 lanes” when you include the on/off ramps.
Road and pedestrian I-5 ‘underpasses’ on Hayden Island are at 3 points: At the southern underpass, pedestrians walk under ‘9’ bridges, at the middle underpass ’10’ bridges. At the northern underpass, pedestrians walk under ‘5’ bridges, 2 of which are wider than at the other underpasses. This appears to be an extreme obstacle for pedestrians akin perhaps to the section of Willamette Esplanade next to the Morrison Bridge.
My other concern with this design is the same one I argued in testimony before Metro board meeting: An ‘excessive’ number of lanes encourages speeding which leads to accidents, rather than safety.
The ‘2-lane’ northbound entrance ramp onto I-5 from North Portland traverse 2/3 the length of Hayden Island. Trucks will be at speed when they merge onto the formal bridge between Hayden Island and Washington. The ‘1-lane’ northbound entrance ramp from Hayden Island is separate and merges onto I-5 ‘auxilliary’ and thru-lanes at the northern edge of Hayden Island. This traffic too will be at speed on the formal 12-lane bridge between Hayden Island and Washington where the most ‘cross-merging’ will occur at speed.
It seems the more ideal arrangement is one where speed is not encouraged, where the cross-merging can occur at speeds in the 55mph range. Any accident at 65mph could be catastrophic.
The pedestrian underpasses on Hayden Island will be atrocious under this latest arrangement. And I have one more thing I’d like to say:
.T..W..E..N..T..Y…..L..A..N..E..S.