Crunch Time for the CRC in Salem?


It’s an interesting time for the Columbia River Crossing in Salem, a venue where the Legislature as yet to EVER take a vote on this project. Perhaps that time will come soon. On tap this week:

  • The Governors of Oregon and Washington are about to announce a bridge type selection and a plan for keeping the project on schedule
  • Legislative leadership is apparently concerned that HJM 22, a resolution calling for Federal spending on the CRC (while not committing any local dollars), may not have have support on the House floor, so it is being shuttled from committee to committee at the moment.
  • The Washington Legislature is preparing to commit another $25M to the project. They had also contributed the most recent $25M, so they will now be looking for an Oregon match of $50M. Will ODOT go to the Legislature for this, or will they take it from their existing budget, at the expense of other projects in the state?
  • Steve Duin shares the concerns of two legislators who also happen to be CPAs

Interesting times…


10 responses to “Crunch Time for the CRC in Salem?”

  1. Govs. Gregoire and Kitzhaber are scheduled to make an announcement regarding bridge type this morning:
    Red Lion Hotel
    909 N. Hayden Island Dr.
    10 am.

  2. Of course. They’re hoping to look fiscally responsible by selecting a bridge design that saves a few million dollars as part of a $4 billion project that we don’t need…

  3. Well I guess we won’t be eliminating many navigation hazards for that $4 billion. In fact, this doesn’t have fewer piers in the navigable waterway than the present bridge. It has even more!

    And, the governors praised the “multimodal options” of the new bridge. 1.5 miles of light rail on actual Washington soil? That’s multi modal? And my dad is Donald Trump, too.

  4. Don’t forget: there’s also a massively overbuilt bike path to add to this project’s “multimodal” creds.

  5. Light rail and a decent bike/ped facility are the least of the CRC’s problems. Indeed, we could just build those and be done. Give people real options to driving alone and freight is moving just fine on the existing bridges.

  6. What’s the plan for bikes and MAX with the proposed design? Is this the one with the dual decks, or will bikes be routed up the middle, as they are on the 205 bridge?

  7. Bikes will be on the lower deck of one span. Out of the elements and shielded from traffic, but has the potential to attract transients or to potentially be a dark/unwelcoming space.

  8. What is to happen to the “old” bridge? What are the reasons why the “old” bridge would not be used for light rail, bicycle and pedestrian traffic? Isn’t it structurally fine for that light load?

  9. The public has no say in this project and never has. Look at who benefits by the current plan: the Port of Portland, shipping companies, Hayden Island landowners, construction companies and their suppliers. The decision makers have never had anyone but these entities in mind. The old bridges are not being retrofitted because there is more profit in building a new one. They don’t care how inviting the bike/pedestrian spaces are because trucks won’t be using them. They don’t care about the livability of Hayden Island because for them it exists only as a future port.

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