A Periodic CRC Checkin

The bridge that won’t die is having an eventful back-to-school season, against the potential deadline of a September 15th special session at the Legislature.

Here are a few of the highlights:

• The project has agreements for $86M in pay-offs compensation to industrial users as part of the effort to secure a Coast Guard permit for the bridge height (dumped into the Friday-before-a-holiday-weekend news hole).
• The Governor has the lawyers busy figuring out if Oregon even has the legal ability to build a bridge partly in Washington.
• Everyone is hanging on State Treasurer Ted Wheeler’s assessment of whether the State can pull off the financing on its own.
• The Oregonian Editorial Board is openly wondering whether adding the Columbia River Crossing to a special session could distract from a deal on PERS reform.

The gift that just keeps on giving…