Columbia River bridge proposal comes under fire

Four of the top elected officials in the Portland area told the governors of Oregon and Washington on Tuesday they want a “strong voice” as the state transportation departments continue to craft plans for a new interstate bridge over the Columbia River.

Portland Mayor Sam Adams and Metro Council President David Bragdon were among the four officials who demanded any new bridge plans contain protections for Hayden Island businesses, among other things.

The letter to Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski and Washington Gov. Christine Gregoire also blasted cost uncertainties in bridge funding proposals.

“We believe that cost, physical and environmental elements of the project as currently proposed impose unacceptable impacts on our communities,” wrote Adams, Bragdon, Vancouver Mayor Tim Leavitt and Clark County Commission Chair Steve Stuart. “These impacts, in combination with the project’s high cost and financial risks and questions about whether important objectives will be achieved, make support for the project difficult.”

Adams, in a separate statement, said the current project proposal does not have the support it needs from local officials.

Adams called for a “states-local partnership” that would examine new design ideas.

The four leaders want:

• A finance plan that protects local taxpayers and road users while not jeopardizing other state and federal road and bridge funding priorities.
• Completion of performance targets to guide the project’s design and future operations.
• More study of traffic and economic outcomes once the bridge is built.
• Hayden Island residents have protested that the placement of some bridge and freeway interchanges would cause certain businesses to shutter. In particular, the proposals could threaten a Safeway store at Jantzen Beach.

Rem Nivens, a spokesman for Kulongoski, said the governor will gladly meet with local leaders if doing so can make the Columbia River Crossing project better.

“He’d also like to see this move forward on the timeline as to not miss any federal funding opportunities,” Nivens said.

Federal officials continue to study whether to release more transportation funds this year. Oregon and Washington bridge proponents want the $3 billion to $4 billion costs split roughly equally between federal, state and local government.

The local officials also requested that Kulongoski and Gregoire back hiring independent experts to evaluate the project’s revamped proposals. The newest designs came after proponents sought to cut costs from the projects. Most of the revisions involve slashing interchanges on both sides of the bridge.

The Portland and Vancouver requests come as the Columbia River Crossing Project Sponsors Council prepares for a key Jan. 22 meeting in Vancouver. The group will analyze its performance goals for a new bridge linking Oregon and Washington.

The council will evaluate 10 tolling scenarios presented by a tolling subcommittee, a conceptual funding plan for the project and Hayden Island issues. The group consists of representatives from the Washington and Oregon departments of transportation, cities of Portland and Vancouver, Metro, Southwest Washington Regional Transportation Council, TriMet, and C-TRAN.

In all, the project could replace the Interstate 5 bridge, extend light rail to Vancouver, improve closely-spaced interchanges and add an improved pedestrian and bicycle path between the two cities.