If Sam Adams proposes anything less than a 12-lane bridge across the
Columbia, he will be doing so for the sake of “appearances” and
because of a “lack of substance,” City Commissioner Randy
Leonard told me last week.
Adams, who postponed a council recommendation on the number of lanes
for the bridge three weeks ago [“Columbia River Confusion,” News, Feb
5], has been working on a new recommendation, which he’ll present to
council on February 25.
A champion of that elusive “sustainability,” Adams is now
under pressure from environmental advocates and Metro Council President
David Bragdon to nut up and recommend eight or 10 lanes for the
crossing—along with aggressive tolling to prevent more lanes from
inducing higher demand for the bridge. In the past, Leonard might have
offered to work with Adams to broker a face-saving deal with
Adams’ opponents on the issue, like Leonard’s buddy, Oregon AFL-CIO
boss Tom Chamberlain, who supports a 12-lane crossing. But that was
before the Breedlove scandal sullied their relationship.
A proponent of 12 lanes, Leonard points out that sustainability
advocates don’t have many hard numbers to bolster their arguments that
fewer lanes will be better for the environment. Because of this,
Leonard says he’s become the target of “name calling” by groups
like the Coalition for a Livable Future, when he’s asked them to come
up with statistics to support their claims. But Leonard has also thrown
a confusing foil into his own argument, saying he’s willing to
spend the extra $100 million to build a 12-lane bridge and then
stripe it for 10 lanes, if necessary.
It is arguable, however, that Adams’ reputation as a sustainability
champion is in fact based on “appearances” and a “lack of substance,”
to quote Leonard. And if Adams comes back to council next week with a
12-lane recommendation to placate Leonard, well, then I guess we can
forget about the mayor’s green appearances for the time
being.
“My work on this project isn’t about, ‘Is my position the same or
different than Randy?'” Adams insists. “My hope is that we can put
something together that even Randy can agree with.”
Right now, Adams seems to be damned either way. Leonard seems to be
daring Adams to burn a bridge with him by proposing fewer lanes
for the crossing, which is likely to cause a big city council bust-up,
or to burn another bridge with his own cherished reputation as
Portland’s green emperor. Either way, Adams loses. And I strongly
suspect that Commissioner Leonard knows it.
I like the 12 lanes, painted for 10 plan – it’s a compromise that allows for future growth. I also think the whole thing is moot since, even with just 8 lanes, since I-5 feeding onto the bridge will almost immediately narrow back down to just 4 lanes…. a bottle neck in reverse.
The reason you build it with more lanes is to allow for future expansion of I-5 AND in recognition that many commuters/freight shipments depart I-5 for SR-14 or Columbia Blvd/Airport Way.
actually, bruce, the reason you build it with more lanes is that expansion will happen and alternatives — ie, sustainability & livability — are put off even further. the decision here is whether we will commit our future ever more deeply to an automotive lifestyle or whether we will begin to transition, at last, to a region where something other than driving a car is the deciding factor in public policy.
12 lanes was the only obvious thing to do.
I can’t even believe anybody supports building it less than that!
Stupidity if you ask me.
IF YOU’RE GONNA BUILD IT BUILD IT RIGHT!