Big news in the world of the Portland-Vancouver $4.2 billion bridge: a U.S. Representative has joined the chorus of voices criticizing the financing plan for the 12 lane bridge.
“I didn’t invent mathematics, but I try to listen to it. And if the numbers aren’t there, the numbers aren’t there,” said Representative Brian Baird (D-Vancouver) Tuesday in a highly critical article on the front page of the Clark County Columbian. Baird says the federal government will likely only contribute $200-300 million to the Columbia River Crossing Project — the CRC staff’s financing plan banked on $400 to $600 million. Baird also believes that the planned bridge tolls ($1-$2) won’t be high enough to cover the cost of construction. I can’t find the article on the Columbian’s completely inscrutable website but luckily someone emailed me a pdf of the front page for your reading pleasure.
The Columbian staff followed up with an editorial Wednesday morning, quoting Baird again at length:
“The (bridge planners’) attitude is first, ‘What do we want to build?’ and then, ‘How do we pay for it?'” He believes that process should be reversed: Count your money before choosing the color of the Rolls Royce’s upholstery. You might find out you can’t afford a Rolls.
It’s funny to hear that analogy coming from a US Representative because local economist Joe Cortright uttered an eerily similar comparison at Sunday’s grassroots rally against the 12 lane bridge: “Politicians’ discussion over whether this should be 10 lanes or 12 lanes sounds like a couple of middle school boys arguing over what color Lamborghini they want. They’re very opinionated but they don’t have the money to afford any of them.”
Baird adds a critical federal perspective to a project some Oregon state reps spoke out against on Sunday. Democratic reps Nick Kahl, Jules Kopel Bailey and Jefferson Smith are all on record questioning the 12-lane option’s financing plan. “Let’s make sure we don’t appropriate any money in Salem for this 12-lane boondoggle,” said Kahl on Sunday.
What a shock. Pinko Baird comes out on the side of the bike hippies. What’s next, opposition to the Iraq war?
Nice try hyping this as “a critical federal perspective,” though. Could you be any more transparent?
Wait, I’ve got it! A Colunnel!
mr. voluptuous: Nice try. It isn’t that the “bicycle riders” are opposed to this bridge, it is that people that are opposed to this bridge tend to ride bicycles. They’ve looked at things like this project, realized that they don’t want to saddle their children with “debts” like this (money in this case, but CO2, or other things also,) decided to take some personal responsibility for their transportation options, and so they ride a bike or carpool or live closer to their jobs, or take public transit or… Yes, they also enjoy riding bicycles, and they have fun doing it, but you are confusing cause and effect here.
The people that want this bridge have decided not to take personal responsibility for their lifestyle, and are not worried about the future, and therefore drive large SUVs long distances and complain when everyone else wants to do it at the same time.
Actually it’s not scheming SUVs that this is aimed at. Think about all the trucks that the bridge will help get your bicycle parts and petroleum bike tires here much faster.
Every single civic discussion in this town devolving into chants of BIKE LANES has gotten quite stale.
Watching KPTV’s coverage of the anti-CRC rally was pretty depressing. They kept presenting it as “a group of cyclists who oppose the bridge.”
Sure the BTA and some other alt-transportation advocates were involved with the rally, but the way the story described things, it was just another group of ANGRY CYCLISTS making demands. Pathetic. I’d say KPTV are shit journalists, but that would imply their editors don’t know what they’re doing.
When the blogs and streets fill with angry cyclists making demands, it’s just another (YAWN) group of angry cyclists making demands.
Matter of fact that should be the new city motto.
Portland – The City Where Being An Angry Cyclist Making Demands WORKS!
D: All the bicycle parts consumed in this city would fit on one semi-truck a day, which probably comes at night or mid-day, and not during the 10% of the time when there is traffic congestion because the truck driver is smarter than you are. Except that very little of it comes from Washington state, so they don’t cross the bridge anyways. But hey, why let the facts get in the way of your argument?
I was trying to use a singular example of interstate transportation, oh clairvoyant-of-when-there-is-congestion.
That’s how the things gets here.
But I forgot, it must be time for the issue to devolve solely into BIKE LANES. or uh, BIKE PARTS!
If you don’t want the conversation to devolve into bike lanes, then WHY DO YOU KEEP BRINGING IT UP?!?!?!?!?
And I was pointing out that long distance trucking is actually a very small user of the I-5 bridge, less than 10% of it, and no truck driver with an IQ above 50, (hint, that is above yours,) tries to travel through any city at rush hour at all. They pull over, take a nap, (as required by law they can only drive 10 hours a day anyways, so they certainly don’t want to spend those 10 stuck in traffic jams,) and then drive through the city either mid-day, or at night. The biggest user of the I-5 bridge is single occupancy vehicles.
Yo. Fuck that bridge.
Rebuild the current bridge. 20% of the cost for 80% of the benefits of the CRC.