Amboy resident Tom Schenk shares his thoughts on the Interstate Bridge replacement project and transportation issues in our region

Editor’s note: Opinions expressed in this letter to the editor are those of the author alone and do not reflect the editorial position of ClarkCountyToday.com

Here’s an idea whose time has come … instead of trying to read 10,000 pages on the ins and outs of the Interstate Bridge Replacement Program’s Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (DSEIS) in 60 days (roughly 167 pages a day), why don’t we take the current $7.5 billion-plus cost of the project and follow the original transportation plan for the Portland/Vancouver area and build the two additional bridges required to accommodate the increase in population and the commensurate increase in traffic.

The members of the building industry will still get their profits from building two bridges; Vancouver/Clark County residents won’t have to, yet again, vote down light rail; engineers say the Interstate Bridge is good for another 40 years, giving time to thoughtfully come up with a replacement plan; and we will finally get a government project that is cost effective and works best for the citizens of Washington state.

The current agenda of politicians forcing citizens out of their vehicles, under the guise of a climate emergency, only serves to further government control of our lives and, fortunately, it will come to an end with the construction of these two new bridges.

New studies by scientists support the fallacy of climate change, for example:
https://www.zerohedge.com/weather/sunlight-and-clouds-not-co2-drive-earths-climate-shocking-new-study-finds

I once believed the Federal government’s use of the “purse strings” to accomplish the agendas of politicians was not a bad idea.

Having lived long enough to see politicians pervert the use of “purse strings” to gain ever more control of citizen’s lives, it is long overdue to put that genie back in the bottle, a very difficult proposal at best, but one we must work to accomplish.

Many politicians are terrified of the People taking back control of government, thus the Establishment, left and right, continue working overtime to stop grass roots efforts to wrest control back from those who maintain control by hysterically announcing …”the sky is falling, the sky is falling” … voters must keep us in office … we know best!!!

We are the frogs in the pot of water. Government has been turning up the flame ever so slowly and surreptitiously.

It’s time to ignore “the sky is falling” crowd and take back our representation in Olympia and Washington D.C. before our rights are once and for all sacrificed at the now perverted altar of “The common good!”

Tom Schenk
Amboy

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Also read:

• 
  Letter: Buyer beware (caveat emptor)
  Bob Ortblad argues the IBR recycled a $200M bridge design while spending $30M on public relations.
• 
  Opinion: John Dickinson and the case against Independence
  John Dickinson warned that declaring independence prematurely would be to “brave the Storm in a Skiff made of Paper.”
• 
  Opinion: Comparing destruction vs refurbishment of the Interstate Bridges
  Rep. John Ley argues $390M earmarked for bridge demolition could fund a seismic retrofit and new express span instead.
• 
  Opinion: Only a fool or a politician would try to control food prices
  Seattle’s mayor wants city-backed grocery stores — a Washington Policy Center economist says history proves that never works.
• 
  Opinion: ‘A more responsible approach must be sought’
  Ken Vance argues a $10 billion funding gap makes the phased I-5 Bridge approach fiscally reckless, not responsible.