Bob Ortblad says $60 million of greenwashing may fall millions short

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

The city of Vancouver and WSDOT are celebrating USDOT’s $30 million grant to build a lid over a short length of the Interstate Bridge Replacement Program’s freeway expansion. The IBR has committed an additional $30 million. However, $60 million of greenwashing may fall millions short. The Rose Quarter’s Lid is estimated to cost over $100 million/acre. A Vancouver 3-acre Lid at Evergreen Boulevard could cost $300 million. Will the City of Vancouver and WSDOT be stuck with a $240 million balance? 

A costly 400-foot-long lid design was canceled by the Columbia River Crossing. A lid will be an ineffective fig leaf covering only 3% of the 2.5-mile-long Vancouver freeway expansion. The lid will do little to mitigate the devastation to Downtown Vancouver and Fort Vancouver from four expanded interchanges and 12 acres of elevated freeway. The Vancouver City Council should visit Seattle’s South Jackson Street 4-acre I-5 underpass and see its environmental and social impacts. 

The IBR fraudulently disqualified an immersed tunnel alternative design that would provide a lid about two hundred yards of I-5 on both riverbanks and provide waterfront parks. 

Bob Ortblad MSCE, MBA 
Seattle, WA