Bob Ortblad suggests elected officials and community leaders should take a field trip to Seattle’s Chinatown
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 Interstate Bridge Replacement Program (IBR) has intentionally concealed the impact of its bridge approaches by providing misleading graphics. The 16 legislators on the Joint Committee on the I-5 Bridge, the Vancouver City Council, and the Hayden Island Neighborhood Network should take a joint field trip to Seattle’s Chinatown. This will help them visualize the IBR’s devastating plans for Vancouver and Hayden Island.
They should take Amtrak to Seattle’s Union Station and walk five blocks up South Jackson St., then walk another 100 yards under an elevated I-5 freeway. Walk one more block to 12th Avenue South to visit Seattle’s largest drug market.
In 1968, WSDOT cut I-5 through Seattle’s historic Chinatown. For six decades the impacts of this concrete nightmare have been inflicted on Chinatown with no relief in sight.
The South Jackson St. underpass is about 100 yards long. The IBR plans a Columbia Way 130-yard underpass. Vancouver’s $21 million “Main Street Promise” will end at an ugly underpass, and it will be a dark 200-yard walk under the freeway to get to the riverfront. The IBR plans three separate 100-yard underpasses for Hayden Island covering a dozen acres with a forest of concrete pillars.
The IBR fraudulently disqualified an immersed tunnel alternative design with no underpasses and that would enhance both riverbanks with waterfront parks.
Bob Ortblad MSCE, MBA
Seattle, WA
Also read:
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Ryan Frost of the Washington Policy Center argues that a proposed Washington income tax creates a new revenue stream rather than delivering tax reform or relief. - Opinion: ‘If they want light rail, they should be the ones who pay for it’
Clark County Today Editor Ken Vance argues that supporters of light rail tied to the I-5 Bridge replacement should bear the local cost of operating and maintaining the system through a narrowly drawn sub-district. - POLL: If a sub-district is created, what area should it include?
Clark County residents are asked where a potential C-TRAN sub-district should be drawn if voters are asked to fund light rail operations and maintenance costs. - Opinion: IBR falsely blaming inflation
Joe Cortright argues that inflation explains only a small portion of the IBR project’s cost increases and that rising consultant and staff expenses are the primary drivers. - Letter: The Interstate Bridge Replacement Program’s $141 million bribe can be better spent on sandwich steel-concrete tubes
Bob Ortblad argues that an immersed tunnel using sandwich steel-concrete tubes would be a more cost-effective alternative to the current Interstate Bridge Replacement Program design.
