Lars Larson comments on this week’s news that the Oregon and Washington transportation officials have agreed to pay upriver users $140 million to mitigate ‘a bridge too low’
Lars Larson
The Northwest Nonsense
Ready for the latest insane waste of your tax dollars?
Plans for the latest and soon to fail Interstate Bridge replacement propose to build a span more than 60 feet too low … and, just announced this week, it plans to bribe Northwest businesses.
The bribe? It’s $140 million to compensate for the business they’ll lose when the brand-new, same-size-as-the-old-one, boondoggle bridge blocks the river.
Federal funding has disappeared.
Oregon and Washington must pay for most of it and they’re just about flat broke.
The Coast Guard has still not given approval and that’s absolutely required.
Public opposition grows. The light rail line, all two miles of it, now ranks as the single most expensive on earth at more than $1 billion a mile.
Initial daily ridership projections, a lie from the start, keep edging down from tens of thousands of daily riders, to just a few.
Does anyone in Northwest leadership have the spine to pull the plug on this $10 billion joke … or do we just tolerate ODOT’s “contractor from hell” model of lowballing the front end estimate and then doubling or tripling the price when it’s too late to pull out?
Also read:
- City of Washougal advances overcrossing design for 32nd St Rail Crossing Project
Washougal officials have selected an overcrossing design for the 32nd Street Rail Crossing Project, aiming to improve safety and reduce traffic delays caused by frequent train blockages. - Opinion: Trails, roadways and crosswalks
Doug Dahl explains how Washington law treats hiking trails that cross roadways and whether pedestrians automatically have the right-of-way. - Expect delays on northbound I-205 in Vancouver for guardrail repairs March 4
WSDOT will close the left lane of northbound I-205 in Vancouver from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. March 4 for guardrail repairs between Exit 36 and the northbound I-5 on-ramp. - Letter: IBR’s money pit
Bob Ortblad argues the Interstate Bridge Replacement Program is withholding a higher cost estimate while moving forward with limited funding and an unclear construction timeline. - Full closure: I-5 southbound off-ramp to Exit 11 in north Clark County for maintenance March 3
The southbound I-5 off-ramp to Exit 11 for SR 502/Battle Ground will close March 3 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. for maintenance work.
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