After nearly three years of work, the Columbia River Crossing project has just released its Draft Environmental Impact Statement with alternatives for addressing the problems of the Interstate 5 bridge.
The complexity and magnitude of this problem are still not well understood by most of the people who are affected by it. As commuters, most of us experience bridge congestion, which results from a large volume of personal and commercial traffic and from bridges that were designed to meet needs of 50 to 100 years ago – not current volumes.
And it is getting worse. Current estimates are that congestion will increase to 15 hours each day by 2030, even with rising gas prices.
Concerns for those passing through the corridor and who live and work in the region include environmental quality and safety. The section of I-5 near the bridge has twice as many accidents on average than other urban highways in the area.
But we are affected by this river crossing whether we live close to it and use it or not. Washington and Oregon businesses depend on the current bridges in ways that eventually impact all of us. Business relies on the bridge for access to labor markets (commuters who cross the river). Congestion wastes fuel, which costs more now than ever, and employee costs rise with slower traffic and longer wait times. The cost of business is increasing, and those costs are passed along to consumers.
This region serves as a gateway for domestic and international trade. Through our ports come automobiles, steel, petroleum, shoes and apparel. They are moved to distribution centers, warehouses and trucks or trains to be delivered to other markets across the United States.
Even more important is the impact on local businesses and local consumers. By far, the majority of traffic on I-5 in this corridor enters or exits in the vicinity of the bridge, which impacts local business.
We cannot solve the problem with a new bridge somewhere else. As a result, landscape materials delivered to Portland from Longview are more expensive, and as suppliers adjust their delivery times to avoid congestion, businesses – such as pizza restaurants – incur additional employee costs to receive those goods at 4 a.m. So our pizzas are more expensive.
For these reasons, the Columbia River Crossing project is the most important transportation project for this region.
The Washington and Oregon departments of transportation and two transit agencies (Tri-Met and C-TRAN) direct the CRC team, and estimate the project will cost between $3.1 and $4.2 billion at the time of construction in 2010.
Why so much? Because it’s not just a bridge.
A new bridge across the Columbia River alone (either a replacement or supplemental) will not solve the problems. This project also needs to rebuild seven interchanges and bring high capacity transit to Vancouver. And who will pay? All of us who benefit from the bridge will help pay. Revenue is expected to be raised through a combination of federal, state and local funds, as well as tolls. Tolls may seem new, but it will be the third time the I-5 bridge has been tolled. Tolls helped finance the northbound bridge starting in 1917 and the southbound span in 1960.
The CRC task force examined a large number of different alternative solutions to the river crossing problems. It weighed these alternatives against a huge number of criteria.
At this point, it is important to examine the proposals in light of the many criteria rather than just a single one. No solution is perfect or cheap. Our collective assessment of what best meets the overall needs of the region is what we must determine.
Hal Dengerink is co-chair of the Columbia River Crossing Task Force and chancellor of Washington State University Vancouver.
