Do You Support The I-5 Bridge Project?

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westnob said:
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That's a lot of money just to make the grass greener.
 
Nikolokolus said:
The bridge is at risk from a big subduction zone earthquake. Secondly, it's not a matter of if, but when such a subduction earthquake will occur, most recent studies done by DOGAMI and other regional geologists suggest a 40% to 50% of that happening in the next 50 to 100 years for a magnitude 9+ earthquake. If that happens the I-5 bridge is probably going to fail.

So yes, we need a new bridge to account for that, and they probably need to build in the capacity for light rail, as projections for the next fifty years suggest Clark County will continue to grow putting an even bigger burden on existing transportation infrastructure.

Build it with bonds and available federal transportation funds, repay it with tolls (on it and the I-205 bridge with discounted monthly commuter rates for people who have to go back and forth every day) and pay the thing off in 20 or 30 years via the people who use it.

It worked just fine in the bay area and it will work just fine here.
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Nikolokolus said:
And for those people bitching about light rail, I use it every day to commute to work and it's fucking awesome. Why are some of you so opposed to park and ride?
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Nikolokolus said:
Nothing is perfect, but there's a lot of advantages. My company subsidizes yearly Trimet passes for its employees, so it's free for me, I walk a mile to and from the train station every day which gets me just a little bit of extra exercise, I don't have to pay the $450/yr fee to park in the garage (or the $1000/yr it would cost me to park on the street) and after timing it, it takes me about 30 minutes to get from my front door to my desk every day compared to the 20 to 25 it takes me to drive and find a parking space.

Sure there's plenty of weirdos on the train, but there's a reason somebody invented ear buds and audio books.
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Nikolokolus said:
Touche`
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I'm not disagreeing with you about how old the interstate bridge is and how it won't stay standing in event of the "big one". And you are also right about how great Max is. It's fucking awesome! It's quite, fast, easy to get on and off of. What's not to like?

But the problem is we can't afford anymore Max. When it was just the original eastside and westside max lines we had the best transit system in the US. Now after the clackamas town center extension, the airport extension, the WES train, a trolley that pretty much does nothing and the new Max line being built to Milwaukie, Tri-Met is having serious financial difficulties. They keep cutting bus service, not because no one is riding the buses, because you can't cut all the other rail stuff. The cold hard reality is it's a lot cheaper to operate buses than it is build rail lines.

Right now in this economy it makes sense to build a new bridge but leave light rail out of it. Vancouver doesn't want it. Oregon and Washington can't afford it. Hundred of millions of dollars per mile for a train that the community it's suppose to serve doesn't want it just doesn't make sense.
 
The streetcar was beyond stupid. You can quite literally out-walk it getting from place to place in downtown and it's utterly worthless for commuting.

As for light rail being part of the CRC plan, maybe the economics and politics are against it, but bond rates are never going to get any cheaper down the line, construction costs aren't going to get cheaper and fuel and energy aren't going to suddenly become more abundant (and cheaper) the farther we go past peak oil.

Rail isn't going to solve everything, but if growth projections for the Portland Metro area hold, then Vancouver residents are going to need more than just a wider bridge to alleviate congestion (especially since the Rose Quarter bottleneck is nearly intractable).

In any case, with or without light rail, that bridge needs to be replaced for safety reasons alone.
 
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The "Columbia Crossing" is a project that needs to die. It does not solve any problems and it does cost a whale of a lot.

barfo
 
barfo said:
The "Columbia Crossing" is a project that needs to die. It does not solve any problems and it does cost a whale of a lot.
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Do you live out in the marsh? I'll build you a bridge if you'll visit the board more often.
 
jlprk said:
Do you live out in the marsh? I'll build you a bridge if you'll visit the board more often.
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It's where the beavers are. I cannot visit the board more often, the warden limits my time on the the computer. I can make you a nice license plate if you want?

barfo
 
Sure, but engrave a picture of a beaver on it. I like to shock cops looking for my tabs.
 
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