Congresswoman Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-Camas, does not represent Southwest Washington well when she’ll set back the entire Columbia River Crossing project for a vote on light rail. This project has been fought for by visionary federal, state, county and city elected officials for years, and now this one Congresswoman wants to threaten it moving forward for a vote she defines “as a referendum on the entire plan” for the project. This is claptrap. The CRC is an approved project.
The project is to repair a local problem on a national interstate. It encompasses traffic, health, safety, and the environment, and looks forward to mass transit that is a predictable necessity. The project itself is past necessary — let’s have no power play that delays it.
The mass transit piece is comprised of light rail. It is perfectly logical to tie into the readily available, successful MAX system lying so close at hand.
We must continue to unite the region with a solid highway and mass transit system for mutual services, and overall growth.
