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Tuesday, March 19, 2024
March 19, 2024

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Letter: Bridge is unsafe for traffic volume

The Columbian
Published:

I am a daily I-5 commuter. Here’s what I saw today on my way to work as I crossed the I-5 Bridge: A shoe, and half a motorcycle, in the middle of the highway accompanied by ambulances, wrecked cars and a backup that went beyond the horizon. This all gives testimony to a piece of highway that is unacceptably unsafe and that has turned a person trying to get to work into yet another victim.

More than 60,000 parents, friends, co-workers and neighbors cross this dinosaur we call the Interstate 5 Bridge every day to get to work and home again.

Hundreds of accidents happen on this stretch of highway each year — more than any other in our region, and we each hope we aren’t the next statistic.

We have to replace this bridge now. We can’t in good conscience delay its construction to debate things that are secondary to safety and lose this opportunity to fix it. I-5 commuters are the witnesses to the bridge’s dangers, from fender-benders to heart-wrenching crashes like the one I saw this morning. Let’s replace this hazardous bridge so we can all get home safely.

Katy Brooks

Portland

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