Clark County and Vancouver are currently discussing the best way to construct a new bridge across the Columbia River. Perhaps looking to other cities to see how they handled their bridge crossings would be wise. One notable city would be San Francisco.
When the San Francisco Bay Bridge connecting San Francisco and Oakland was constructed, it had railroad tracks on it. The city found that they were not practical and removed them. I ask the question: Will we build a low-clearance bridge with railroad tracks (light rail), only to remove them 25 years later?
San Francisco also found that nothing thrives when located underneath vehicle structures, with the possible exception of trolls. It has been suggested that the city of Vancouver should have a name change. When and if this crossing is built, a new name for Vancouver could be Trollville.
Charles Williamson
Vancouver
