<img height="1" width="1" style="display:none" src="https://www.facebook.com/tr?id=192888919167017&amp;ev=PageView&amp;noscript=1">
Friday, March 29, 2024
March 29, 2024

Linkedin Pinterest

Bridge advisory measure passing

County gauging interest in span in east Clark County

By Tyler Graf
Published: November 5, 2014, 12:00am

An advisory measure asking county commissioners to investigate building a proposed third bridge across the Columbia River was leading Tuesday night.

The countywide measure received 51.31 percent of the vote, according to Tuesday’s election returns. The vote had been placed on the ballot to gauge citizen interest in pursuing a third bridge crossing at Southeast 192nd Avenue in Vancouver. The advisory vote came at the recommendation of Commissioner David Madore, who has championed the pursuit of an east county bridge since his 2012 campaign.

The bridge is viewed as an alternative to the Columbia River Crossing megaproject, though skeptics say it wouldn’t relieve traffic congestion the way the CRC would have.

The advisory vote cost roughly $6,500 to be placed on the ballot, according to the county auditor’s office. Its success could prove priceless to the project’s backers.

Passage of the advisory vote would indicated there’s at least passing interest in looking into an east county bridge proposal, like the one made by Florida-based Figg Engineering over the summer. At that presentation, the company unveiled its design for the bridge.

The firm said it could build a bridge from Vancouver to Oregon for no more than $860 million.

How to pay for such a project will likely be left up to the Oregon and Washington legislatures. They have yet to address the project, and there’s no guarantee they will in the future.

“I’m aware there are some proposed solutions to the transportation issues in Southwest Washington, as well as the entire state,” wrote state Sen. Curtis King, R-Yakima, in an email. “I’m studying these projects and I have no doubt they will be part of the discussion when the legislative session begins in January.”

Other lawmakers, including state Sen. Annette Cleveland, D-Vancouver, have voiced skepticism about the proposal.

Before a bistate bridge proposal can move forward, she said, backers of the east county bridge will have to first repair a damaged relationship with Oregon lawmakers still smarting from the demise of the CRC.

Cleveland said: “I believe our community has been clear that the first priority is to replace the antiquated Interstate 5 Bridge.”

Loading...