Wake up, wonderful people of Oregon and Washington and the Portland-Vancouver metro area. We cannot afford the Columbia River Crossing as it is currently proposed with its $3.6 billion price tag, no matter how much we want it or the engineers tell us we need it.
Let’s be honest. We have a crisis on our hands. With trillions of dollars in U.S. debt, America’s credit rating downgrade, a teetering Wall Street financial system, unacceptable unemployment levels and crippling personal credit debt, it would be fiscal foolishness to further burden taxpayers in this besieged economy.
Now is not the time.
Let’s put off plans for buying the new Cadillac and make repairs on the Chevy until we’ve returned to financial solvency.
We might just find that a scaled-down third bridge and a few more coins in our pockets may not be so bad after all.
