The Columbia River Crossing failed, as pointed out by the March 11 editorial “Bridge to Nowhere,” due to the inclusion of light rail. Why not analyze the objection to the light rail and discover that it is a very expensive expenditure for a tourist train? It will not serve as an improved commute option, since the train ride from Vancouver is planned to take more than twice the time as present express buses. With a multilane bridge, and some improvements near the Rose Garden, the buses will be even quicker and far less costly.
Also to be considered is that substantial numbers of Washington residents think that the introduction of rail in their transportation grid is an unwise investment.
The fact that the feds will pick up most of the rail cost (still leaving the taxpayers in both states millions to pay) has obscured that the rationale to “improve” the commute is false and undesirable.
Richard Leonetti
Portland
