Between Interstate 205 and Interstate 5 there are more than 250,000 vehicle crossings every day. If each of those 250,000 vehicles carries only one occupant and each occupant is delayed only one hour per day due to congested traffic, the cost of that lost manpower is more than $6.25 million every day (assuming an average $25/hour). That translates to more than $1.5 billion in lost value annually.
The economic reality of that cost was one of the prime factors when Boeing moved its headquarters out of Seattle and it should be a major consideration for any employer or new resident considering Clark County.
The sad reality is that our transportation leaders have dragged their feet on adding traffic capacity in Portland and Clark County for so long that if we were to begin work on solutions to our worst problems today, it would be a decade or longer before we would see relief. The most challenging and urgent problem for Clark County leaders is not dealing with the homeless, feeding the children or solving the education funding problem. It is providing an adequate transportation system to move people, goods and services throughout the area efficiently and safely.
