In reaction to The Columbian’s Nov. 30 editorial “In Our View — Bridge Lifts a Small Piece,” I agree that Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler’s proposal to adjust bridge-lifting schedules would be a drop in the ocean of measures necessary to avert the looming great metro traffic infarction. But other proposals also lack vision.
The vague Oregon dream of tolling freeways under the moniker of “value-pricing” as a means of reducing traffic volume will remain a pipe dream as long as motorists aren’t given a means of escape in the form of adequate public transit. The often-touted extension of the MAX across the Columbia cannot be considered “adequate” due to capacity restrictions on the Yellow Line (the length of the platforms is insufficient to accommodate trains of sufficient capacity). Only a real commuter railway, using the Union-Pacific tracks and railroad bridge, will provide capacity to make a dent.
But these are long-term or, at best, mid-term solutions. For the short term, two options could diminish commuter volume: large enterprises that use shift work (Nike, Intel and others) could stagger the timing of the shifts, and/or these enterprises could organize private bus transport for employees between their campuses and park-and-ride transfer points in Clark County, as done in the Silicon Valley area.
