The Columbian should get credit for supporting the replacement of the antiquated, undersized, earthquake-susceptible drawbridge that connects two states across the West Coast’s major north-south thoroughfare.
However, as I sit here on an express bus barely moving in rush-hour traffic to Portland, I seriously question the editorial board’s judgment that Vancouver doesn’t currently have the density to support light rail. Are we less dense than Gresham? Than Clackamas? Milwaukie? All of these suburbs are part of a light-rail system that’s connected the Portland metro area for more than 30 years. Oregon will not, and should not, support a new bridge that caters to the fantasy that bus rapid transit will suffice.
