Oregon Gov. Kate Brown, in a debate, echoed former Gov. John Kitzhaber’s famous words once again — “no light rail, no bridge” — when it comes to considering a replacement Interstate 5 Bridge. Her insensitivity to concerns of Southwest Washington residents is outrageous.
We know it was “a light-rail project in search of a bridge.” An Oregon Supreme Court justice declared it so in a 2012 opinion.
Willamette Week reported the following: “Last summer, the governors’ review panel said that failing to address the Rose Quarter congestion would be like hooking a garden hose to a fire hydrant. Questions about the reasonableness of investment in the CRC bridge because of unresolved issues to the south (the Rose Quarter) threaten the viability of the project,” the panel wrote in July 2010.
Oregon refuses to add new capacity, new through lanes at the Rose Quarter. Oregon’s No. 2 bottleneck begins at Rosa Parks Way, continuing to the Rose Quarter.
