To build a new I-5 / Columbia River Bridge, besides all the other problems, we have two big problems to work out: 1) the height of the bridge, to make it high enough to satisfy the Coast Guard for the boats on the river; 2) light rail.
I am not in favor of light rail, but if we can’t have a new bridge without it, keep the existing bridges and put light rail on the newer bridge, the southbound one, or on the railroad bridge, one mile downriver from I-5.
Rapid transit buses would be a better option because they can go up and down a steeper bridge so the bridge can be high enough for the river traffic and have a smaller footprint on the ground. I-5 veers to the east on both sides of the river, especially on the north (Vancouver), side, so build a new bridge on the east side of I-5, making it wide enough to temporarily have three lanes in each direction, and permanently five lanes. Keeping the existing bridges would partially satisfy the need for a third bridge if all the onramps and offramps would be made like freeway ramps to keep traffic moving better.
