I-5 Bridge Replacement - Formerly Columbia River Crossing | Proposed

[PacificNW]

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[dubu]

we are talking about this on citydata and i think the train should go to the island. the line would go along i5 and skip some yellow line stops (about five of them) then conect to the tracks with the yellow line.

[PDXDENSITY]

They should just retrofit the bridge for the next hundred years, add no lanes, and make a new MAX bridge with bike/ped amenities.

This would ease traffic meaning adding lanes for freight would be moot.

[eric cantona]

one edit and I think you have a winner:

Originally Posted by PDXDENSITY

They should just retrofit the bridge for the next hundred years, add no lanes, and make a new local access/MAX bridge with bike/ped amenities.

This would ease traffic meaning adding lanes for freight would be moot.

[dubu]

ya have a bike parke n ride

[PDXDENSITY]

Originally Posted by dabom

ya have a bike parke n ride

That makes no sense. Why would we want to encourage people to waste gas and park and then bike? Also, a parking lot like that is a misuse of space. It's better to beef up density near transit, than leave it black top.

[dubu]

im saying like those bike/ scootef parking like japan.

youve got a island and a freeway that would be easy to put light rail on, i dont know why they built that yellow line like that.

at least we got the orange and green line that are normal light rail

[CouvScott]

Originally Posted by PDXDENSITY

They should just retrofit the bridge for the next hundred years, add no lanes, and make a new MAX bridge with bike/ped amenities.

This would ease traffic meaning adding lanes for freight would be moot.

I totally agree. Light rail is the only lane I want added to the bridge.

[65MAX]

Originally Posted by PDXDENSITY

They should just retrofit the bridge for the next hundred years, add no lanes, and make a new MAX bridge with bike/ped amenities.

This would ease traffic meaning adding lanes for freight would be moot.

That wouldn't ease traffic at all. And you still have the problem of the drawbridge causing massive back-ups and tons of pollution in North Portland a couple of times every day. A new bridge is absolutely essential.

I think the best solution is pretty simple and I can't believe nobody is pursuing it. Just build a new freeway-only bridge with 4 lanes each direction and the old bridge would be ideal for MAX and local/island access, bikes and pedestrians. It has a low deck elevation that makes it easier for trains, bikes and people to traverse the river, while the new bridge would rise to 125' (or whatever height they've been squabbling about) so that freeway traffic doesn't stop every time the old bridge opens. Also, keeping the MAX on the old bridge would make it much easier to serve the new waterfront development that Vancouver is building. If we built a new bridge just for MAX and pedestrians, it would have to climb too high to be able to access that new development.

I think the reason this bridge has been so bogged down in political posturing is that it's trying to do too many things and the costs are skyrocketing as a result. Keep it simple. There's no reason whatsoever to demolish the old bridge and try to cram everything onto a new one. That's completely shortsighted and wasteful. That would be like trying to make everybody use just the Marquam and Fremont Bridges and demolishing the Hawthorne, Morrison, Burnside, Steel and Broadway Bridges because they're "old". That's just totally absurd!!

[MarkDaMan]

Guess what's rumbling around again....

Washington House passes bill on I-5 bridge replacement
By The Associated Press
on March 07, 2017 at 4:27 PM, updated March 07, 2017 at 5:17 PM

http://www.oregonlive.com/business/i....html#comments

OLYMPIA, Wash. -- Washington's House of Representatives has passed a bill seeking to jumpstart plans for replacing the Interstate 5 bridge over the Columbia River.

KOIN-TV reports that the measure, filed by Vancouver Democrat Sharon Wylie, aims to start preliminary planning work related to the project. It's one of the first steps in getting a new bridge project going after the last effort, the proposed Columbia River Crossing, fell apart in 2014 after tens of millions of dollars were spent.

Wylie said bridge congestion is worsening due to increased truck traffic and the construction of a new casino north of Vancouver.

The bill, along with a related one in the Senate, passed 60-38 Monday. It calls for an inventory of work done for the Columbia River Crossing project and would create a committee of stakeholders and Department of Transportation employees in Oregon and Washington.

Engineers say the existing bridge could collapse in a big earthquake. Cost estimates for the last bridge project neared $3 billion.

...(continues)

[stan]

What is dead may never die.

[urbanlife]

Originally Posted by MarkDaMan

Guess what's rumbling around again....

Washington House passes bill on I-5 bridge replacement
By The Associated Press
on March 07, 2017 at 4:27 PM, updated March 07, 2017 at 5:17 PM

http://www.oregonlive.com/business/i....html#comments

Portland should mail them a photo of a MAX train, that says if they want a new bridge, then this needs to be crossing it.

[2oh1]

I fear they're going to follow the same plan that led to disaster last time. They'll try to fund and build a one bridge fix-all solution, which is just plain dumb.

This seems to make much more sense to me.

• Video Link

[maccoinnich]

SW Washington politicians want this a lot more than Oregon politicians do. I don't see how you get the support of the latter without MAX and tolls. Conversely, I don't see how you get the support of the former with them.

[downtownpdx]

Gaaaawwwd I can't believe there still isn't light rail across the river. You can't go north on I-5 between 2 and 7 pm without gridlock. Thankfully, Washington legislators are reviving the conversation. Former WA state senator Don Benton actually contacted several WA legislators to discourage them from doing this ... he's now in DC as a senior Trump advisor:

The CRC was nothing more than a facade to bring light rail into Vancouver. That was the whole purpose of it. Oregon needed to bring light rail into Vancouver to save their bankrupt system (TriMet). It was never about congestion.

http://www.clarkcountytoday.com/2017...e-replacement/

Sigh.... luckily he's not calling the shots on this project. We'd be building 2 new bridges across the Columbia - with no rail - if he had his way. And while he moans about tolls on the new I-5 project, he seems to have no issue with spending $$$ on new bridges and all the new traffic they'd spill onto the targeted neighborhoods. He lives in Clark County... they should ram an overpass right through his backyard, so he can personally help us "relieve congestion."

[MarkDaMan]

https://www.oregonlive.com/roadrepor...animously.html

Vancouver council unanimously support new I-5 bridge with transit, bikes
Updated 11:57 AM; Posted 11:45 AM
By Andrew Theen atheen@oregonian.com
The Oregonian/OregonLive

Vancouver's City Council unanimously threw its support Monday behind building a new Interstate 5 bridge spanning the Columbia River with separated transit and improved bike and pedestrian facilities.

Almost five years after the Columbia River Crossing officially died despite nearly $190 million worth of planning over more than a decade, Vancouver's city leaders voted Monday to try to revive the bridge project. But the city appeared to leave the door open for bus-rapid transit in lieu of light rail - a point of conflict through the years.

"This is an important first step in moving the I-5 bridge project forward," Vancouver Mayor Anne McEnerny-Ogle said in a statement. "The replacement of the bridge will be critical to the continued economic growth of the bi-state region."

Oregon and Washington were supposed to spend $450 million apiece to build a new bridge, redesign several interchanges on either side of the river and bring light rail to Washington state. But conservative Washington legislators derailed the effort in 2013.

...(continues)

[urbanlife]

Good to see Vancouver starting to understand the importance of light rail, especially if they want people to live in those new apartment buildings along the river. It is gonna be hard pressed to find anyone that wants to pay Pearl prices with Vancouver bridge traffic.

[justrmor]

Originally Posted by MarkDaMan

https://www.oregonlive.com/roadrepor...animously.html



...(continues)

Wasn't it Republicans in the Washington State Senate that killed the bridge? They didn't want to pay for lightrail.

[cailes]

They might be approaching a good time to pass this as far as Washington state politics go.

[cab]

Honestly, we should just go for a tunnel. Just sucker egomanic in charge with a name sponsor to cover the cost. Donald Trump Interstate tunnel (the deepest, the most beautiful, the best tunnel ever built. Trust me) .