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Home / Presidents Perspective - 2008 / The Time to Replace the Columbia River Bridge is Now, Not Later |
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The Time to Replace the Columbia River Bridge is Now, Not Later |
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Written On: Friday, May 30, 2008 |
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Written By: Don C. Brunell |
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When President Eisenhower championed the National Interstate and Defense Highway Act in 1956, the idea was to build a freeway network much like the German autobahn system. Over the years, our nation became increasingly dependent on interstate highways to move hundreds of millions of people and billions of dollars worth of cargo.
Imagine what would happen if that lifeline were cut.
Actually, it has already happened. In 1994, the Northridge earthquake in California collapsed the I-5 and SR 14 interchange overpass, creating a bottleneck that choked the state’s already clogged highway system. Then last August, the Interstate 35W Bridge in Minneapolis broke apart and plunged into the Mississippi River, killing 13 people and injuring hundreds. The tragedy was a grim reminder of how fragile our highway system is.
Our state had its own brief experience last winter when flooding forced the closure of I-5 near Chehalis. The only option for truckers headed from Seattle to Portland was a 440 mile detour through Yakima.
Unlike Los Angeles and Minneapolis where drivers have many other local options, we’re not as fortunate. Currently, we have two sets of bridges spanning the Columbia River on I-5 and I-205 – that’s it. While there are no signs that our bridges have structural problems, they will eventually have to be upgraded, rebuilt and replaced.
That’s not the only problem.
Capacity is an issue as more people and cargo cross the two sets of bridges. The side-by-side spans, with three lanes in each direction, are the only remaining drawbridges on I-5. Periodically, they have to close when tugs, barges and large pleasure craft need to pass. So, the I-5 bridge complex itself causes traffic delays. Fortunately, that is not the case on I-205.
Today, as congestion mounts, drivers find themselves in stop and go traffic during commute hours – if everything is going smoothly. Because the I-5 bridges have no shoulders to allow emergency vehicles to pass or people in “fender benders” to pull off to the side, traffic stops in place. Motorists simply have no place to go.
If we do nothing, the situation will only get worse.
By 2030, the Portland-Vancouver metro area, with its major seaports, is forecast to grow by 46 percent to three million people. That means more drivers will migrate east to the I-205 Bridge. The Glenn Jackson Bridge, which was opened in 1983, has greater capacity, but if no action occurs on I-5 by 2020, there will be 10-hour traffic gridlock on I-205 each day.
The lead time to replace the I-5 bridges is long. It won’t happen overnight, and it will be costly, but it will be worth it.
The new $4.2 billion structure will add road shoulders, pedestrian-bicycle corridors, bus transit lanes, and leave room to bring Portland’s light rail system to downtown Vancouver. If everything goes as planned, construction will begin in two years.
Much of the work on the Washington side of the river leading to the new bridges is complete. I-5 was systematically widened over the years, and the big missing piece is the span itself.
By 2030, the new 12-lane bridge along I-5 would reduce congestion in North Portland and Vancouver below the levels motorists experience today while carrying many more vehicles, Columbia River Crossings (CRC) forecasters say.
CRC estimates that five major sectors of the Northwest economy are impacted by the I-5 Bridge: Wood products, transportation equipment and steel, agriculture and food products, high tech, and distribution and wholesale. These industries make up 30 percent of the region’s economy but account for 70 percent of the freight tonnage.
While the cost of the project is high, the price of doing nothing is even higher. Between now and when the replacement is complete, hopefully no major earthquakes will dislodge the bridge supports, and the structural integrity will be maintained.
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