With renewed arrogance, fervor and myopia governing elites in Salem, Olympia, Portland, and Vancouver have begun advocacy to replace the aging I-5 bridge. Washington citizens rejected the multi-billion dollar project once before for an obvious reason: as proposed, too much money would have been spent for little improvement in the gridlock we currently experience, which worsens by the day as we continue to grow.
There’s a better solution:
First: build another crossing from 192nd Ave. to Troutdale’s Airport Way.
Second: build another crossing from the West Mill Plain corridor to Port of Portland/St. John’s industrial area.
Third: Replace the I-5 bridge with accommodation for light rail using elevated tracks and featuring a center emergency/bicycle lane.
Fourth: build elevated light rail tracks using existing I-5 right-of-way. Existing select surface street crossings can be expanded to become secure, attended boarding/park-and-rides where only paid-fare persons/bicyclists can access boarding areas. Utilizing this concept, light rail can be constructed from the Canadian border to the Mexican border. We already own the right-of-way.