“The CRC project will degrade everything we’ve collectively invested decades creating. There are cheaper, more environmentally sound ways to do this. We aim to make the public aware of them.”
— Joe Kurmaskie
As promised, a “grassroots coalition of Portlanders and Vancouverites” has launched their first of several satirical videos mocking the current plans for a 12-lane I-5 bridge. This is the same group that has put together an impressive list of speakers and plans for an April 5th rally they are now calling the CRC Opposition and Alternatives Rally.
The video (embedded below) was released this morning along with a press release with more details about the upcoming rally in Waterfront Park.
Here’s the “Have we got a bridge to sell you!” video (YouTube link):
In the press release, organizers call this,
“the opening salvo in a sustained campaign to block funding for the project in its current form, and to offer alternatives that match the desires of a community to be fiscally responsible, address environmental challenges and tackle livability issues effecting the region.”
Local author and syndicated columnist Joe Kurmaskie, who has become the group’s de facto spokesperson, says that our region has a legacy for making sustainable transportation choices but that, “Putting up a four billion dollar, 12 lane mega-bridge will change all that, and not for the better.”
Kurmaskie feels that, “this bridge promotes single occupancy vehicle use, invites unchecked sprawl to southern Washington and opens the door to widening I-5 through the heart of Portland.”
Confirmed to speak at the rally are former Oregon Secretary of State Bill Bradbury, Portland City Commissioner Amanda Fritz, Metro Councilor Robert Liberty, and Bicycle Transportation Alliance advocate and educator Michelle Poyourow.
About the videos, the coalition says they are modeled in the American tradition, “of political rebel rouser Mark Twain and more recently, the humor and humanity of Jon Stewart.” The videos will be posted once a week and emailed to a list of 250 regional media outlets.
“We can’t allow the area to become another L.A. or Houston in terms of traffic,” Kurmaskie states in the press release, “The CRC project will degrade everything we’ve collectively invested decades creating. There are cheaper, more environmentally sound ways to do this. We aim to make the public aware of them.”
Kurmaskie also says he’s set to go head-to-head with Lars Larson on KXL 750 AM at about 1:35 today.
- — Press release
— Video