Senator Chip Shields.(Photo © J. Maus/BikePortland) Many of you where surprised and disappointed when Oregon State Senator Chip Shields voted in favor of HB 2800, a.k.a. the CRC bill. Shields is a Democrat who represents the north and northeast Portland district that will be most immediately impact by this massive freeway expansion project. Shields’ vote … Read more
Sen. Chip Shields, who represents north and northeast Portland, was one of 18 yes votes.(Photos © J. Maus/BikePortland) The Oregon Senate passed HB 2800 (the CRC bill) today by a vote of 18-11. The vote comes just a week after the House passed it 45-11. The bill will now be signed into law by Governor … Read more
“I have not seen any renderings at all, and yet I am going to be asked to vote on it.”— Oregon State Senator Betsy Close On Tuesday we pointed out that despite $170 million and years of planning the largest public works project in our state’s history, realistic visual representations of the Columbia River Crossing … Read more
“I heard from a number of people who have expressed concerns about their [legislative] priorities if they were to speak against the bill.”— Mara Gross, interim director of Coalition for a Livable Future The Columbia River Crossing project took a big step forward when HB 2800 easily passed the Oregon House this week. But while … Read more
Watch the clip below from Friday’s excellent OPB show, Think Out Loud. It features Willamette Week editor Mark Zusman and Oregonian editorial and commentary editor Erik Lukens discussing the Columbia River Crossing. For context, the Willamette Week has been dogging this project for a log time and has done more than any other media outlet … Read more
It’s the CRC they don’t want you to see. Animation shows view southeast from Jantzen Beach area. Images show existing and future build-out conditions. The images were sourced from the website of a consultant hired by ODOT/CRC and they also appear in the appendix of the CRC’s Urban Design Advisory Group final report. (GIF created … Read more
“We can see a return on our investment tomorrow that far exceeds our investment today… This can be our ‘great bridge’.”— Rep. Tobias Read By a vote of 45-11, the Oregon House of Representatives voted this morning in support of HB 2800. There was not much debate about the bill, and except for an extremely … Read more
In 1997, Governor Kitzhaber said, “It’s time we challenged the idea that says we can build our way out of congestion by adding more freeway lanes.”(Photo © J. Maus/BikePortland) The strong support being given to the $3.4 billion Columbia River Crossing highway expansion project by Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber represents a u-turn from his previous … Read more
Artist’s rendering of the project HB 2800, the bill that will give a green light (at least on the Oregon side) to the Columbia River Crossing I-5 freeway expansion project, will likely be voted on by the Oregon House when they convene at 11:00 am on Monday (2/25). After years of what has felt like … Read more
Committee Co-Chair Tobias Read listens to testimony.(Photos © J. Maus/BikePortland) The Columbia River Crossing project took a step forward in Salem on Monday. After hearing nearly four hours of testimony for the second week in a row, a joint legislative committee voted 14-2 (see votes below) in favor of HB 2800 — a bill that … Read more
Scene from a 2009 anti-CRC rally.(Photo © J. Maus/BikePortland) House Bill 2800 — and in some ways the future of Columbia River Crossing project — is up for another hearing at the state capitol on Monday. Activists against the project, who packed hearing rooms this past Monday, hope for a repeat performance in order to … Read more
This just in: Bipartisan Coalition Forms Against The Columbia River Crossing Today, progressive and conservative organizations, businesses, and individuals announced the formation of a bipartisan coalition to oppose the current plan for the Columbia River Crossing. Coalition leaders include: John Charles (President, Cascade Policy Institute), Steve Cole (Northeast Coalition of Neighborhoods), Karla Kay Edwards (Director, … Read more