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| -Election 2012 |
| Champ Springs $3.5 B for Columbia River Crossing |
| 2012-08-20 |
| "We can't wait" - at leat not until after the election. President Barack Obama announced Saturday that the Columbia River Crossing will be one of several transportation projects to be expedited by his "We Can't Wait" initiative. The announcement, relayed in a joint statement by the governors of Washington and Oregon, was not accompanied by any specific financial commitment. Another empty promise? Do you think the rubes will figure it out? "President Obama's announcement today recognizes the importance the crossing has to the region and will help us expedite the needed federal permits," said Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire. "This project will provide thousands of construction jobs, as well as long-term growth in one of the most trade-dependent areas of the United States," she said. "We are committed to taking the necessary steps to begin bridge construction in 2014." If it's so important, why can't you find funds for it? Why shouldn't it wait for the same permitting process that a coal-fired powerplant waits on? This was not the first high-level show of support for the project. In March, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said his department remains "totally committed" to the Columbia River Crossing. Why, that makes it seem like the announcement by Obama is politically motivated! "It's going to be a model for multimodal transportation," LaHood said at the time. "It's bistate, bipartisan ... any way you can describe it, it's a great project." |
| Posted by:Bobby |
| #5 all that may be as noted accurately above. Nothing he pushes now will have shovels in ground before January (and that's if they already had approved final plans and environmental clearance) and were just waiting for the Skittles-shitting unicorn to fly over and drop $). All this is promises for votes |
| Posted by: Frank G 2012-08-20 22:32 |
| #4 After several million have been spent onthe design of the I-5 bridge, the Army corps of engineers and theUSCG have determined it is too low to allow existing shipyards to move product. The joint Wa-Or bridge commission thinks that the design is fine and are ignoring the potential loss of jobs. The coast guard has ultimate approval authority and is not incmlined at this time to OK it. |
| Posted by: USN, ret 2012-08-20 21:54 |
| #3 Its true that I-5 needs to be widened between Washington and Oregon. However, a lot of the cost for this is in upscaling the interchanges. Particularly costly were the upgrades associated with access to Hayden Island and the addition of a light rail line connecting Vancouver and Portland. |
| Posted by: lord garth 2012-08-20 20:57 |
| #2 From where,thin sir, I don't think Unicorn Poop will quite do it. |
| Posted by: Redneck Jim 2012-08-20 15:51 |
| #1 If the United States is going to fulfill its Manifest Destiny and settle the West, we need a way to get the wagons across the Columbia. I say let's go for it. Westward, ho! |
| Posted by: SteveS 2012-08-20 15:06 |