Portland, OR / Vancouver, WA: The Just Crossing Alliance (JCA) is excited to see our federal partner step in and request the inclusion of a movable lift span as one of the design options for the Interstate 5 Bridge Replacement Program. The Just Crossing Alliance is a bi-state coalition of transportation, climate, and racial equity organizations focused on ensuring the I-5 bridge replacement is seismically sound, includes transportation alternatives like walking and biking, and is fiscally sustainable to both states. The alliance has raised concerns about only bringing one design option through the approval process.
“One ‘alternative’ is not really a choice, and isn’t responsive to partners. The JCA has been saying since the early days of the project reboot that we need to bring along multiple alternatives to ensure the region has options and tradeoffs for the seismically sound bridge replacement we all agree we need.” Said Brett Morgan of 1000 Friends of Oregon, a member of the Just Crossing Alliance.
The announcement of multiple design options comes after concerns that the bridge, as currently planned, would not provide enough height clearance to allow tall ships to navigate under its span.
It is clear from comments from local elected officials that we should still be considering every option carefully. Vancouver Mayor Pro Tem Ty Stober stated after the inclusion of the lift span design that “I was taught in my MBA negotiation and project planning classes to never present an option you aren’t willing to have chosen. … I am calling on the IBR team to do a fresh, complete study of a tunnel. The benefit would be to reconnect downtown Vancouver to Fort Vancouver and open the skyline.”
Morgan added, “It’s clear there is still a need to study all the options, and for the IBRP team to set square expectations for local partners who will be dramatically impacted by this project, and live with the impacts of the highway and bridge for the next 100 years plus.”
To learn more about the Just Crossing Alliance, please visit justcrossing.org.
Media Contact:
Brett Morgan
JCA Member, 1000 Friends of Oregon
Brett@friends.org 503.497.1000 x122
Image courtesy Oregon Department of Transportation