Coast Guard

CRC was shut down completely May 31, 2014 The Columbia River Crossing (CRC) mega-project was a freeway expansion, tolling, and light rail project along a five-mile stretch of Interstate 5 between Portland, Oregon and Vancouver, Washington. The CRC was created in 2005 to complete a buildable plan in 3 years at a cost of $50 million. Approaching near... ly a decade, the CRC spent nearly $200 million - a 300% cost overrun. The $199,499,108 spent on design was only 5% of projected construction costs of the $3.6 billion mega project. With the evidence below, it's hard to ignore that the CRC plan was wasteful, outdated, and needed to be shut down. Rep. Frederick speaks on the Floor of the Oregon House, February 25th 2013, on House Bill 2800, the Columbia River Crossing Bill. 1) The I-5 replacement bridge would create a choke point for river commerce. The proposed new bridge would become the lowest clearance bridge from the Pacific Ocean to The Dalles (190 miles). The CRC plan does not meet current marine traffic clearance needs, will limit future marine business, and goes against national trends of higher bridges for larger vessels. The Columbia River is one of the few important military and commerce major waterways on the West Coast. Water transportation is the most fuel efficient, least polluting, safest, and least expensive means of moving cargo. The current I5 bridge has a fully lifted clearance of about 176 feet. The up river Glenn Jackson I-205 bridge has about 144 feet of clearance. The down river Lewis and Clark Bridge between Longview, Washington and Rainier, Oregon has 210 feet of vertical clearance. 2) Don't fall for the fear tactics - Our current bridge is safe. There are 795 "structurally deficient" bridges in Oregon & Washington and the Columbia River Interstate Bridge is not one of them. The I-5 bridge is a historic landmark that is safe, with an impressive 178 of clearance for river traffic that does not impede river commerce. A seismic retrofit to our current bridge could be done for a small fraction ...Read More