Gregoire throws "No-Choice Royce" a bone: A few bucks for the waterfront, but nothing for his light rail project.

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It's bizarre and ironic that Royce Pollard would waste $4 Billion to get a $700 million dollar, "camel's-nose-under-the-tent-flap" light rail project that nobody wants, but that's the cold, harsh, reality confronting us all today.

For whatever the reason, the Mayor of America's Vancouver would saddle each resident of Clark County with an equivalent tax debt of $10,000 or so each, so that the brochures for this thriving metropolis could have a picture of a light rail train on the cover; in this instance, a train unable to move because of weather.

The plan is to replace a bridge that does not need replacing, and then to charge the 60,000 or so people that need both the I-5 and I-205 bridges to go to work only an additional $100 or so per month for the privilege, all to get light rail in here.

This plan will do absolutely nothing to address congestion; Portland's congestion issues even with their massive, over-budget and criminal-laden light rail system is legendary and worse then Seattle's, which acknowledges that a completed, multi-billion dollar waste of money known as light rail will do nothing to reduce congestion. Nor will it have any impact on freight mobility, the only other justified reason to expend transportation dollars outside of safety... and no one has shown where the I-5 bridge is unsafe, or certainly unsafe to the point where it needs to be replaced as opposed to repaired or retro-fitted.

No, in the minds of the Downtown Mafia, the bridge has to go in favor of something light rail compatible. Never mind that we're in an economic meltdown or that officials everywhere have been told their isn't any money for this. They keep chugging away, wasting $10's of millions for planning that could go elsewhere and actually make a difference besides in consultant's Porsche payments; all for a bridge that will never get built.

Yesterday, the Governor released a budget that will hopefully drive a stake through the heart of this waste monster... for in the budget was absolutely not one dime for the bridge, if our erstwhile bridge/light rail, cheerleaders, aka the Columbian, are to be believed.

Hopefully, between the lack of cash and the new GOP majority on the county commission, we can bury this steaming pile of waste once and for all... and start looking at 3rd bridge possibilities that reflect the changing demographic of our county.



Plan includes money for waterfront but not bridge
Thursday, December 18 9:27 p.m.

BY JEFFREY MIZE
COLUMBIAN STAFF WRITER

Gov. Chris Gregoire’s proposed budget includes money for the Columbia River waterfront and a state Highway 500 interchange, but nothing for a new Interstate 5 bridge.

“We assume it continues, but we don’t have additional dollars to fund it,” Gregoire said about the Columbia River Crossing during a conference call with The Columbian Thursday.

Gregoire, a Democrat who begins her second four-year term next month, promised three months ago to include $3.1 million in her budget for infrastructure improvements to open up the former 32-acre Boise Cascade site.

Gregoire said she put that amount in her capital budget for the coming biennium, money the city of Vancouver could use to support a large-scale project that could attract $1.2 billion in private investment and generate millions in tax receipts for state and local governments.

The city has identified $38.6 million in rail, road and utility improvements and pledged $15.5 million to the project. Developers have agreed to chip in $8 million, and state lawmakers already approved $910,000.

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Now, chances that the waterfront project will attract $1.2 billion worth of anything are only exceeded by chances of common sense prevailing at both city hall and the newspaper; in short, zero.

The city's moronic tax structure; their strong arm tactics on local projects, their wasteful spending on subsidizing the Hilton for millions of taxpayer dollars (so far) with millions of taxpayer dollars to go; their head tax and all the nonsense that goes with it... all of that combine to give pause to anyone investing in the new and improved (but still largely vacant) slum that is downtown Vancouver, the Soviet Socialist Republic of Southwest Washington.

The only bone I have to pick with the Governor's budget is the waste of $52 million on an unneeded (compared to, say, the 134th Ave debacle in Salmon Creek, which didn't seem to get any money, or none that was mentioned, at least) new SR 500 interchange at St. Johns.

We're still looking to make up for the wasted time during the OTHER $50 million blown on the VanMall and Andresen interchanges; unneeded, unwanted and unnecessary to those of us who use them every day... just like we used them every day BEFORE they were tore up and replaced with feats of engineering instead of traffic light coordination.

But all in all, I'll settle for this over the massive, colossal and unnecessary waste advocated by the downtowners in favor of their massive boondoggle known as the I-5 Bridge replacement.
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