Once again, The Pravda Columbian lies: Stimulus bill may carry help for bridge project

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The Pravda Columbian continues to lie with each and every article concerning their pet project, a project only wanted by the Downtown Mafia and union shills, a project among the largest wastes of money since the expenditures on the Empty Suited One's campaign.

In this round of lies, once again, no mention is made of opposition to this massive waste of billions of dollars, OR tolls; just that the more we can suck out of the federal trough, the cheaper those tolls would be... which, of course, is another lie: see "google, Tacoma Narrows Bridge, tolls"

When these gutless worms get around to setting the initial tolls, assuming this pile of crap is ever built, they'll start out relatively low.

For awhile.

And then... they'll go up. Not to mention a huge likelihood that these same clowns will attempt to toll the I-205 Bridge, which, last I looked, was already built... and paid for.

The main money quote... the reason this article is nothing more than more Pravda Columbian propaganda:

There’s at least one major hitch: The grants are supposed to go to projects that will be completed within three years.

A new Columbia River Crossing wouldn’t be finished until 2017 at the earliest.

But Wagner said it may be possible, depending on how the U.S. Department of Transportation ultimately writes the rules, for necessary preliminary phases of the crossing project to qualify for help. Those phases could include engineering or acquisition of the right of way, costs that will easily run into the hundreds of millions of dollars.

It may be possible that Wagner might get some common sense. It may be possible that the Downtown Mafia Braintrust has an aneurysm and gains enough insight to maybe ask us if we want this steaming pile of wasted money built.

It may be. But it ain't likely.

So, this article just represents another series of bogus claims by Wagner, angling for a high-paying job as a reward for his faithful lackey performance, reminiscent of a Concentration Camp Guard involved in the rape of an entire community. It's a continuation of the Pravda Columbian's violation of the public trust and yet another symptom of the malaise that will culminate, hopefully, in the shut-down of our despicable newspaper.


Stimulus bill may carry help for bridge project

Monday, February 2 9:47 p.m.

BY ERIK ROBINSON
COLUMBIAN STAFF WRITER

In the sweep of a gigantic economic stimulus bill moving through Congress, you won’t find a single reference to the Columbia River Crossing.

However, local transportation planners are keenly interested in one provision of the $890 billion package approved last week by the Senate Appropriations Committee. They believe it raises the possibility of a major boost to the federal share of replacing the Interstate 5 Bridge, rebuilding freeway interchanges and extending light rail into Vancouver, a colossal project expected to cost $3.5 billion or more.

The provision, which wasn’t included in the House version, would make available $5.5 billion for projects of national, regional or metropolitan importance.

Grants of as much as $500 million would be awarded on a competitive basis.

While it would pay only a fraction of the cost of the project, a grant that large would effectively double the $400 million to $600 million that proponents are pushing federal officials to provide directly through earmarks on a separate package of federal highway funding. Planners expect the bridge will also qualify for as much as $750 million in federal transit funds.

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