You have to hand it to Sen. Benton for his arrogance! You'd think that by being reelected by only 76 votes would put just the tinyest bit of humility in him but not so. He acts like he has a mandate from the voters to kill the project and treats our partner's governor (Oregon) like a piker! He believes he's in charge of the design instead of ythe professionals or that this bridge is a compromise between two states and the federal government. Not unheard of though, he tried the same when Secretary LaHood flew 2500 miles to speak with our governor and key Senators (but they insisted on a meeting with the whole Republican Causus) because he thought enough of this project. 

The project is before us. There is an agreement between the two states and the federal government. Any redesign that removes LTR puts us back at the end of the line for federal funding delaying the project for at least a decade or longer and the LTR money goes to another city like Dallas or Atlanta. It's time to move forward! It's time to build that bridge!