Comments on: Committee bewildered by Sellwood Bridge proposal

By: Ben

Ben — Mon, 23 Jul 2012 19:05:10 +0000

Try the original Seattle light rail project. First proposed at $4B, running from the airport, through Southcenter, downtown and all the way to Northgate. By the time they got into construction on that one, it was over $6B, and the Southcenter leg had been dropped (approx. 1 mile of track) and the entire leg to Northgate was out too (at least 7 miles)! I don’t think it is limited to Portland.

By: Mike Pullen

Mike Pullen — Fri, 20 Jul 2012 16:58:44 +0000

The new cost estimate is $299 which is $30 million more than the $269 million cost estimate at the 60% design phase in 2011. The project cost has not increased “$70 million” as the article claims. In 2010 at the end of the planning phase, the cost estimate was $330 million.

By: Bob

Bob — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 19:27:28 +0000

Why are these large Portland area infrastructure projects always redesigned after bid due to budget issues? The tram, Gibbs Street Pedestrian Bridge, and now Sellwod. Are they impossibly underfunded from the beginning, overdesigned/poorly engineered, or are the contractors taking advantage? Are the people doing the cost estimates just clueless? I have never seen another city in Oregon face the same issue so many times. It’s pitiful.