91视频

The Metro Council on Thursday approved $36 million for engineering and planning a new Interstate Bridge between Portland and Vancouver, Washington, but also passed guidance demanding transportation agencies work to reduce vehicle travel, conduct new traffic forecasts and analyze health impacts.

The decisions illustrated Metro’s divided role as a regional planning agency whose council has deep misgivings of approving a mega-bridge that would encourage behavior that worsens climate change.

鈥淲e’re basically saying we can’t tolerate a bridge that’s 10 or 12 lanes wide,鈥� Councilor Shirley Craddick said. 鈥淚t doesn’t work. It’s not healthy, and it’s not good for the health of our region and our state and, of course, our world.鈥�

The council’s decisions Thursday allow planning for the Interstate Bridge replacement project to move forward, while putting the Oregon and Washington transportation departments on notice that Metro will not accept a massive bridge focused on vehicle capacity.

Ahead is a June vote on a 鈥渓ocally preferred alternative鈥� for the bridge design. Some councilors hinted they may not support a bridge that doesn’t meet Metro’s goals.

Council President Lynn Peterson said the resolution laying out Metro’s expectations for the project is meant to provide clarity for the Interstate Bridge Replacement Program and its driving agencies, including the Oregon Department of Transportation.

鈥淭his is something that wasn’t done last time and sets a higher bar for how we proceed as a region, and with our partners,鈥� Peterson said.

Councilor Mary Nolan said she would not vote to approve the project if it doesn’t meet Metro’s expectations.

鈥淲e need the project to meet these standards to earn our approval,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t is as much holding ourselves accountable to what we’ve promised the public that we expect from this project, and to give clear advance communication to our partners, who I consider to be partners in this project.鈥�

Nolan and Program Administrator Greg Johnson, who appeared remotely from an airport terminal, engaged in a tense back-and-forth. Nolan told Johnson a slight revision of the Columbia River Crossing would be rejected.

鈥淵ou understand then that the Metro Council is telling you that a little tweaked version of the old (locally preferred alternative) is not going to cut it with us?鈥� Nolan said.

鈥淚 do understand that,鈥� Johnson replied. 鈥淏ut I need everyone to understand that this is a bistate program with eight individual partners that each have individual needs. So we hear you loud and clear and we are going to seek to meet the concerns and commit to the things that we can to get this project (moving) forward.鈥�

The amendments adopted by Metro were little different from those proposed by a coalition of community groups including The Street Trust, 1,000 Friends of Oregon and No More Freeways. The Metro Council heard hours of public testimony that was mostly critical of the bridge project.

鈥淲e are pleased to see the Metro Council, as a partner of the Interstate 5 Bridge Project, create clear goals and accountability mechanisms to meet the region’s goals for a sustainable, healthy and effective transportation system,鈥� the coalition stated in a news release. 鈥淲e hope open communication and precise analysis of the options on the table聽will help聽ODOT and the IBR leadership right-size this project and create high-quality multimodal transportation and positive community impacts.鈥�

Metro, in its resolution, requested an 鈥渋nvestment-grade鈥� traffic analysis for the project. That step is usually taken later in a project timeline. Metro councilors, following demands from critics including economist Joe Cortright, asked for the analysis now to make sure the bridge’s size follows traffic modeling with tolling in place.

Metro officials also requested check-ins every 30 days with the project team to make sure the bridge design is on track.