Ninety-six employees of the ill-fated Columbia River Crossing, or CRC, project must now pack up their Vancouver, Wash., headquarters due to the sudden demise of a $3.5-billion bi-state project aimed at constructing a new bridge, light-rail and highway interchange to span the Columbia River and also connect Portland, Ore., to Vancouver. Legislators, transportation insiders and commuters are analyzing what killed one of the nation's largest transportation projects and what they can do now to unblock chronic congestion on Interstate 5.
With more than $175 million spent since 2004, the plan to replace a pair of two-lane bridges, built in 1917 and 1958, with a 10-lane, light-rail-inclusive span officially fizzled during the waning hours of June, after the Washington state Senate failed to vote on a $10-billion transportation bill that included $450 million for the CRC. Oregon had agreed to fund its portion of the partially federally funded project in March. But without Washington state, Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber (D) and Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D) both declared the project cancelled.