Bizarro World keeps turning. As if watching the Oregon Legislature approve to fast track funds for the CRC a couple weeks ago was not insane enough, having Olympia step in to say, "OMG CRC WTF" was nearly as stunning.
With the appearance of federal transportation director Ray LaHood in Olympia standing beside the Washington Governor pleading that "it is now or never" many were convinced that Washington would soon find itself in a similar position as Oregon pushing the Columbia River Crossing forward and that all of the Northwest could all rest easy snuggled up in a blanket of debt, forever.
But thank be to logic for the Senators and Representatives in the state of Washington have balked on "keeping up with the Joneses". According to this other CRC hating blog, the Columbia River Crossing might be dead in the water (or unsound in the Sound, perhaps?)
Sure, the added pressure of having a neighbor pay 450 million dollars for a big hunk of infrastructure might give the backers of the CRC some clout, but then perhaps those members didn't count on the Washington legislature to say, "Vancouver? That's in Canada!"
The state of Washington has some major road projects in the works and most of their big highway improvement dollars are not leaving the vicinity of the Sound. Asking for legislatures to commit all their dollars for what most in Olympia view as a "Portland project" especially when the Representatives from Vancouver are decrying the project as a boondoggle.
We hadn't expected conservative neighbors to the north to be our saviors, but if they can kill this project we may be sending them a candygram.
With the appearance of federal transportation director Ray LaHood in Olympia standing beside the Washington Governor pleading that "it is now or never" many were convinced that Washington would soon find itself in a similar position as Oregon pushing the Columbia River Crossing forward and that all of the Northwest could all rest easy snuggled up in a blanket of debt, forever.
But thank be to logic for the Senators and Representatives in the state of Washington have balked on "keeping up with the Joneses". According to this other CRC hating blog, the Columbia River Crossing might be dead in the water (or unsound in the Sound, perhaps?)
Sure, the added pressure of having a neighbor pay 450 million dollars for a big hunk of infrastructure might give the backers of the CRC some clout, but then perhaps those members didn't count on the Washington legislature to say, "Vancouver? That's in Canada!"
The state of Washington has some major road projects in the works and most of their big highway improvement dollars are not leaving the vicinity of the Sound. Asking for legislatures to commit all their dollars for what most in Olympia view as a "Portland project" especially when the Representatives from Vancouver are decrying the project as a boondoggle.
We hadn't expected conservative neighbors to the north to be our saviors, but if they can kill this project we may be sending them a candygram.
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