Bridge Project Spans Gap Between Business and Green

President-elect Barack Obama's recent promise to make "the single largest new investment in our national infrastructure since the creation of the federal highway system in the 1950s," has reignited interest in a long-languishing, $4 billion bridge improvement project that would ease congestion between Oregon and Washington. The project has pitted business interests against environmental advocates for years.

The Columbia River Crossing project was first proposed a decade ago as a 12-lane replacement for the existing 6-lane bridge linking Portland and Vancouver. A 2005 report concluded that congestion on the bridge was expected to cost the region $844 million a year in lost commerce by 2025.

Last year, stop-and-go traffic on the bridge reached 4 to 8 hours a day, and the span has become the main choke point for truck traffic between Mexico and Canada.
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