Aug. 20, 2010:NWLP
8/17/10
10:49 AM
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I-5 Bridge Sponsors Council favors 10-lane span
Labor, business, and environmental
leaders applauded a unanimous vote
by the Columbia River Crossing Proj-
ect Sponsors Council to replace the
aging Interstate 5 bridge between Ore-
gon and Washington with a new 10-
lane span.
The bistate Project Sponsors Coun-
cil is comprised of 11 public officials,
including representatives of governors
from Oregon and Washington, and
mayors from Portland and Vancouver.
From the outset it has been imperative
that all parties agree on the project de-
sign in order to secure funding from
the federal government. Project plan-
ners expect to pay for the bridge proj-
ect from three sources — the federal
government, the two states, and a
bridge toll.
In March 2009 the Project Spon-
sors Council unanimously approved a
12-lane replacement bridge that in-
cluded six through lanes (three lanes in
Transit Union
files charge
against TriMet
Amalgamated Transit Union
Local 757 is accusing TriMet of
violating the state’s Public Em-
ployee Collective Bargaining Act.
In an unfair labor practice charge
filed Aug. 10, the union says
TriMet bargained in bad faith
when it submitted new issues in
its final offer.
“TriMet proposed new take-
aways that were not brought for-
ward during bargaining,” explains
the Local 757 web site. “There-
fore, the union is requesting that
the parties return to the bargaining
table before arbitration.”
After bargaining since October
2009, the two sides declared im-
passe July 13, and presented final
offers July 20. Under a new law
that prevents transit district em-
ployees from striking, contracts
are settled by binding arbitration
when the two sides cannot reach
agreement.
each direction) and three lanes in each
direction to connect interchanges in a
five-mile area, a light rail line, and
lanes for bicycles and pedestrians. La-
bor unions supported this plan, but en-
vironmental and neighborhood groups
balked at the size and cost ($4.2 bil-
lion), causing some members of the
Sponsors Council to change their
minds.
[The vetting process actually
started in 2005 with a 39-member task
force. The group met regularly over
several years and held numerous pub-
lic hearings before boiling down a list
of proposals to five — including doing
nothing. In the end, the task force rec-
ommended a 12-lane replacement
bridge to the Sponsors Council.]
In March 2010, the Sponsors Coun-
cil brought together key players to re-
solve their differences. As that was go-
ing on, Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski
and Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire
convened an Independent Review
Panel in April to ensure that key proj-
ect study assumptions and methods
were reasonable for the project.
It also was in April that U.S. Sen.
Patty Murray, (D-WA), told union offi-
cials that if political consensus wasn’t
reached soon, the bridge project would
be left out of the 2010-2016 highway
reauthorization bill, which was under
discussion. Murray sits on the Senate
Appropriations Committee and chairs
the Transportation Subcommittee,
which means she has significant influ-
ence on funding for the project.
“If I don’t have agreement about
what it’s going to look like, we’re go-
ing to miss out for probably the next
six or eight years before we’ll be able
to ask for federal funds for that,” she
said.
On Aug. 9, a new recommendation
calling for a bridge that can accommo-
date up to 10 lanes with a new design
for a Hayden Island interchange
passed the Sponsors Council, again by
unanimous vote. The estimated cost
for the scaled-back version is between
$2.6 and $3.6 billion,
In a joint press release, Tom Cham-
berlain, president of the Oregon AFL-
CIO; Ryan Deckert, president of the
Oregon Business Association; and Jon
Isaacs, executive director of the Ore-
gon League of Conservation Voters,
said the new proposal balances the
needs and concerns of a diverse group.
“Its thoughtful consideration of con-
cerns that have been brought up
throughout the process has resulted in
a broad base of support that should
successfully carry it through to com-
pletion,” they said. “It is vital, though,
that we act quickly. We have had suffi-
cient years of study and enough pro-
posals to know what will work for our
communities and our region as a
whole. Now we need to approve a plan
and get people to work.”
The project is projected to create
27,000 jobs over the next 10 years.
Zachary
Zabinsky
• Social Security
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503-223-8517
AUGUST 20, 2010
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
PAGE 9