News Columbia River Crossing supporters yesterday trumpeted the news that the project was close to striking a  deal with Oregon Iron Works to mitigate the harm 116-foot-tall Interstate 5 bridges will do to its business. But the other two major manufacturers affected by the project say they're nowhere near a deal and are worried the slow pace CRC negotiators are moving at may prevent them from reaching ...   More

News Washington Gov. Jay Inslee is rejecting a request for an independent audit on the Columbia River Crossing.In a two-page letter, sent April 12, Washington's Republican Majority requested that Inslee start a formal and fully independent audit of the $3.4 billion Interstate 5 highway and light rail project based on the work of outside forensic auditors."The findings by these experts strongly indicate ...   More

News The $3.4 billion Columbia River Crossing keeps getting more expensive for taxpayers, even before it gets built—in part because the price of a pet project of the National Park Service is going up   More

News Back in Washington D.C. after stumping for the Columbia River Crossing in Washington state last week, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood continues to take a beating over the megaproject.Today, U.S. Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-Wash.), tore into him over the controversial project, D.C. Streets Blog reports. Last week, video was leaked from LaHood's meeting with Washington state senators opposed ...   More

News A new poll on the Columbia River Crossing was released today and the results are near tie on public opinion toward the CRC, a $3.4 billion Interstate 5 bridge, light rail and highway project.The Columbian, Clark County's daily paper, commissioned the survey and released the results as part of a three-part series that runs through tomorrow:A total of 46 percent of respondents said they support the CRC, ...   More

News Washington's Republican majority caucus is asking Gov. Jay Inslee for an independent audit of the Columbia River Crossing, adding to the political pressures on the megaproject.In a two-page letter, sent today and obtained by WW, requests that Inslee start a formal and fully independent audit of the $3.4 billion Interstate 5 highway and light rail project based on the work of outside forensic auditors."The ...   More

News U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood is in Olympia today, doing all he can to help the flailing Columbia River Crossing—but even one of the project's biggest supporters says it might not be enough."We are using everything in our bag of tricks to bring everything to bear," says Washington State Rep. Jim Moeller (D-Vancouver), who has been the project's champion in Olympia. "If we could get the ...   More

News With the debate about funding the Columbia River Crossing over for now in Oregon, the fight for money moves to Washington state. And as Portland Afoot reports in its latest news magazine, the fate of the $3.4 billion megaproject now lies in the hands of Seattle—and most people there don't even know about it.Publisher Michael Andersen visits our binary star of a city to the north and finds that aside ...   More

News A new flyer is out, urging Oregon Treasurer Ted Wheeler to reject the Columbia River Crossing.The mailer asks "Whose responsibility is it to tell the truth about the Columbia River Crossing?" and then features Wheeler on the back.In some ways, the $3.5 billion CRC in Wheeler's hands. When the legislature approved $450 million for the controversial megaproject last month, it stipulated that Wheeler ...   More

News The Economist magazine has taken notice of the Columbia River Crossing project in a piece in the current print edition. In an uncharacteristically equivocal review of the challenges facing the CRC, the magazine concludes"Not every public-works project faces the CRC’s challenges, especially the choreographic difficulties involved in a two-state scheme. But it serves as a cautionary tale for those ...   More