National budget watchdog group takes aim at Columbia River Crossing project
By: Jeff Mapes, The Oregonian
Tuesday, October 02, 2012
Here's some national publicity that backers of the $3.5 billion Columbia River Crossing would rather avoid: Taxpayers for Common Sense this week included the project on a long list of federal spending that it says should be axed.
The D.C.-based group is generally well-respected as a fiscal hawk willing to take on projects adored by the right and left. One of the group's lobbyists helped ignite the war against congressional earmarks by dubbing an obscure bridge project in Alaska as the "Bridge to Nowhere."
In its latest report, the group presented a list of $2 trillion (yes, you read that right) in "common-sense" cuts over the next 10 years that could serve as an alternative to the automatic across-the-board cuts totaling $1.2 trillion that will be triggered as part of the so-called "Fiscal Cliff" if Congress fails to act on a deficit reduction plan.
The taxpayer group includes the Columbia River Crossing on a long list of public-works projects it would cancel. Here's what it says about the bridge-and-transit project:
This project would construct a highway‐transit bridge over the Columbia River to ease Portland‐bound commuter congestion. The $3.6 billion project is estimated to reduce morning commute times by only 60 seconds. Furthermore, state transportation departments are justifying the project with an estimated 45 percent increase in vehicle crossings by 2030, a percentage based on 2005 fuel prices. With substantial portions of the project to be paid for with tolling the new bridge facility, local leaders and stakeholder groups are sounding alarm over the project’s faulty traffic projections. Federal taxpayers have already footed $110 million to make these flawed analyses. Congress should deny state requests for one‐third of the project’s billion dollar price tag and require more cost‐effective alternatives.
Original Publication URL: http://www.oregonlive.com/mapes/index.ssf/2012/10/national_budget_watchdog_group.html
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