Public Hearing This Morning July 29 2014 Ten AM at County Building on Proposed E 192nd Ave Bridge to Portland - Be There if You Can!

Madore, and his partner in idiocy Commissioner Mielke, are at it again. 

This time, said commissioners - both active proponents of a new cross-Columbia bridge between Prune Hill at SE 192nd Ave and East Portland (181st/Airport Way) - are busy arranging a "public hearing" on said proposed bridge, this morning, 10 am, at the County Building (13th/Franklin, Vancouver). 

While I don't want to get started on the sheer shenanigans and wool-pulling-over-eyes said folks are committing by holding a "public hearing" on this very important hoo-ha at 10 AM (in middle of workday), nor get started on the sheer hoo-ha of an East County bridge that lacks solid funding in the first place, I do want to look at some facts Madore isn't saying: 

-There is NO solid funding for said bridge. Madore and Mielke want to issue $850 million in County bonds to pay for it. Without County-wide vote. 

-Said bridge crosses a state line, goes through a federal wildlife refuge (Government Island/Lemon Island), and would involve the cooperation of Portland Metro government, Portland City Council, Vancouver City Council, the Coast Guard, and both Oregon and Washington legislatures. None of said support is there, and Vancouver's City Council is actively opposed to said bridge. Keep in mind the bridge needs Vancouver's cooperation to connect to city roads (SE 192nd Ave). 

-Said bridge does NOTHING, according to traffic studies, to relieve I-5 traffic. It takes 1/2 of one lane of rush hour traffic off Interstate Bridge, and one lane of traffic off 205 bridge. 

-Said bridge does NOTHING to relieve the real traffic issue with the Interstate Bridge: giant semi trucks headed to/from Port of Portland, Port of Vancouver, and points north, south, and east on freeways; also does nothing to relieve the MAIN commute of folks going to/fro Camas semiconductor plants and Washington County Silicon Forest concerns (Nike, Hewlett Packard, and the like). 

What does this proposed and unfunded new bridge do, you ask? It directly connects Commissioner Madore's home, near Livingston Mountain, to Portland. It also gets employees of US Digital (Madore is CEO) closer to their headquarters on 136th Ave. While I'm all for said folks getting more quickly to and from work, and find it sad that Madore and kin can't quickly get to Portland shopping or airport, I just don't think this bridge is what Clark County needs at this time. A red herring, even when tied up with pretty bows, is STILL a red herring. Even The Oregonian, in today's editorial on this hoo-ha, knows just that. And you gotta get up pretty late in the day to get their attention to north-of-river doings. 

I'll be at this morning's bridge hearing to say just this to the Commissioners. I hope y'all will join me and tell Madore to take his nonsense ELSEWHERE. 

Thanks.