Increasing traffic congestion harms both our commuters and our freight haulers. Time is a precious commodity, and they are tired of wasting it sitting in bumper-to-bumper traffic.
It’s been 40 years since a new transportation corridor has been built in the Portland metro area. Roughly 80,000 SW Washington residents work in Oregon. They deserve reasonable commute times. Our SW Washington Regional Transportation Council identified the need for two new transportation corridors over a decade ago, one west of I-5 and one east of I-205. The failed Columbia River Crossing project ignored the needs of our marine traffic on the river, ignored the wishes of the people, and wasted $200 million on a plan that only provided a one-minute improvement for the morning commute.
Our regional transportation needs also include marine and rail transportation systems. Barges use the Columbia River transporting agricultural products to our ports for shipping to American and international destinations. Our timber products and American energy use SW Washington ports to expand their business and create jobs and employment security for our citizens.
The job of Congress is to provide funds for needed interstate transportation projects. I will fight to ensure your money will not be wasted on pork-barrel, special interest-driven projects. With scarce transportation dollars, we can reduce traffic congestion by providing multiple pathways for people and freight to travel our region. We can enhance our marine traffic and rail systems with upgraded infrastructure. But it must be done efficiently, affordable and serve the needs and desires of SW Washington residents and businesses.
Original source can be found here.
