New Columbia River Bridge All But Dead?
August 31st, 2008 by Matt McGee | Posted in Pasco NewsI’m in the “we should really have one more bridge between Pasco and Kennewick/Richland” camp, but it looks like the chances of such a bridge becoming a reality anytime soon are pretty much slim and none.
Local government agencies have been talking about a new bridge lately, and the push was to put one in between Road 68 in Pasco and Edison St. in Kennewick. Given the dramatic growth in the Road 68 area, that location makes a ton of sense. But some Pasco residents in the area weren’t keen on it, and now it looks like the various governmental agencies never really coordinated well enough to get moving. The Herald reported today that the City of Pasco has removed itself from the process of studying what might be the best location for a new bridge:
The city previously had committed $35,000 to a $125,000 study that would lay out costs and feasibility of building a new bridge to alleviate anticipated traffic increases and congestion on the blue bridge over the next 20 years.
But for now, the city’s money is off the table, Crutchfield said.
It sounds like this idea is dying before it really ever got started. No one can agree on what to study, and no one wants to contribute money to a study that doesn’t fit their own interests. I’ll spare you the “this bridge is sunk” puns, but that’s about how it seems at the moment.
