Long-held plans for a new bridge over the Columbia River between Portland and Vancouver, Washington, have been thrown out by a panel of experts who have suggested cheaper alternatives.
The $3.6 billion bridge plan has been replaced with three other options, mainly because the ambitious design could have been too difficult and risky to build.
"[A] panel of national and international bridge experts called on the governors of Oregon and Washington to scrap that design, saying technical and engineering complexities could doom the largest transportation project in the region's history.
'Discontinue any further design or planning work on the open-web girder bridge,' the CRC's 16-member Bridge Expert Review Panel said in its 150-page report.
After hearing repeated concerns about risks, engineering complexities, aesthetics and costs, the Oregon and Washington departments of transportation convened the panel to evaluate the bridge design last summer."
FULL STORY: Panel rejects pricey, innovative design for Portland-to-Vancouver bridge, suggests three cheaper plans
Depopulation Patterns Get Weird
A recent ranking of “declining” cities heavily features some of the most expensive cities in the country — including New York City and a half-dozen in the San Francisco Bay Area.
California Exodus: Population Drops Below 39 Million
Never mind the 40 million that demographers predicted the Golden State would reach by 2018. The state's population dipped below 39 million to 38.965 million last July, according to Census data released in March, the lowest since 2015.
Chicago to Turn High-Rise Offices into Housing
Four commercial buildings in the Chicago Loop have been approved for redevelopment into housing in a bid to revitalize the city’s downtown post-pandemic.
Ohio Lawmakers Propose Incentivizing Housing Production
A proposed bill would take a carrot approach to stimulating housing production through a grant program that would reward cities that implement pro-housing policies.
Chicago Awarded $2M Reconnecting Communities Grant
Community advocates say the city’s plan may not do enough to reverse the negative impacts of a major expressway.
New Park Opens in the Santa Clarita Valley
The City of Santa Clarita just celebrated the grand opening of its 38th park, the 10.5-acre Skyline Ranch Park.
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Barrett Planning Group LLC
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Mpact Transit + Community
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
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ULI Northwest Arkansas
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