WA shutting down Columbia River bridge office
Inslee says there's no money for the CRC, and no plans right now to get any.
OLYMPIA -- The office planning for a new bridge to cross the Columbia River from Vancouver to Portland will be shut down, with no plans to replace the structure, Gov. Jay Inslee said.
"There is no money for work in this bridge," Inslee said Monday. The Legislature failed to pass a transportation package that would have contributed the state's share of the project and without that money, federal funds aren't coming, he said.
September is the deadline for a state decision to join the project with Oregon and the federal government, but as long as the coalition that controls the state Senate opposes the project, there's no reason to call another special session to address that and other new transportation projects and additional road and bridge maintenance that would be funded by a gasoline tax increase, he said.