That $3.4 billion light rail bridge over the Columbia River's been "pared down" to a measly $2.75 billion, assuming that Oregon governor Retread and his pals can find a way to force Oregonians to pay for the whole thing. But that's just the liars' budget; costs are certain to escalate. And they already have:
SALEM, Ore. (AP) — Oregon has agreed to pay nearly $90 million to three manufacturers along the Columbia River if a proposed bridge restricts the size of products they can ship, according to documents the state Department of Transportation released Friday.
The cost is not included in the project's advertised price tag, which started at $3.4 billion but was scaled back to $2.75 billion after Washington lawmakers failed to contribute.
After declaring the CRC dead, Retread's been doing all he can to ram a light rail line into downtown Vancouver, no matter what. Cost is really no object; he'll just borrow more. This is sort of like the Portland Aerial Tram, which was going to be built for a mere $15 million and bring 10,000 biotech jobs to SW Porkland - only on a much larger scale. That tram ended up costing over $60 million, and the jobs never materialized.
Without a whole lot of additional effort, Retread can commit us to at least $3.5 billion to build the precious light rail bridge that Clark County residents have voted down five times already. In the meantime, the CRC orifices in Vancouver are still staffed, and they continue to burn through taxpayer cash.
