Oregon and Washington are currently involved in a perfect example of the public good dilemma. The I-5 bridge crossing which connects Portland OR to Vancouver WA is argued by some to be too old and not really suitable for the amount of traffic trying to cross the Columbia River every day. A new crossing has been in the works for a number of years but the future of the project is in major jeopardy. Based on the articles I\u2019ve been able to read, it appears the major hold up on building a new bridge connecting Oregon and Washington is coming up with a means to finance it. Oregon legislators wants to split a portion of the cost with Washington, but up to this point Washington has refused to pay for any part of the bridge construction. Part of the reason Washington is refusing to help with financing the crossing is that some legislators believe the cost is being inflated by a light rail transit system that will run along the bridge. Also, there\u2019s uncertainty as to whether or not a new crossing is going to alleviate the congestion problems facing Vancouver and Portland. \u00a0If Oregon does decide to take up the entire cost of the project, a situation would exist where Washington residents would be free riding if they used the bridge. As a way to eliminate the free riding problem some proponents of the crossing have suggested placing a toll on the bridge in order to capture revenue from Washington residents. Some believe though that Washington residents will just use the I-205 bridge instead which would lead to more congestion over that crossing. Ironically, Washington officials from the Vancouver area had showed up at a committee hearing a little over a week ago encouraging Oregon to go forward with the project, despite their states refusal to help with funding. It will be interesting to see what the state of Oregon decides. It seems either way, build or no build, a lot of citizens are going to be unhappy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Oregon and Washington are currently involved in a perfect example of the public good dilemma. The I-5 bridge crossing which connects Portland OR to Vancouver WA is argued by some to be too old and not really suitable for the … Continue reading