Chamber of the 1% demands that Salem raise taxes, ignore risks

[John Gear]

ODOT has finally made clear that Salem's biggest cross-river need is to upgrade and strengthen the existing two bridges so they will survive the looming Cascadia subduction zone quake that could reach or exceed magnitude 9.0, sending buildings (schools, offices, hospitals) and bridges into collapse all over the Northwest.

Characteristically, rather than support the most sensible option for response, Salem's sprawl lobby, led by the Chamber of the 1%, says that we should squander hundreds of millions more than the upgrade would cost by building a gargantuan new 3rd Bridge a mile north of the existing two bridges, which are at the only logical spot in the river, where it narrows to its minimum distance.

Worst of all, this Bridgasaurus Boondogglus would be much more costly than upgrades to existing bridges because it would one of the longest spans in Oregon, passing through zones where the soils will have the consistency of chocolate milk during the big quake. That's why it would take hundreds of dollars a year from every Salem household for decades to fund this absurdity.

The bottom line is that the Chamber has completely discredited itself on any fiscal matters, proving that their only measuring stick for ideas is how much money their members can make on them.

"Let's live on the planet as if we intend to stay."
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> It's official. ODOT predicts that in the magnitude 9.0 Cascadia megaquake, the Marion and Center Street bridges will collapse.
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