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A megaproject is an extremely large-scale construction and investment project . A more general definition is "Megaprojects are temporary endeavours (i.e. projects) characterised by: large investment commitment, vast complexity (especially in organisational terms), and long-lasting impact on the economy, the environment, and society".

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37-561: The Columbia River Crossing (CRC) was a joint freeway megaproject from 2005 to 2013 between Oregon and Washington , which proposed to widen and modernize Interstate 5 where it crossed the Columbia River . Central to this was the replacement of the Interstate Bridge , a pair of through- truss bridges . The northbound bridge dates to 1917, and its nearly identical companion was opened in 1958 to carry southbound traffic. The bridges,

74-749: A bill for the 2013 legislature (H.B. 2260) which gives the state authority to raise money for the project via tolling; in the bill the project is referred to as "The Interstate 5 Bridge Replacement Program" rather than the CRC, a rebranding noted by local and national journalists. The CRC megaproject was subject to at least three lawsuits. Thompson Metal Fab in Vancouver sued over the limited bridge height which they say will hurt their company's competitiveness. Residents of Hayden Island filed suit, claiming failure to properly examine negative air quality impacts and impacts to low income residents (some living as close as 50 feet from

111-439: A critic estimated a range of probable cost of $ 3.1 to $ 10 billion for five miles of highway and transit work, to include a double-deck truss bridge with ten lanes for auto traffic on the top deck, with public transportation , bicycles and pedestrians below. Concerns about the tolling plan have been raised by state treasurers of both Oregon and Washington. A report by Oregon Treasurer Ted Wheeler found that "key assumptions in

148-468: A false choice between two extremes. If built, the construction on Hayden Island was expected to last over five years, and impacts would include the forcible acquisition and demolition of 35 floating homes, along with 39 businesses employing 600 people. Of approximately $ 227 million allocated, the project had spent $ 175 million by the end of April 2013, much of it on pre-construction testing of subsurface conditions, which may or may not be useful in

185-599: A proposal to governors Inslee and Kitzhaber which would reduce total cost to $ 2.75 billion, avoiding the need for Washington's immediate contribution by eliminating modifications to all but one interchange north of the river. In September, Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber made a proposal to the Oregon State Legislature for them to consider an Oregon-led project, which the Oregon Department of Justice found legal. Treasurer Ted Wheeler noted that any progress

222-506: A state sales tax , and Washington has one of the higher state sales taxes, it is common practice for people in Southwest Washington to travel to Oregon for larger taxable purchases. The Jantzen Beach Shopping Center and many hotels populate this part of the island. A narrow neck of land connects Hayden Island to Tomahawk Island (not an independent island since construction of the linkage), which has numerous marinas , yacht clubs , and

259-600: A year. The new committee was formed to prevent $ 140 million in federal funding allocated for the CRC from being recalled after a deadline, which was extended to 2025. In April 2019, the Washington legislature approved $ 17.5 million to establish a project office to conduct pre-design and planning work, which was followed by a matching contribution from the Oregon Transportation Commission in August. A new timeline for

296-530: Is collective benefits; for example electricity for everybody (who can pay), road access (for those that have cars), etc. They may also serve as a means to open frontiers. Megaprojects have been criticised for their top-down planning processes and their ill effects on certain communities. Large scale projects often advantage one group of people while disadvantaging another, for instance, the Three Gorges Dam in China,

333-787: Is often expressed by critics of megaprojects during the planning phase. If the megaproject is delivered in a country with relevant corruption the likelihood and magnitude of having overbudgets increases. One of the most challenging aspects of megaprojects is obtaining sufficient funding. Alan Altshuler and David Luberoff have found that creative and politically adept political leadership is required to secure resources as well as generate public support, mollify critics, and manage conflict through many years of planning, authorization and implementation. Other challenges faced by those planning megaprojects include laws and regulations that empower community groups, contested information and methodologies, high levels of uncertainty, avoiding impacts on neighborhoods and

370-983: The European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST), megaprojects are characterized both by "extreme complexity (both in technical and human terms) and by a long record of poor delivery". Megaprojects attract significant public attention because of substantial impacts on communities , environment , and budgets , and the high costs involved. Megaprojects can also be defined as "initiatives that are physical, very expensive, and public". Megaprojects include special economic zones , public buildings , power plants , dams , airports , hospitals , seaports , bridges , highways , tunnels , railways , wastewater projects, oil and natural gas extraction projects, aerospace projects, weapons systems , information technology systems, large-scale sporting events and, more recently, mixed use waterfront redevelopments; however,

407-552: The Port of Portland began exploring and planning the annexation and development of West Hayden Island. The planning process, which is slated to end as early as the end of 2012, would conclude with an annexation agreement that would address recreation, mitigation, land management, habitat preservation, security, repair and improvements of local roads and a community enhancement fund. The proposed plan would develop 300 acres for industrial use and leave 500 acres of natural area untouched. The plan

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444-602: The CRC I-5 Bridge Replacement project. The project office was officially closed down on May 31, 2014, with related documents and plans archived in case the project is ever revived. A revived project, the Interstate Bridge Replacement Program , was launched in 2017. The Joint Oregon-Washington Legislative Action Committee was formed by the Washington legislature in 2017 to study a bridge replacement, but initially had no Oregon representation for

481-403: The CRC combine to cause problems with the finance plan. A 2012 survey found that 52% of Portland drivers and 77% of Clark County drivers would divert to I-205 to avoid paying a toll on I-5. The Sightline Institute says that tolling should begin immediately so that planners have real-world data on how many trips would divert to I-205 to avoid an I-5 toll. Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber introduced

518-577: The I-5 Bridge have flattened-off over the last 15-20 years; well before the current recessionary period. The clear inference is that the flattening-off is a long-term traffic trend; not simply a manifestation of recent circumstances". A second consulting firm said that "employment growth projections by IHS Global Insight and by Moody's Analytics are significantly lower than those utilized in the [Draft Environmental Impact Statement] process". Traffic leveling off and employment growth less than half that predicted by

555-463: The Port of Portland renewed efforts to annex West Hayden Island in 2008 and Portland City Council voted on July 29, 2010, to go forward with an analysis of annexation that would allow 300 acres (1.2 km ) for an undetermined port facility and preserve the remaining 500 acres (2.0 km ) as a protected natural area. In 1792, the island was discovered by Lieutenant William Robert Broughton , commander of

592-480: The Royal Navy survey brig HMS Chatham , who named it Menzies, after the botanist of his ship Archibald Menzies . (He also named Vancouver after his commander George Vancouver at the same time) In 1805, Lewis and Clark named the island Image Canoe Island after a large canoe carved with images of men and animals emerged from the opposite side of the island. Hudson's Bay Company called it Vancouver Island, and in

629-476: The United States and Germany prevented developments due to environmental and social concerns. More recently, new types of megaprojects have been identified that no longer follow the old models of being singular and monolithic in their purposes, but have become quite flexible and diverse, such as waterfront redevelopment schemes that seem to offer something to everybody. However, just like the old megaprojects,

666-610: The Yacht Harbor Club apartment community. The west side of the island (in unincorporated Multnomah County ) is as yet undeveloped, though it was added to the urban growth boundary by voters in 1983. The Port of Portland purchased the land in 1993 with the intention of building a large cargo facility. Metro, the regional government, has designated West Hayden Island as both high-value regionally significant habitat and as industrial land. Environmental activists have successfully blocked annexation for industrial development in 1999. But

703-582: The earlier of which pre-dates the U.S. Highway System by nine years, served as the crossing for U.S. Route 99 before the establishment of the Interstate Highway System and Interstate 5 as the new route number. Each of the current bridges currently has three traffic lanes and no emergency lanes . Each bridge also has a vertical-lift draw bridge span on the Washington State side of the river to allow shipping traffic access upriver. The CRC

740-560: The early 19th century, it was called Shaw Island for Colonel W. Shaw who owned land on the island. In 1851, the island was renamed for the Oregon pioneer and early Vancouver settler Gay Hayden who owned the island after settling there in 1851 upon hearing of the Donation Land Claim Act a year after it was passed. He built a grand home and lived on the island for five years with his wife Mary Jane Hayden and twin children. In 2008,

777-521: The east) is within Portland city limits, and recognized as one of its 95 neighborhoods. Interstate 5 provides the only roadway connection to the island, via the northernmost Oregon exit, to the rest of North Portland and, with the Interstate Bridge , to Vancouver to the north. The BNSF Railway crosses North Portland Harbor (via the Oregon Slough Railroad Bridge ) and the western part of

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814-581: The environment, and attempting to solve a wicked problem . Hayden Island, Portland, Oregon Hayden Island is an island in the Columbia River between Vancouver, Washington , and Portland, Oregon . The wide main channel of the Columbia (and the Washington – Oregon state line) passes north of the island. To the south, sheltered by the island, is a smaller channel known as North Portland Harbor . Much of Hayden Island (and connected Tomahawk Island to

851-490: The future. The project was terminated after the Washington State Senate failed to approve $ 450 million in funding, with key opponent Ann Rivers of La Center, Washington suggesting alternative measures such as eliminating lane changes and lowering the speed limit on the bridge. One common objection from opponents was the inclusion of light rail . In August 2013 a group of business leaders and other submitted

888-516: The general economy has been a popular policy measure since the economic crisis of the 1930s. Recent examples are the 2008–2009 Chinese economic stimulus program , the 2008 European Union stimulus plan , and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 . Megaprojects often raise capital based on expected returns—though projects often go overbudget and over time, and market conditions like commodity prices can change. Concern at cost overruns

925-616: The island to the west of I-5, before crossing the Columbia via the Burlington Northern Railroad Bridge 9.6 . The east end of the island, often called Jantzen Beach, has highly developed retail areas near the freeway, hotels, offices, manufactured home communities, and condominium complexes. Further east there are several houseboat moorages and marinas . Until the Interstate Bridge opened in 1917, ferries provided service between Portland and Vancouver from landings on

962-417: The island's north shore. After the opening of the bridge, streetcar service opened Hayden Island to amusement park developments due to its beaches and strategic location. Jantzen Beach , the last operating amusement park, closed in 1970. Tomahawk Island, just off the east tip of Hayden Island, became another amusement park— Lotus Isle —for a few years in the 1930s. Because Oregon does not have

999-436: The largest hydroelectric project in the world, required the displacement of 1.2 million farmers. In the 1970s, the highway revolts in some Western nations saw urban activists opposing government plans to demolish buildings for freeway route construction, on the basis that such demolitions would unfairly disadvantage the urban working class and benefit commuters. Anti-nuclear protests against proposed nuclear power plants in

1036-428: The most common megaprojects are in the categories of hydroelectric facilities, nuclear power plants, and large public transportation projects. Megaprojects can also include large-scale high-cost initiatives in scientific research and infrastructure, such as the sequencing of the human genome , a significant global advance in genetics and biotechnology . The logic on which many of the typical megaprojects are built

1073-594: The new ones also foreclose "upon a wide variety of social practices, reproducing rather than resolving urban inequality and disenfranchisement". Because of their plethora of land uses "these mega-projects inhibit the growth of oppositional and contestational practices". The collective benefits that are often the underlying logic of a mega-project, are here reduced to an individualized form of public benefit. Proponents of infrastructure-based development advocate for funding large-scale projects to create long-term economic benefits. Investing in megaprojects in order to stimulate

1110-422: The original estimate, and was delivered 18 months behind schedule. The ongoing project planning costs $ 1 million per month. Planners say the construction phase would last five to seven years. Official cost estimates for a phased build-out were $ 2.8 billion, down from earlier estimates of $ 3.5 billion. The CRC finance plan called for tolling to pay for up to $ 1.3 billion of the cost. In May 2011,

1147-527: The project was blocked July 2013 by Republican opposition within the Washington State Senate . A draft environmental impact statement (EIS) was published in May 2008, with a final EIS published in the Federal Register on September 23, 2011. While first said to begin in 2010, the CRC team later said construction would not begin until late 2014. The EIS was produced at a cost of $ 105 million, over five times

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1184-417: The project). The Coalition for a Livable Future, Northeast Coalition of Neighborhoods, and Northwest Environmental Defense Center challenged the federal agencies [FHWA and FTA] responsible for the CRC megaproject, based on concerns that the megaproject failed to consider even a basic analysis of key environmental issues, and said that the CRC failed to include a reasonable range of alternatives, instead creating

1221-659: The project, with the start of environmental review in 2020 and construction by 2025, was approved by the joint committee in late 2019. Megaproject Megaprojects refer not only to construction projects but also decommissioning projects, which are projects that can reach multi-billion budgets, and have a high level of innovation and complexity, and are affected by a number of techno-socio-economic and organizational challenges. The OFCCP Mega Construction Project (Megaproject) Program involves projects valued at over $ 35 million. Megaprojects are often affected by corruption, leading to higher cost and lower benefit. According to

1258-415: The traffic and toll revenue forecast used in the 2008 [Draft Environmental Impact Statement] are now outdated", and says that tolling will result in up to $ 598 million less than predicted earlier. The report cited problems raised by two independent studies. While the CRC predicts ever increasing traffic, Robert Bain of London firm RB Consult Ltd. calls that into question, noting that "traffic volumes using

1295-785: Was intended to be a safer, more modern bridge, with greater capacity, including light rail to directly connect with the regional MAX system. It would also have replaced or modified seven freeway interchanges south of SR-500 . "Project partners" included the Federal Highway Administration and the Federal Transit Administration , cities of Vancouver and Portland , the Southwest Washington Regional Transportation Council, Metro , and transit agencies C-Tran and TriMet . Other agencies were involved as part of "task forces," but

1332-461: Was likely dependent on an acceptable tolling plan, light-rail operational funding and Coast Guard approval and two of these were approved within days. Although there was not a special legislative session to consider the proposal, they appointed a 24-member committee to review a "revised, Oregon-only plan." On March 7, the Oregon Legislature adjourned without reinstating construction funds for

1369-471: Was opposed by environmental groups, such as the Audubon Society of Portland . The city of Portland commissioned ECONorthwest to measure the net economic benefits and impacts of the proposed development. The report compared a no-development scenario to the proposed 300-acre development scenario. When accounting for natural resources, recreation, and local and port economic impacts, the report found that

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