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Community Advocates Announce The Just Crossing Alliance (JCA)

    For Immediate Release: 15 April 2022

    Media Contact: Brett Morgan, 1000 Friends of Oregon, Founding Member of JCA

    Brett@friends.org – 503.497.1000 x122

    Community Advocates Announce The Just Crossing Alliance (JCA)

    Portland, Oregon / Vancouver, Washington: Close to a dozen community groups from Oregon and Washington have come together to form the Just Crossing Alliance, an advocacy group focused on ensuring the Interstate Bridge Replacement Project has a positive impact on our region’s climate outcomes, advances environmental, racial and economic equity, and doesn’t adversely impact the finances of either state’s transportation system.

    Front and Centered, a member of the Just Crossing Alliance, is a Washington State-based climate and environmental justice organization:

    “Some communities in Washington and Oregon pay the highest price for our failure to move away from autos and oil. The expansion of the Columbia River Crossing will create more pollution and health harm to four of the areas with the highest Environmental Health Disparities in Washington state. Washington and Oregon States have a responsibility to reduce the existing impact on these overburdened communities. The bridge expansion proposed moves us in the wrong direction.”

    Sarah Iannarone of The Street Trust continues: “Our communities are poised for a once-in-a-generation opportunity to create robust transit and active transportation connections across the Columbia River. We want to ensure that the equity, environmental, and climate gains from these improvements are not erased by a big jump in passenger vehicle traffic created by the bridge project.” 

    The Interstate Bridge Replacement will begin its process of approving the Locally Preferred Alternative (LPA) in the coming months of April and May, and the Just Crossing Alliance will continue to advocate for a bridge that is in line with the JCA’s values. Reflecting on this, Brett Morgan with 1000 Friends of Oregon added: “We are rapidly approaching important decisions around the number of lanes, interchanges, pedestrian access, and public transportation for the IBR Project. The Just Crossing Alliance will be critical to ensure that Oregonians’ and Washingtonians’ voices are reflected in decision making.”

    Beyond the impact on the community, “The Columbia River Crossing will have a major impact on our environment. We must ensure that that impact is positive,” said Bob Sallinger, Conservation Director for Portland Audubon. “That means ensuring that significant impacts to fish and  wildlife and fish and  wildlife habitat are avoided or fully mitigated, carbon emissions are reduced and state-of-the-art stormwater strategies are integrated.” The Oregon Chapter of the Sierra Club added: “We support a Columbia River Crossing solution that meets the needs of our diverse community with environmental justice and creates a safe & livable future.”
    To learn more about the Just Crossing Alliance, please visit justcrossing.org