Salem's RR Span: Troubled Waters Amid the Snafu

The soon-to-be-rebuilt RR Span can become the Capital City Causeway to permit rush hour bus or minivan service.

Salem-News.com

(SALEM) - The City of Salem last year plunked down exactly one dollar to purchase the Union St. Railroad Bridge. That's only the nominal down payment, however. That railroad span, inoperative since the late 80's, has been proposed for cyclists and pedestrians only. The reality along side is that the Marion St. Bridge is badly overcrowded and getting worse each year. While the original peak traffic during rush hour was 65,000, according to a city traffic engineer, the current overwhelming peak load is approaching 100,000. Is saying "ouch" adequate? Polk County is now considered the third fast-growing in Oregon. Many of those who live in Polk commute daily to downtown Salem. The choke-hold of traffic amid rush hour using the Marion St. Bridge office backs up vehicles almost a mile, to Orchard Heights Rd. near the Red Cross Building. Traffic gasps along at 5 miles an hour. Frustrated motorists turn into disgruntled workers. Productivity spirals downward. Tempers flare up. In the fallout, State workers probably get the brunt as the public is likewise affected. Whatever impacts public service affects all of us. A solution lies at hand, however. The soon-to-be-rebuilt RR Span can become the Capital City Causeway to permit rush hour bus or minivan service. This could well be operated by Cherriots as an express-lane shuttle service. That would be far more efficient than using this new span for regular cars, and can boost mass transit over 1-car travel. Auto pollution could be somewhat curtailed, and hopefully Wallace Rd. traffic would diminish. Best of all, buses now using the mega-bridge would transfer to the mini-span. Since the so-called third bridge awaits environmental studies, eventual site selection, land purchase from current owners, and the ultimate awarding of the contracts to bidders, we are "on hold" for at least a decade before any such new bridge materializes. For that very reason, the RR span offers partial relief. Any new idea has naysayers. Therefore, I urge we pursue a trial period of a full month of Polk-Marion shuttle service and then evaluate the results. None of us is certain how the drama will play out. But the status quo just won't cut it--no way. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Note: Lee Coyne is a former transportation reporter from NYC who now resides in Salem. He has a graduate degree in urban affairs, and can be reached by email at luckycoyne@yahoo.com. (Tel: 503-365-7533).