Oregon Public Broadcasting

Fourteen advocacy groups have sent a joint letter to the governors of Oregon and Washington.

The groups are concerned about the bridge planned for I-5 between Portland and Vancouver.

The letter is the latest salvo in a back-and-forth between the governors and local officials who take issue with the public process and the bridge’s future impacts.

Mara Gross is the policy director with the Portland-based Coalition For a Livable Future – one of the groups to sign the latest letter.

She says the governors are plowing ahead on a flawed and expensive bridge plan.

Mara Gross:  “We believe that any plan for the I-5 corridor should support the region’s shared values: economic vitality, reliable and equitable transportation, safe and healthy neighborhoods, good air quality, reductions in greenhouse gas emissions – and are concerned that the plan fails on all of these measures.”

Governor Ted Kulongoski’s office says local concerns helped create a new expert panel that’ll examine the bridge’s potential impacts.

The groups that signed this week’s letter doubt that panel will push for big changes – and they want the project to slow down.

Governors Kulongoski and Chris Gregoire said last month that Northwest residents “expect us to proceed.”