But any proposal faces a harsh reality: It must get both states’ leaders on board to go anywhere. It took years to get the CRC off the ground, only to rack up more than $170 million in planning costs without a shovel being turned. A future project that rises from the CRC’s wreckage will face many of the same political hurdles as the failed megaproject. In addition, it will have to overcome the sour taste left by the CRC’s collapse.

“We’re not going to be the ones deciding,” said Brad Perkins, whose firm Perkins Niederer and Associates has developed a multimodal proposal that includes high-speed rail through the Portland-Vancouver area. “We’re just out here trying to create alternatives.”

Howell and Perkins were among the attendees of an outdoor gathering in Vancouver last week intended to offer alternatives to the CRC. Organizer Sharon Nasset, of the nonprofit Economic Transportation Alliance/Third Bridge Now, said the event was planned before news of the CRC’s death became official.

Ideas included a third bridge over the Columbia River, either east of Interstate 205 or west of Interstate 5 — an alignment Nasset’s group favors. Perkins’ proposal would build a multimodal “Cascadia Bridge” to accommodate high-speed rail, transit, freight and motor vehicles on a new span connecting Portland and Vancouver as part of a larger rail corridor.

Ideas resurrected

The Common Sense Alternative pushed by Howell and others has taken on various forms over the years. The most recent version would build a new Interstate 5 lift bridge, but leave the existing spans to be repurposed for local traffic, transit, bikes and pedestrians. It would also include smaller fixes near the corridor. Howell said he believes the whole thing could be done for less than $1 billion.