A Free Bridge
The Morning Oregonian
June 6, 1922

There was a time when the advantages of road and bridge connections between Portland and Vancouver were looked upon by many in Washington as wholly one-sided. The farther north one went the more general was this opinion. When one reached Seattle, in those days, one encountered the idea that the best thing for the Puget Sound country and southwest Washington was to prevent the building of roads by which the people of southwest Washington might be able to reach Portland.

One of the difficult things to overcome in the Interstate bridge project was the impression that Vancouver and Clark, county would suffer more than they would gain by the easy interchange of traffic. But those days are past, Washington is hastening to overcome the plain disadvantages that accrued from the neglect of highways. Much of the tourist travel halted at the border of Oregon. 

Some does now, go though needlessly. The reputation of the Pacific Highway in Washington, though no longer justified, was hard to shake, The Interstate bridge has also proved itself. The toll system which provided the compromise which finally won approval for the bridge project is seen to withhold from Clark county the greater benefits of the structure. Now the Vancouver Columbian has begun a campaign for a free bridge. The article reprinted from that newspaper today is unanswerable. Clark County's greater development is linked with that of Portland. 

A state line is no barrier to trade, commerce or social interchange. But there is more than a state line between Portland and Vancouver. Due to bridge tolls there are many, many owners of automobiles who, though they know every turn in every road south, east, and west, are virtually strangers to the attractions and highways of Clark county to the north. Thousands, for the beauty of the trip, go out over one of the approaches to the bridge, and turn back over the other approach with out visiting Vancouver or its environs. 

Acquaintance leads to investment, to home building, to the growth of trade. The advantages of a free bridge would be distinctly mutual.