No doubt, building bridges is an adult endeavor. The nuts and bolts, the girders, the EISs and RFPs, and then the responsibility inherent with carving a form that people will or will not take pride in as they negotiate a city that is or is not sustainably evolving. Yes, building bridges is not for the unserious, the depthless. And so its ironic (yet not unsurprising) that ODOT has reacted to the latest round of Inner Belt discussion with a bit of childish unsophistication; in effect, hijacking the conversation by not allowing one—not unlike the kid refusing the rest of us the game by taking their ball back home with them.

At least that is how it felt when word broke last Thursday that ODOT would in fact not be ready to reply…