Oregon Public Broadcasting


Tonight, transit officials hold the second in a pair of open houses, fielding questions about a proposed new light rail train line between Portland, and its neighbor across the Columbia, Vancouver.

The proposal is part of the massive bridge replacement project known as the Columbia River Crossing.

As April Baer reports, this plan is the closest the region has ever come to a commuter train link. 


Tonight’s open house is scheduled for 6 to 8 PM, at the Vancouver Housing Authority.



There are definitely some Clark County residents who can’t wait for a light rail line to whisk them over the river. 
 


Cindy Frye  “Absolutely. In theory, it sounds like a potential solution for a lot of people.”



Cindy Frye lives in Vancouver, and, like about a third of Clark County workers, drives to Oregon for work every day. She’s with a retail marketing company.  

Frye says this about her commute.
 


Cindy Frye  “It’s always eventful. Let’s just say it gives you a lot of time. ..ona really great day  40 minutes. I mean there are days when it’s taken me an hour and 45 minutes- almost two hours to get to work.”



But not everyone in Clark County is sold on the project.
 


Take the people who own property on or near the proposed track for the new line  -  through the heart of downtown Vancouver. 
 


AB: “That one right there?”


Chelle Bennett   “Ahhh on Washington, we’re right here.”



Chelle Bennett’s family has owned a business downtown for decades. She leans over a huge map of the downtown quadrant, and questions a staffer with CTRAN, Clark County’s public transit agency.


Chelle Bennett (to the CTRAN staffer): “Now, can you tell me about this park and ride? Is that going to have any retail or coffee kiosks, or strictly cars?”
CTRAN staffer  “Right now this is proposed as a mixed use development, so there will be retail on the ground floor…”



Bennett came to the open house because she wanted to know what security measures would be taken on the light rail line, and what might happen to the roads around her building.
 


Chelle Bennett: “For us, it’s the business impact. The flow of traffic going by our business. How that’ll affect the trucks that deliver to us, during the construction.”



Staffers with CTRAN and Vancouver’s department of transportation went around the room scheduling one-on-one meetings with every person who wanted one.


Matt Ransom, heads transportation planning for the city. He says the city has not settled on a final route yet – only a recommended route.  

He says, Vancouver’s light rail would look different than the raised track cutting through North Portland neighborhoods on the Yellow line. For one thing, he says it’ll allow more access within city blocks. 
 


Matt Ransom  “The differences will be the general character.  ...It’s  going to be a very urban form, not unlike what you’d find in Downtown Hillsboro or downtown Portland.”



Meaning the rail tracks will be flush with the street, instead of raised. Wires and electrical systems will be off to the side of the road, not overhead.


While most of the two dozen people who attended last night’s meeting had concerns, many say they feel they do have a place in the process.

Debby Watts has lived along one proposed route for more than ten years. She’s written some letters trying to keep light rail off her street, and is ready to write more. But she says staffers heard her out.
 


Debby Watts  “I thought they gave a lot of good information. The key now is going to be getting to the decision-makers, the city council and CTRAN board, to see if they’ll listen to us, and what they decide.”



Vancouver City Council has another work session scheduled about the project March 15th. No final vote on the route is scheduled yet.



While planners hope the federal government will come through with funding to build the line, CTRAN also must shepherd through a plan for long-term operational funding.

Marc Boldt is a Clark County Commissioner, and also chair of the CTRAN board. He says once the rail line’s path is set,  CTRAN could construct a ballot measure asking voters to form a tax district to support the service. Then he expects a second public vote to approve the tax rate itself.



All that said, this week Boldt’s not convinced the larger bridge replacement project’s a sure thing. 
 


Marc Boldt   “I think if you would’ve asked me a month ago I would have said yes. Now, with all the conversations with the city of Portland, Metro, the Oregon legislature, the Washington legislature, two letters from the governor, and no comment from any federal legislator. I guess I’d put it to 50/50 right now.”



So, as controversial as a light rail system has been for Clark County in years past, it may turn be the least controversial part of the Columbia River Crossing. 



April Baer, OPB News.