The intersection of State Route 502 and State Route 503 in Battle Ground, seen here May 5, did not land the state funding local officials were hoping for.
The two-year budget from the Washington State Legislature that was approved late last month resulted in some big wins for Ridgefield, La Center and I-5 bridge-replacement proponents, but a big loss for Battle Ground.
In both the state transportation and capital budgets, cities in Clark County received millions earmarked for work on infrastructure. The most visible appropriation locally might be for something actually outside of the county proper as work to replace the aging Interstate 5 bridge over the Columbia River received significant funding in the state’s two-year transportation budget, resulting in $35 million going toward work to bring a new structure to reality.
A news release from the office of state Sen. Annette Cleveland, D-Vancouver, explained that of the $35 million, $17.5 million would go to the opening and running of an I-5 bridge project office, with $17.5 million going toward planning and pre-design work. Initially, Southwest Washington lawmakers had secured $8.5 million, though that number increased to the $17.5 million figure in the final days of the session that ended April 28.
Battle Ground left behind
That increase of funding in the 11th hour didn’t sit well with Battle Ground Mayor Mike Dalesandro, as the primary focus of the city’s efforts for this legislative session was not realized — that of a $1.3 million inflation adjustment for the second phase of improvements to the State Route 502/503 intersection.
“The city fully supports the replacement of the bridge,” Dalesandro said. “The disappointment that I had is, in all the meetings we had in Olympia, we were told that there were limited resources for the transportation budget this year.”
When Dalesandro spoke to The Reflector he was still trying to figure out where that money came from. The $1.3 million would augment state funds for the second of three phases to relieve congestion at the intersection — he said the second phase was the most costly portion of the project, involving the addition of right turn lanes in the eastbound, westbound, and southbound directions and a second left turn lane in the northbound direction.
Previous work involved removing the signal to the west of the 502/503 intersection, making the entrance into the Fred Meyer complex to right-in, right-out. Construction on the second phase was expected to start at the end of this year going into 2020.
Dalesandro explained that nothing had changed from the initial project that began work in 2017 — at that time it was estimated to cost $7.7 million and take place over six years, all funded through the Connecting Washington legislative package approved in 2015.
Dalesandro said that for the remaining phases the gap was more like $2.3 million, though the $1.3 million was what was needed for the current phase 2 of the project.
“Over 50,000 cars a day now go through that intersection,” Dalesandro remarked. “It impacts not just Battle Ground, it impacts all of North County.”
Regardless of additional funding, the project will move forward, Dalesandro explained, though without an inflationary adjustment those greater costs would likely come out of the pockets of Battle Ground taxpayers. That was doubly unfortunate in his mind given that the intersection is on state routes, and that initially the work was all a part of a state funding package.
“All we’re asking for is follow-through on the promise from Olympia,” Dalesandro remarked.
Though it wasn’t a focus of city staff and council, Battle Ground did get a win in the form of funding for a YMCA facility. State Rep. Brandon Vick, R-Felida, noted in a roundup of district funding that the ongoing project to bring a YMCA to North County received $500,000 in the state capital budget.
La Center lands mitigation million
La Center had more luck in securing state funding for its own work. A release from the city April 30 announced that $1.5 million had been secured for engineering and design work to replace a culvert and widen East 4th Street from East Cedar Avenue to Northeast Highland Avenue.
The release noted the widening would bring East 4th Street up to “complete streets” standards, improving safety and mobility for automobiles, bicycles and pedestrians. The replacement of the culvert would help with salmon population recovery in Breeze Creek, a tributary of the East Fork Lewis River.
La Center Mayor Greg Thornton gave praise to 18th District lawmakers for securing the funding in the release. Following the engineering and design, the project is anticipated to begin construction in 2021.
Funding will give Ridgefield another I-5 portal
Ridgefield also had some success this session. City Manager Steve Stuart pointed to two major appropriations — $250,000 in the state transportation budget for planning and pre-design of a connection to Interstate 5 to the southern part of the city, and $2 million in the capital budget for design and pre-construction work for a light industrial facility project dubbed Wisdom Ridge.
Stuart said the interstate project’s location was still to be decided, though given past work it was likely to be off of Northwest Hillhurst Road south of Carty Road, connecting with Exit 11 which currently only has access to the east, leading into Battle Ground.
Stuart said having a second interstate access was a “huge priority” for city council, as currently, the only direct access was onto Pioneer Street. He noted that Exit 11 was constructed with a potential western access in mind and that connection was part of Clark County’s arterial atlas for long-range planning purposes.
Stuart said it was the city’s goal to have the project starting construction within a six-year timeframe.
The Wisdom Ridge project is located on South 11th Street and was a partnership project between the city, the Port of Ridgefield and the Ridgefield School District, Stuart explained. The project would benefit private business, the city and the school district in part by relocating the city’s current maintenance and operations facility near the Lake River waterfront. Stuart remarked that currently that facility was “antiquated, undersized and on the wrong side of the (railroad) tracks.”
Stuart said the project could also see the school district’s maintenance facility, commonly known as the “bus barn” downtown, relocated to Wisdom Ridge. He said the current building would be better suited for redevelopment into something like a restaurant, but only if the district could find a new location.
There were no finalized agreements on what Wisdom Ridge would look like, but the $2 million in funding allowed the project to go “from idea to actual,” according to Stuart.
There were some disappointments for Ridgefield this session, however. Stuart said the legislature “swept” funds from the state’s public works trust fund, an assistance account that helps to get local infrastructure projects built across the state. According to the Association of Washington Cities, a lobbying group for city interests across the state, the legislature took $160 million from the fund to use for education funding, leaving only $85 million for competitive loan applications.
“It replenishes itself if the legislature lets it,” Stuart said about the fund, explaining it used low-interest loans to fund projects. “Unfortunately it isn’t protected.”
Another disappointment was in getting the Clark College at Boschma Farms project moving. Located on land to the east of Exit 14, the project would be a satellite campus that Stuart said had benefits far beyond just the city
This year the project did not receive construction funds to the tune of $50 million, Stuart said. He explained that there was a list of projects among the state’s community and technical colleges, but the Boschma Farms construction funding was so far down on that list that it was not a part of any of the initial budgets this year.
“In this case, there were so many other capital budget priorities at the state level … it’s tough to get big-ticket items in other areas,” Stuart said, mentioning that some of those priorities were driven by mandates based on litigation — he specifically brought up ones involving culverts and mental health that needed to be addressed.
Though this year was a bust, Stuart had an inkling there was a “reasonable chance” on securing the funding next year.
“We are far from done in pushing for this funding,” Stuart remarked. “It’s a great project. It’s a huge benefit to our region.”
