The state-level body that helps steer transportation policy in Washington had a chance to hear directly from local officials last week on issues they face while trying to build and maintain roads in Clark County.
The Washington State Transportation Commission visited Clark County and participated in a two-day meeting hosted at Battle Ground City Hall last week. The chief reason for the visit was to hear about transportation efforts and challenges in the region.
The first day focused on transportation projects undertaken in Clark County, which included any challenges the county, cities and the Cowlitz Indian Tribe have faced while pursuing their work. The difficulty of securing funding at the state level for projects involving the Washington State Department of Transportation is generally the biggest hurdle local governments face.
Battle Ground Mayor Philip Johnson led off the days of meetings with a fitting car analogy to describe transportation work in Washington. Johnson said each municipality is part of a vehicle. While some are greater in size, they are all important to keep the vehicle of the state running, he said.
He described Battle Ground as one of the smaller parts in the machine and the state government as the mechanics who can supply the needed fix.
“Even though the oil was authorized, the assistance needed to apply it came in drips and drabs,” Johnson said.
He expressed frustration with the speed of the process.
“We participate in the meetings, we listen to all the presentations and we still don’t get it. Why does everything take so long and cost so much and make such little sense?” Johnson asked.
As an example, he said some email chains on road projects in the state have dozens of participants. Any one person can bring a stop to the process.
“All we as citizens want is a system that functions like it should — smoothly, efficiently and relatively easy,” Johnson said.
Clark County’s transportation issues are largely fueled by the area’s growth. The county’s population has grown 160% between 1980 and 2020, said Matt Ransom, the executive director of the Southwest Washington Regional Transportation Council.
Twenty years ago, conversations in the county focused on maintaining rural character and the small-town feel, “which are certainly aspirations that we want to hold on to,” but even North Clark County communities are confronting urban dynamics, Ransom said.
Ridgefield is emblematic of that rapid growth. City Manager Steve Stuart said the city’s population grew by a third during the COVID-19 pandemic alone. With that “explosive” growth, Ridgefield isn’t able to rely on time-intensive funding mechanisms for its projects, which are only increasing.
“When increased regulatory pressure and timelines push these projects, not only do our residents suffer by not having the infrastructure in place, but also from the costs that we all bear,” Stuart said.
He gave the example of a widening project on Pioneer Street, which is part of state Route 501, west of the Interstate 5 junction. Initially projected to be $14 million, the project is now closer to $34 million for a variety of reasons including stormwater infrastructure, severe supply chain cost adjustments and new regulatory requirements.
“These are just a few things that we are facing on a single project that you will find throughout the state, but are taking a project that is desperately needed … from affordable to relatively unachievable,” Stuart said.
In North Clark County’s biggest city and the host of the meeting, a seven-phase project to reduce congestion at the intersection of state Route 502 and state Route 503 is the paramount road improvement Battle Ground wants to complete.
Battle Ground Public Works Director Mark Herceg said the congestion project is currently in the fourth and largest phase which has been bid and contracted, with two subsequent phases to be bid by the end of the year. That project has also suffered from inflationary costs. The cost was estimated to be $12.2 million in 2020, but the number is likely significantly higher now.
“The seven phases were scheduled out over many years and so it was difficult to keep up with the cost increase,” Herceg said.
The city’s “wish list” for the transportation council includes more support from the state Transportation Improvement Board, more legislative funding options, an additional employee for WSDOT’s Highway and Local Programs and more collaboration between the department and cities with state highways in their jurisdiction.
Battle Ground City Manager Erin Erdman noted that while the city has a population of about 23,000, it serves a greater trade area of roughly 85,000 people with commuter traffic to and from Portland and is bisected by two state routes, making it a transportation hub in the region.
The transportation council also heard from officials from Clark County, La Center, Woodland and the Cowlitz Indian Tribe regarding their own transportation efforts. Among the larger projects is work on 179th Street in central Clark County and Woodland’s interchange with Interstate 5 at Exit 21.
The first meeting of the week lasted four hours. The transportation committee then returned the next day to discuss economic development, transit, the Interstate 5 bridge over the Columbia River and an overview of WSDOT projects in the region.