As one of the fastest-growing cities in Washington, Ridgefield’s elected officials will seek support from state and federal legislators to address the challenges posed by rapid growth next year.
During a Thursday, Dec. 5 meeting, Ridgefield’s City Council met with lobbyists to discuss their top funding priorities. The council will decide its funding requests at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 19, at 510 Pioneer St., Ridgefield. The next legislative session is set to convene on Jan. 13, 2025.
One major project highlighted during the meeting involves improvements to state Route 501, also known as Pioneer Street. On July 6, jurisdiction over the road was transferred from the state to Ridgefield. A recurring issue along this route, particularly between 35th Avenue and downtown Ridgefield, has been landslides. Since 2006, four landslides have occurred, the most recent in 2016. Repair costs for each slide have ranged from $650,000 to $1.1 million.
A project to stabilize the banks and prevent future slides is estimated to cost between $3 million and $4 million. Several council members indicated this project should be a priority for state and possibly federal funding. Councilor Clyde Burkle emphasized the urgency of addressing this issue to avoid a potential disaster, noting that Pioneer Street is one of few entryways into downtown.
“I look at it as a citizen. It’s not if it’s going to slide — it’s when. If it were severe enough to take out both lanes and we had a medical emergency in downtown Ridgefield, it could take a 30-minute response time for people to navigate their way around to get downtown. I don’t know if there’s any way to present that to the state in such a way that they would understand it, but I think it creates a very, very serious potential disaster for our city,” Burkle said.
As the road was previously managed by the Washington state Department of Transportation (WSDOT), city officials hope to secure state funding for the stabilization project. However, state lobbyist Mike Burgess cautioned that the upcoming transportation budget is expected to be tighter than in the previous legislative session.
“Transportation is going to be tough. There’s declining revenue because we’re so gas tax dependent, and folks have transitioned to electric vehicles. It’s simple — your revenues are going down. We’re to the point now where, to fund the projects that were adopted in the last revenue package, there’s a shortfall for those,” Burgess said.
City Council members also discussed prioritizing a project to create a new access point to Interstate 5 south. This project would involve designing a connection from I-5 to Hillhurst Road via a western ramp. Design and pre-construction costs are projected at $5 million.
Additionally, the city is considering an overpass project connecting South 10th and 11th streets over I-5, south of Ridgefield’s current interchange. If prioritized, the council may make a $3 million funding request at the federal level. The council expressed particular support for requesting funds for road infrastructure projects, especially the Pioneer Street landslide prevention project.
The council also plans to make general legislative requests through its lobbyist. One of these requests is to support the establishment of a regional law enforcement training center in Clark County, with Ridgefield as a potential location if suitable land is available.
Another notable priority is the council’s endorsement of a bill, which would reduce the threshold for passing school bond measures from a 60% supermajority to 55%. In April, a Ridgefield School District proposal to build a new elementary school narrowly failed with 58.91% approval.
Councilor Katie Favela highlighted the need for this change, citing the school district’s struggles to accommodate an increasing number of students. The district currently serves 1,492 students in grades kindergarten through fourth grade, with enrollment expected to rise to 1,635 by the 2028-29 school year.
“ I think when I look at this, telling the story, it’s not just about passing a bond and getting more schools. When we look at other legislative priorities, like mental health, part of a healthy community is a successful education system, and you cannot have a successful education system if all of the schools that we have in our rapidly growing towns are at capacity and the students are not getting their needs met,” Favela said.
