Legislative Preview: Several county projects at stake

The 2009 Legislature will decide the fate of several Clark County projects.

Gov. Chris Gregoire’s budget calls for delaying several state highway projects in the county and statewide to help deal with a $1 billion transportation funding shortfall over the next six years. Under the governor’s budget:

-- A $57 million safety improvement project that would widen four miles of Highway 14 through Camas and Washougal, already modified to save money, would be delayed two years, to 2012.

-- The first phase of a new $40 million Ridgefield Junction interchange at Interstate 5, of which $13 million was to be paid for with gas tax revenue, would be delayed until 2011. Bart Gernhart, deputy regional administrator of the Washington Department of Transportation, said the project is designed and “shovel ready” and might be eligible for federal stimulus funding.

-- The second phase of the Interstate 5 to Battle Ground interchange project would be divided into two phases. Intersection improvements along Highway 502, including turn signals and turning lanes, would be built in 2012. Widening of the five-mile section of highway between I-5 and Battle Ground from two lanes to four lanes would be postponed until 2018.

The governor’s budget includes $59.27 million for capital projects in Clark County, including:

-- $38.676 million to build the Applied Technology and Classroom Building at Washington State University Vancouver

-- $3.1 million for infrastructure improvement at Vancouver’s waterfront redevelopment project on the site of the former Boise Cascade mill. Sen. Craig Pridemore said he will work to win an additional $3 million.

— Kathie Durbin