Cheers: To fewer home foreclosures in Clark County. New figures show that 169 local homes were foreclosed upon in Clark County in January, the lowest monthly level in four years, according to The Columbian’s Cami Joner. That’s down 56 percent from last January and 14 percent from December.But there are several ways to read the tea leaves. On one hand, it could signal the worst is over for what has been one of the state’s most beleaguered housing markets. On the other hand, it could be a lull in the storm. Some economists are predicting a large increase nationally in the number of foreclosures later this year. One thing is certain: consumer confidence, and with it the economy, won’t rebound as long as people know people who are losing their homes.
Jeers: To delaying the start of construction on the Columbia River Crossing. Officials had hoped for a 2013 start date, but warned all along that it was optimistic. Now a candid reassessment pushes the start of the project into 2014. The main problem is that Oregon and Washington legislatures have yet to appropriate the money needed to purchase property in the project’s right-of-way and to fund other key elements of the project. The delay isn’t fatal, but project costs are likely to continue to rise in the meantime.
Cheers: To better traffic signal technology that will speed C-Tran buses along the Mill Plain corridor. Board members recently awarded a contract to modernize traffic lights at nearly two dozen intersections between Fort Vancouver Way and Southeast 160th Avenue.
The signals will be able to sense when an approaching bus is running late, and, if traffic isn’t too backed up on side streets, will keep the light green until the bus passes. The traffic lights will be modernized by this summer, and initially about 50 C-Tran buses will be outfitted with transmitters to trigger the signals.
