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Tuesday, March 19, 2024
March 19, 2024

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In Our View: Solutions For West Side

City leaders must work with public in dealing with transportation issues

The Columbian
Published:

The name of the project is innocuous enough: Vancouver’s Westside Mobility Strategy, representing the kind of undertaking in which governments and citizens try to condense 10 pounds worth of problems into a five-pound bag. But as city officials ponder the balance of commerce and residential concerns when planning for the future of transportation in the city, the simplicity of the moniker belies the difficulty of the task.

Vancouver’s west side residential neighborhoods lie between Interstate 5 and the city’s industrial center at the Port of Vancouver and surrounding areas. Hence the difficulty in transporting goods and materials between the region’s primary transportation corridor and its manufacturing hub — there are houses and historic neighborhoods along the way. All of which has led to understandable consternation among residents who increasingly find their streets serving as a conduit for heavy trucks.

Balance between livability and commerce is essential, but the facts are that balance is in the eye of the beholder and that any possible solution is destined to be imperfect.

Consider the ongoing situation at 39th Street. In November 2010, a new bridge spanning railroad tracks near Fruit Valley Road opened in an effort to improve transportation between I-5 and the industrial area. The result, according to a city of Vancouver study: Truck traffic along 39th Street has tripled, leading residents to complain that the traffic has hampered the livability of their neighborhoods and has presented dangerous conditions for children and cyclists. The complaints are understandable. While improved infrastructure is essential for a vibrant, prosperous community, it is difficult to imagine residents in any part of town welcoming increased truck traffic rumbling through their neighborhood.

The issues involving 39th Street represent a microcosm of larger questions facing the city. And they represent a snippet of big projects to come. Because of that, city officials will host an information meeting from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday at Discovery Middle School, 800 E. 40th St. Looking at the futures of thoroughfares that can move commerce between I-5 and the downtown core or industrial area, officials are taking a big-picture approach to the situation. “I think there’s definitely room for improvement when you manage it as a network,” said Patrick Sweeney, the city’s primary transportation planner. As the city’s website spells out: “As Vancouver grows, so does our traffic, including truck traffic that serves business and industry. . . . The need to move freight to and from the Port of Vancouver and industrial areas will grow with the city and the region.”

Not that Vancouver is the only municipality wrangling with such concerns. Managed growth is perhaps the most important and long-lasting of duties facing leaders in any city, as traffic delays lead to wasted gasoline, increases in CO2 emissions, and time sitting in traffic that is costly to both businesses and residents. The local geography that requires transportation through either downtown or residential areas is particularly daunting. Ideally, there would be a spur from Interstate 5 to the Port of Vancouver, but reality dictates that other solutions must be sought, which led Sweeney to say of the Westside Mobility Strategy: “Essentially, this project is a conversation about how the west side neighborhoods and west side industries can grow and prosper together.”

With that in mind, it is essential that city leaders listen to and work with the public. The task is not as simple as the name might imply.

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