Early phase construction lays the groundwork for additional parking at Fisher's Landing Transit Center in east Vancouver. A grant from WSDOT is paying for 198 new parking spaces. (Amanda Cowan/The Columbian)Photo Gallery
On an already tight morning, few things can be as frustrating as the hunt for an empty parking space at a park-and-ride in the moments before the bus arrives. But soon, maybe hundreds of frazzled commuters who rely on C-Tran in east Vancouver will be able to relax a little.
C-Tran is adding 198 parking spots — including several for disabled people and five electric vehicle charging stations — while also adding and improving lot lighting at the Fisher’s Landing Transit Center.
“I think it’s something we recognized needed to be done,” C-Tran spokeswoman Christine Selk said. “Our express routes are very, very popular.”
The transit agency estimates 91 percent of Fisher’s Landing’s 561 available spaces are full on an average weekday. As the region continues to grow, C-Tran expects the transit center to be used more.
Fisher’s Landing is C-Tran’s most heavily used facility, popular not only for transit, but also for public gatherings at the Rose F. Besserman Community Room. The center is served by routes 41, 80, 30, 37, 164, 65, 92 and C-Van.
In 2015, almost 224,000 people used the Portland-going Express Route 164. Route 65, one of C-Tran’s two limited routes that takes passengers from Fisher’s Landing to the Parkrose Transit Center in Portland, had almost 214,300 boardings in 2015.
Selk said she experienced the congestion firsthand as a bus commuter who parked at Fisher’s Landing for 15 years.
“I wouldn’t call it an outright struggle, but I was surprised by how many space were taken by 8 a.m.,” she said.
The $1.7 million expansion is being paid for entirely by a regional mobility grant from the Washington State Department of Transportation. It’s being built on land already owned by C-Tran, so no right-of-way acquisitions were needed. The work is being done by Keystone Contracting of Ridgefield. Through the duration of the project, some parking spaces may be temporarily compromised, but area traffic won’t be adjusted. Construction started in late March and was expected to be finished in the fall, but C-Tran now expects it to be finished at the end of July.
C-Tran is making a number of route changes and facility improvements around Vancouver in preparation for the city’s first Bus Rapid Transit system, The Vine, but the upgrades at Fisher’s Landing are independent of those.
Selk also said C-Tran hasn’t received any negative comments or queries on the project to date.
“I think the folks who live on it see the need; they drive past it every day,” Selk said.
Morning Briefing Newsletter
Get a rundown of the latest local and regional news every Mon-Fri morning.
