The transit agency’s board of directors approved a resolution by a 7-2 vote that includes:

• A replacement bridge consisting of two structures with three through lanes in each direction and an unspecified number of auxiliary lanes to ensure functional traffic flow. Two structures means the C-Tran board supports the “stacked transit” concept, where light rail would fit underneath the freeway lanes.
• Light rail transit with an ending point at the former visitors’ center along Interstate 5 near Clark College. The transit alignment must allow for local buses to access and circulate in downtown Vancouver.
• A financing package that does not require C-Tran to ask its voters to approve construction dollars. The board does expect to ask voters for tax money to pay for operations.

Voting against the resolution were Clark County Commissioner Marc Boldt and Vancouver Councilwoman Jeanne Harris.

Boldt, a Republican, declined to embrace light rail during last week’s meeting of the Southwest Washington Regional Transportation Council.

Harris voted no because she did not believe the C-Tran board should set conditions for transit alignments and financing.

Vancouver Councilwoman Jeanne Stewart voted for the plan, saying she wanted to move the project ahead. Stewart has been skeptical of light rail, enough so that some members of the city council questioned whether she should represent Vancouver on the C-Tran board.

So far, C-Tran, the city of Vancouver, Metro and the Southwest Washington Regional Transportation Council all have taken nonbinding votes to support a replacement bridge with light rail. Officials who represent those agencies will take that direction with them to the June 24 meeting of the Columbia River Crossing Task Force.

Building a replacement bridge, a light-rail line ending near Clark College and a package of highway improvements is expected to cost $3.43 billion to $3.61 billion.

Clark County Commissioner Steve Stuart said he met with fellow Democrat Gov. Chris Gregoire earlier Tuesday and got the message that there is a limit how much can be spent on what some have called the biggest public works project in Northwest history.

“According to the state’s highest-ranking official … we need to be thinking about how much we have, how much we can get and within that figure out what we can build,” he said.

C-Tran board members heard about almost an hour of testimony before beginning their discussions, primarily from those who oppose light rail or have questions about the project’s financing.

Stephanie Turlay said she support building a new bridge but opposes light rail. The public doesn’t have information about how the multibillion-dollar project would be financed, she said, adding that she doubts the C-Tran board understands it.

“It’s like we are being led down a path, and I don’t see the light at the end of the tunnel,” Turlay said. “I would like to know how much this is going to cost.”

John Felton also raised questions about finances, including how costs would be shared between Oregon and Washington and the potential for costs overruns.

“How can the public be asked to support this project when they don’t know the bottom line?” he asked.

Robert Nichols, a candidate for Clark County commissioner who stated no party preference when filing, said automakers are coming out with cars that get up to 150 miles per gallon, which will make light rail “obsolete the day it opens.”

“Light rail does not make sense,” he said. “It’s lunacy.”

There will be several other opportunities for public comment, including:

• Clark County commissioners, 6:30 p.m. June 23, Clark County Public Service Center, 1300 Franklin St.
• Vancouver City Council, 6 p.m. June 30, Vancouver City Hall, 210 E. 13th St.
• Southwest Washington Regional Transportation Council, 6 p.m. July 9, Vancouver City Hall, 210 E. 13th St.

Those hearings should not be confused with the formal comment period on the draft environmental impact statement, which ends July 1.

For information on how to comment on the study, go to the Columbia River Crossing’s Web site — www.columbiarivercrossing.org — or call the office­ at 360-737-2726.