LONGVIEW — The Port of Woodland will contribute $100,000 to study and design ways to improve traffic flow in the city of Woodland.
Port Executive Director Jennifer Wray-Keene said industrial and residential development, some of it caused by development of port properties, is adding to congestion in the city. The port commission recently voted to give the city $50,000 in 2020 and $50,000 in 2021 to develop an overall transportation plan for the city.
Wray-Keene said the plan is necessary because of rapid growth taking place outside of city limits, such as the upper Lewis River valley and the Woodland Bottoms. She wants other entities who are invested in Woodland’s fate — such as Cowlitz and Clark counties — to help out too.
“Woodland cannot do this in a bubble,” Wray-Keene said Tuesday. “We felt that if we could come in financially for the study, that would help initiate the two counties to also participate financially. … Everybody needs to be sitting at the table and be putting some money into a solution. It cannot be solely on the shoulders of the City of Woodland.”
“It’s almost like taxation without representation” when the city has to shoulder the impacts of growth on its own, Wray-Keene said.
The city is currently close to completing a study for improving traffic flow at Interstate 5 Exit 21, Mayor Will Finn said Tuesday. He expects to have a design for the frequently clogged exit selected in January after public hearings on the matter some time in the next month or so.
The port’s contribution would go toward a new study of the city’s entire transportation system. The city requested the Port’s financial support earlier this summer, according to a port press release.
Finn said the port’s contribution will allow the city to get the project started next year. The full study cost could exceed $200,000, he said.
“We don’t have any money to give toward this project at this point,” Finn said of the city’s budget. “The port showing up with half of it, that’s fantastic.”
Finn said the city will seek grants and other sources of revenue to make up the difference over the next few years.
The port itself hopes be a major source of growth in the coming years, and that will mean more cars on the road.
