Traffic heads south over the Fruit Valley Road railway bridge in 2019. (Amanda Cowan/The Columbian)
The alignment of a road extension that would divert freight traffic from Fruit Valley Road is likely changing, but the specifics are still up in the air.
For years, the city of Vancouver has planned to extend Northwest 32nd Avenue, which currently connects Lower River and La Frambois roads, north to parallel Fruit Valley Road and connect with a new bridge over the BNSF railroad.
Now, because of environmental concerns, the extension will likely cut over to connect with Fruit Valley Road south of the bridge, said Ryan Lopossa, the city of Vancouver’s streets and transportation manager.
Although the planned extension goes mostly through city-owned property, much of it is in the Vancouver Lake lowlands, which is designated for conservation. Using this land comes with restrictions, notably that the city would have to substitute other land for preservation.
“We’ve always known that it would go across the lowlands, and we’d have to find a way to convert some of that to right of way but never felt like that was a deal breaker,” Lopossa said. “We’re going to go back to the drawing board and look at a new alignment that doesn’t have as much of an impact on the lowlands as the current one does.”
The city purchased three parcels of land off Northeast 61st Street and Northwest Whitney Road in November. The 32nd Avenue extension was planned to go through the purchased property, but with the alignment changing it likely will not, Lopossa said.
The city still has use for the land, which could be used for mitigation for conservation land, stormwater impacts or a construction staging area for the Fruit Valley Road bridge replacement, Lopossa said.
Next steps
The 32nd Avenue extension is probably five to six years away, Lopossa said. First, the city has to figure out a new alignment.
The proposed Transportation System Plan — which guides investments in the city’s transportation system over the next 20 years — lists most Fruit Valley Road projects as medium priority. That’s because most of the road already has bike lanes.
“We have so many other places around the city where we don’t even have that, and when looking at priorities, we put a higher priority on places with no infrastructure,” Lopossa said.
Fruit Valley area residents say their neighborhood of about 1,000 homes has the poorest air quality in Vancouver, as it’s embedded in the heavy industrial zone near major roadways. It’s also one of the city’s most diverse and low-income communities.
The cost estimate for the original alignment was $125 million to $130 million. Lopossa said the project will likely cost north of $140 million as the cost of materials has increased.
This story was made possible by Community Funded Journalism, a project from The Columbian and the Local Media Foundation. Top donors include the Ed and Dollie Lynch Fund, Patricia, David and Jacob Nierenberg, Connie and Lee Kearney, Steve and Jan Oliva, The Cowlitz Tribal Foundation and the Mason E. Nolan Charitable Fund. The Columbian controls all content. For more information, visit columbian.com/cfj.
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