“I am convinced that light rail, whether we like it or not, must be a part of the project. As such the responsibility, again whether we like it or not, falls on the community to cover the cost of the operation and maintenance…” Former Port of Vancouver Director Larry Paulson March 26, 2012
The words above spoken by former Port of Vancouver Director Larry Paulson is indicative of the uphill battle we waged for nearly 20 years against forcing us to accept Portland, Oregon’s financially ailing light rail system a few blocks into our community, across state lines.
“It’s a done deal,” “Nothing you can do will stop it,” “Hounds of Whinerville,” and of course, “like it or not” were repeatedly heard as we plowed ahead, elected representatives that supported us over Portland and eventually, saw the ill-fated Columbia River Crossing project die painful death.
Or so we thought.
This blog is one that has steadfastly maintained it was not dead but was merely placed in a politically motivated coma, awaiting a change of the guard to see new life breathed into the effort to force us into accepting that light rail we fought ever since 1995, defeating every single funding measure placed before us on ballots.
I am also not alone in my belief that downtown special interests as well as from Oregon were quietly working and scheming to resurrect their scam and bring it on over regardless of what citizens said.
We the effort recently by the Lazy C to ridicule an Oregon resident over her understanding of measures proposed on their side of the river as they made her facebook post the top headline.
Those Oregon measures died, but apparently the notion of light rail those few blocks into our community has not.
Recently released by the City of Vancouver, their 2016 – 2021 Strategic Plan lists under “Executive Summary;”
GOAL 1: Ensure our built urban environment is one of the safest, most environmentally responsible and well maintained in the Pacific Northwest
Objective 1.1: Develop and maintain a safe, balanced and innovative transportation system that will meet the needs of future generations
Objective 1.2: Ensure our infrastructure, including buildings and utilities, is safe, environmentally responsible and well maintained
All of that sounds fine and dandy, pretty much what we would hope for with responsible City Government. However, dropping down to page 13 of the plan we find;
As seen in the highlighted word above, not only is light rail still in their planning, but now we seem to have added a “Downtown/Uptown/Historic Reserve trolley system.”
And yet, these same people are the same ones that keep lulling us into a slumber by claiming the project is “dead” and will not come back, at least in our lifetime.
But yet, there it is right in the middle of their own “Strategic Plan” for the City of Vancouver.
A problem this time around though, some of the latecomers to the battle that seized credit for stopping it last time have gone out of their way to alienate and purge the very ones that did much of the grunt work that actually did stop it last time.
More that never it appears that words spoken by Mr. Paulson back in 2012, quoted above revealed some insight missed by many that fooled themselves into believing the project really did die.
And even more cause for wondering, light rail where it actually makes sense, Southern California has seen a steady decrease in ridership over the last decade, as reported in the LA Times, Reason.com and the CATO Institute.
Still missed by City and County planners is that what we urgently need before replacing the aging I-5 spans across the Columbia River is additional river crossings, “like it or not.”
They must be in place prior to construction of a new bridge alongside the existing the spans to handle the increased congestion during all of the years it will take to build any new span.
But make no mistake about it; light rail is still very much in the plans for our future.
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