When Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., was picking sites in Vancouver she wanted to see in person, it’s not a shock she picked locations that relate to freight.
Last year, Cantwell introduced the multimodal freight grant program, which aims to reduce congestion at U.S. ports and improve efficiency.
Cantwell was in town on Saturday for one day, part of which was spent touring parts of Vancouver where city officials are hoping to bring in federal funds. The group powered through a drizzly afternoon to look at the upcoming waterfront park, Northwest 32nd Avenue and underneath the Fruit Valley Road bridge.
Vancouver City Councilor Anne McEnerny-Ogle organized the tour and brought along a group that included Steve Eldred, division chief with the Vancouver Fire Department; Patrick Sweeney, principal transportation planner for the city; Ryan Lopossa, senior engineer of transportation in the city; and Terry Snyder, landscape architect for Vancouver. Barry Cain, president of Gramor Development, also attended the tour.
“It’s one thing to hear and see pictures of these things,” McEnerny-Ogle said. “It’s another to actually see it in person.”
During the tour, Cantwell said Vancouver is growing in infrastructure, a critical tool to help growth.
“I’ve been emphasizing to everyone around the state that there’s a national freight grant program,” she said. “They’re in the initial phase of planning right now, but this could be a prime project for that.”
The tour started with a trip down 32nd Avenue, which is lined with new industrial buildings that have popped up throughout the past two years or so. The road ends with a cul-de-sac, which the city is planning on extending into the Fruit Valley neighborhood.
“The idea is to provide a more efficient connection between the industrial area and (Port of Vancouver) to Interstate 5,” Lopossa said.
With access to the industrial area going through some residential and narrower streets, it has caused some traffic issues around the city.
“The traffic problems we’re having with I-5, the ripple effect is far and wide,” Sweeney said.
Cantwell said she heard from people in Eastern Washington about the congestion issues in the area.
She also told the group that one way to push their project higher up the list is to discuss the economic impact the congestion is having, and how many additional jobs clearing the problem could bring in.
The tour also stopped underneath the Fruit Valley Road Bridge, which Lopossa said needs to be replaced. That would be packaged in with the 32nd Avenue project. The city is looking at options for the project and is maybe 10 years off from the project, he added.
Cantwell also wanted to see Southeast First Street, where the city is working on an improvement project from Northeast 162nd Avenue to Northeast 192nd Avenue, but there wasn’t enough time to make it to that part of the city. The group discussed the project, where Lopossa said the plan is to widen the road and develop it for mixed use.
McEnerny-Ogle was thankful for Cantwell’s visit, and said it only helps Vancouver any time a federal representative makes time for the city. Giving Cantwell the tour will help her go back to Washington, D.C., and advocate for Vancouver, McEnerny-Ogle said.
“It’s a courtship,” she said. “We like to get face time whenever we can. Those long-distance relationships are hard.”
While Cantwell spent her afternoon touring the city, she began her day visiting with organized labor groups to discuss an apprenticeship program that she is looking for support. She said there is a need for apprenticeships to help younger generations learn job skills.
“We’re hoping to lure President Trump in to support it since he hosted a show called ‘The Apprentice,'” she said.
