Chief
03-11-2008, 05:52 AM
http://www.oregonlive.com/metronorth/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/metro_north_news/120520592885220.xml&coll=7
Transit - Many business owners in downtown Vancouver think a light-rail line would destroy them
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
ALLAN BRETTMAN
The Oregonian Staff
VANCOUVER -- The shop owners from Vancouver listened politely to the testimonials.
Several visitors from the Portland area offered their experiences with light rail and MAX: the runup, the construction and the present-day impact.
There was former Portland mayor Bud Clark's daughter, her baby nearby, describing the pain of westside MAX construction for the Goose Hollow Inn. But, oh, the thirsty construction workers and the long-term payoff!
Ditto for the Nite Hawk Cafe & Lounge owner on North Interstate Avenue, the owners of a coffee shop on Interstate, a hair stylist and a member of the Gresham Downtown Development Association.
The Oregonians finished their stories. Then the Vancouver group had their say -- and they ripped into a proposed light-rail line: This project, this harebrained idea to run a transit line up Main Street, will destroy us, plain and simple.
"I absolutely cannot see the benefit of light rail coming down Main Street," said Judy Schumacher, owner of The Village Pearl gift shop at 1911 Main St., her voice shaking with anger.
Columbia River Crossing officials emphasize time and again that nothing about the project has been decided, including whether light rail or rapid bus transit will link Vancouver to MAX's Yellow Line.
But business owners near downtown Vancouver see a light-rail line headed their way. Many of them don't like the idea.
Their complaints prompted the Vancouver City Council to decree Feb. 11 that a line segment should be shifted off a six-block segment of Main Street and a block over to Broadway, so that street would have two lines instead of one. Now business owners on Broadway are upset.
"I see no reason for it," says Colin Huff, who owns a building on Broadway.
The transit alignment angst is one of several issues Columbia crossing officials are grappling with as they head toward issuing a draft environmental impact statement in the spring.
Despite the council's decree, the document will include a single, one-direction line on Main Street as one of the transit alignment options. But crossing officials stress that final decisions will reflect a mix of local desires and transportation data.
A transit mode -- either light rail or rapid bus transit -- has not been officially chosen. But Columbia crossing project maps show a transit line from a bridge entering downtown Vancouver and extending about a mile north to an east-west street, McLoughlin Boulevard.
From there, one idea shows the transit line extending to Clark College, which is on the other side of Interstate 5, then perhaps following I-5 north to an area near the 39th Street exit. Another would keep the transit line on city streets, including Main Street.
Officials say construction of a new line next to I-5 would be more expensive than the in-town option. Some officials have suggested ending the line at the community college.
Estimates for a new bridge have ranged as high as $4.2 billion. The crossing will enter a competitive grant process later this year with hopes of obtaining as much as $750 million in federal money to pay for the transit component.
The possibility of a six-block segment north of downtown has been a galvanizing force for Uptown Village merchants.
They fear a transit line will disrupt their quaint shopping area of brick sidewalks, wiping out what they and their many predecessors have for years envisioned as Vancouver's version of Portland's Northwest 23rd Avenue or Hawthorne Boulevard.
The Dairy Queen on Main Street has served as a rallying point for transit opponents.
Preliminary maps showed a line passing by parking entrances on Main as well as Broadway.
"That pretty much would have shut us down," said Chris Beatty, restaurant manager.
Neighborhood residents rallied to the DQ's defense. They produced buttons declaring "Save Our Queen," a fixture at the location since 1948.
Crossing spokeswoman Carley Francis said the DQ is "a major community resource, and we want do everything we can to . . . keep it accessible to the neighborhood."
While transit supporters on Main exist, they are few.
Attitudes against the line are, generally, "ludicrous," said Chris Moritz, co-owner of Main Street Bakery.
"I look at it as commuter friendly," said Moritz, a Buffalo, N.Y., native. "If they're going to go by my business, they're going to see I have my business -- where they may not have known that before."
Could be, but the Uptown Village Association took a poll on the matter. Light rail on Main Street was a big loser.
Allan Brettman: 360-896-5746 or 503-294-5900; allanbrettman@ news.oregonian.com
Transit - Many business owners in downtown Vancouver think a light-rail line would destroy them
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
ALLAN BRETTMAN
The Oregonian Staff
VANCOUVER -- The shop owners from Vancouver listened politely to the testimonials.
Several visitors from the Portland area offered their experiences with light rail and MAX: the runup, the construction and the present-day impact.
There was former Portland mayor Bud Clark's daughter, her baby nearby, describing the pain of westside MAX construction for the Goose Hollow Inn. But, oh, the thirsty construction workers and the long-term payoff!
Ditto for the Nite Hawk Cafe & Lounge owner on North Interstate Avenue, the owners of a coffee shop on Interstate, a hair stylist and a member of the Gresham Downtown Development Association.
The Oregonians finished their stories. Then the Vancouver group had their say -- and they ripped into a proposed light-rail line: This project, this harebrained idea to run a transit line up Main Street, will destroy us, plain and simple.
"I absolutely cannot see the benefit of light rail coming down Main Street," said Judy Schumacher, owner of The Village Pearl gift shop at 1911 Main St., her voice shaking with anger.
Columbia River Crossing officials emphasize time and again that nothing about the project has been decided, including whether light rail or rapid bus transit will link Vancouver to MAX's Yellow Line.
But business owners near downtown Vancouver see a light-rail line headed their way. Many of them don't like the idea.
Their complaints prompted the Vancouver City Council to decree Feb. 11 that a line segment should be shifted off a six-block segment of Main Street and a block over to Broadway, so that street would have two lines instead of one. Now business owners on Broadway are upset.
"I see no reason for it," says Colin Huff, who owns a building on Broadway.
The transit alignment angst is one of several issues Columbia crossing officials are grappling with as they head toward issuing a draft environmental impact statement in the spring.
Despite the council's decree, the document will include a single, one-direction line on Main Street as one of the transit alignment options. But crossing officials stress that final decisions will reflect a mix of local desires and transportation data.
A transit mode -- either light rail or rapid bus transit -- has not been officially chosen. But Columbia crossing project maps show a transit line from a bridge entering downtown Vancouver and extending about a mile north to an east-west street, McLoughlin Boulevard.
From there, one idea shows the transit line extending to Clark College, which is on the other side of Interstate 5, then perhaps following I-5 north to an area near the 39th Street exit. Another would keep the transit line on city streets, including Main Street.
Officials say construction of a new line next to I-5 would be more expensive than the in-town option. Some officials have suggested ending the line at the community college.
Estimates for a new bridge have ranged as high as $4.2 billion. The crossing will enter a competitive grant process later this year with hopes of obtaining as much as $750 million in federal money to pay for the transit component.
The possibility of a six-block segment north of downtown has been a galvanizing force for Uptown Village merchants.
They fear a transit line will disrupt their quaint shopping area of brick sidewalks, wiping out what they and their many predecessors have for years envisioned as Vancouver's version of Portland's Northwest 23rd Avenue or Hawthorne Boulevard.
The Dairy Queen on Main Street has served as a rallying point for transit opponents.
Preliminary maps showed a line passing by parking entrances on Main as well as Broadway.
"That pretty much would have shut us down," said Chris Beatty, restaurant manager.
Neighborhood residents rallied to the DQ's defense. They produced buttons declaring "Save Our Queen," a fixture at the location since 1948.
Crossing spokeswoman Carley Francis said the DQ is "a major community resource, and we want do everything we can to . . . keep it accessible to the neighborhood."
While transit supporters on Main exist, they are few.
Attitudes against the line are, generally, "ludicrous," said Chris Moritz, co-owner of Main Street Bakery.
"I look at it as commuter friendly," said Moritz, a Buffalo, N.Y., native. "If they're going to go by my business, they're going to see I have my business -- where they may not have known that before."
Could be, but the Uptown Village Association took a poll on the matter. Light rail on Main Street was a big loser.
Allan Brettman: 360-896-5746 or 503-294-5900; allanbrettman@ news.oregonian.com