A line of semis take rest in the lot of Taylor Transport, Inc., one of many freight companies on or around 4th Plain Blvd. / Photo by Anni Becker

In a pending Clark County Freight Mobility Study, the Regional Transportation Council is proposing to classify Fourth Plain Boulevard West of I-5 as a Regional Freight Corridor. Somehow that proposed classification change has led to wide spread rumors that Fourth Plain will be widened and homes destroyed.

City Transportation Manager Thayer Rorabaugh denies any pending plans to bulldoze anyone’s home. “The city has no plans and no funds to design, study or actually build any improvements on Fourth Plain,” he stated in last month’s Arnada neighborhood meeting. Those speculating massive neighborhood destruction have not produced any documents or evidence of any such plan. Instead, they have relied on ambiguous references to the CRC project and unverifiable rumors.

The debate surrounding the classification and future of Fourth Plain west from F Street to Lincoln is decades old and will likely continue far into the future. In order to help understand the matter, The Voice offers a brief background and views from a neighborhood association member and an owner of a trucking company.

A Brief Background

Fourth Plain Boulevard has been a major access point to the Port of Vancouver for decades. A 1994 city Mill Plain extension document signed by then Mayor Bruce Hagensen states, “Primary access to western Vancouver from I-5 is currently provided by Fourth Plain Boulevard.” The document also explained that “Mill Plain Boulevard would provide a secondary link into western Vancouver.”

Even the now semi-infamous 2002 Community Accord signed by city staff, four neighborhood associations and the Executive Director of the Port of Vancouver did not diminish Fourth Plain’s role in port access. “Currently Fourth Plain is designated as a principle arterial roadway…. [I]ts purpose is to move large volumes of traffic, including truck traffic, through west Vancouver,” the document states, adding, “Fourth Plain is identified as a major access to the Port.”

That same accord also states, “Economic prosperity and community livability are mutual objectives within the City of Vancouver, and transportation infrastructure plays a vital role in achieving both.”

A trucker’s view

Food Express owner Walt Keeny has worked in the trucking business for 53 years. He says Fourth Plain is a transportation route of regional significance, and needs to be widened. “Fourth Plain should be widened to four lanes, a left turn lane and bike lanes on both side,” he stated in an interview.

Keeny’s desire for bike lanes may seem unexpected, but it is part of his hope that any expansion of Fourth Plain will minimize the impact on the local neighborhoods. “If you are going to do something, do it right. I see how many people are walking along and across [Fourth Plain], I know it’s important to [the neighborhoods] that the road is safe for those trying to cross,” he explained.

Keeney sees the key aspect of the transportation subject is how to get trucks from west Vancouver to I-5. Keeny and his Terminal Manager, Marc Widing, explained the difficulty for heavy trucks to manage the 78th Street hill and the traffic congestion on Mill Plain. “Mill Plain is already near capacity,” Widing stated. “What’s going to happen when the waterfront develops? It’s going to get very congested.”

As for 39th Street, Keeny holds that it should remain a neighborhood route. “39th Street is not a truck route…. [I]t should never be a truck route,” Keeny stated.

Keeny’s beliefs about Mill Plain’s current and future congestion and the unappealing nature of 39th and 78th Streets leads him to conclude that future freight capacity needs to be addressed by expanding Fourth Plain.

If the city ever expands Fourth Plain to the point where homes are torn down, Keeny is not blind to the hardships. “Tearing someone’s house down is never a good thing, but sometimes it’s necessary. It’s a hard thing to do… but mobility for freight has to be met,” Keeny stated.

Keeny knows a thing or two about freight mobility. His company operates 190 full-time drivers in seven states and has 12 non-driving employees in west Vancouver. Food Express delivers 23 million pounds of flour each day in its service area, and Flour is only one of the many products his company hauls.

Keeny describes the jobs he offers the community as full-time, family-wage jobs with company-paid medical benefits. According to Keeny, Food Express spends $145,000 a month on his employees’ health care package as a sign of its commitment to its employees.

In an unusual take on the ever-dreaded subject of taxes, Keeny espouse a belief that the trucking industry should pay more in road taxes. “We don’t pay enough in highway taxes,” he stated. “It’s a good investment…. [B]ad highways are expensive to the trucking industry [as] rough roads cause broken trucks,” he explained.

A neighborhood view

Shumway Neighborhood association vice-chair Lisa Ghormley is focusing on neighborhood aspects of local transportation projects. “My whole concern has been impacts to the neighborhood,” Ghormley stated during an interview.

What Ghormley wants most out of the city is a west side transportation study that takes into account the major pending transportation projects, including the waterfront, the CRC, light rail, Bus Rapid Transit and possible re-classification of Fourth Plain as a regional freight route. “The city has all these things going on and I don’t think anyone has asked how the projects affect each other,” Ghormley stated.

One example of project interaction Ghormley discussed is the potential impact of signal priority light rail crossing Mill Plain. “Is Mill Plain going to handle freight and commuter traffic after light rail bisects it?” she asked.

According to Ghormley, the CRC and city have not addressed neighborhood concerns. “The outreach by CRC and the city has not been adequate. We are getting told unproductive and uninformative sound bites,” she stated. “The west side doesn’t know what it’s getting because it’s not being put out to the public,” she explained.

Ghormley insists on having more time for the community to be informed and discussed the Regional Transportation Council’s re-classification of Fourth Plain as a regional freight route before the draft is finalized. “The public has a right to know what the impacts are going to be,” she stated.

The sustainable and high livability of west Vancouver neighborhoods are traits the city should strive to protect, according to Ghormley. “We have these neighborhoods that are thriving, walking neighborhoods that are likely the most sustainable in the city,” she stated.

Her concern is improper planning or unforeseen adverse impacts could destroy the west Vancouver community.
“Mistakes could divide the west side into little pockets,” pockets.”