Camas officials are poised to formally oppose the inclusion of light rail trains on the Interstate 5 (I-5) replacement bridge.
“The Camas City Council, with the mayor’s support, directed that a draft resolution be developed stating that Camas is not in favor of light rail across the (bridge),” Camas City Councilmember Tim Hein, the Council’s representative on the C-Tran Board of Directors, said last week.
Hein said Council members will likely review the resolution later this month.
“Camas is going to be taking action on this. Our objective is to have a comprehensive position statement or resolution, hopefully by February,” Hein said. “I hope other cities join Camas. If not, we know where we stand on this. And, hopefully, the powers-that-be will stop and think about what is the right thing to do. It’s OK to reconsider. It’s OK to say, ‘We didn’t think about this.’”
Construction work on the new bridge, which will replace the seismically vulnerable I-5 Bridge, is expected to begin in 2026.
The decision to draft a resolution formally opposing light rail across the new bridge followed a Camas City Council workshop on Monday, Jan. 6, when C-Tran’s deputy chief executive officer, Scott Patterson, presented an update on the Interstate Bridge Replacement (IBR) program and unveiled data showing it will likely cost nearly $2 billion to install two miles of light rail infrastructure on the future I-5 replacement bridge and connect C-Tran facilities in downtown Vancouver with TriMet’s MAX light rail stations in North Portland.