High-capacity transit options getting fresh look

A multi-governmental, 18-month study of Clark County’s high capacity transit options was announced today by Dean Lookingbill, transportation director for the Southwest Washington Regional transportation Council.

The study is prompted by the fact that population growth has clearly outpaced transportation investment, said Lookingbill. The study will identify a high capacity transit system.

The study, to focus on rail or dedicated right-of-way passenger vehicles, will complement other transportation studies currently underway, notably the Columbia Crossing Project, a C-TRAN 20-year study, and a 50-year look at transportation overall, when Clark County is expected to have a population of one million persons.

Lookingbill said he expects the study to result in identifying a handful of existing transportation corridors within the county as high-capacity transit routes. Corridors that will merit consideration include Highway 14, Mill Plain and Fourth Plain Boulevards and Highway 99.

In addition to identifying the kind of passenger vehicles, the study is expected to recommend the initial corridor to use them on.

A steering committee has been selected, which will forward recommendations to the Regional Transportation Council board.

Members of the committee are as follows: Clark County commissioner Steve Stuart; Vancouver city councilman Tim Leavitt; state Department of Transportation southwest regional administrator Don Wagner; C-TRAN board member Jeanne Harris; Battle Ground city councilman Bill Ganley; State Sen. Joe Zarelli (R-18th); State Rep. Deb Wallace (D-17th) and Port of Vancouver commissioner Arch Miller.

Extensive public comment will be solicited, according to Lookingbill. Further information is available on the study website, http://rtc.wa.gov/hct. Lookingbill suggests that website visitors participate by answering a questionnaire.

The kickoff study meeting is at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 16, in the Clark County Elections office, 1408 Franklin Street. The public is urged to attend, according to Lookingbill.

Legacy Salmon Creek Hospital
opens two new clinics

Legacy Salmon Creek Hospital next Monday, an. 15, will open two new medical clinics in Medical Office Building B on the hospital campus at 2101 NE 139th Street, reports hospital administrator Jonathan Avery.

Legacy Clinic Salmon Creek will be headed by Timothy Roddy, a former chief resident at Legacy Emanuel Hospital. The clinic will offer medical care to patients 15 years and older. Roddy earned his medical degree at the University of Wisconsin Medical School in Madison.

Legacy Salmon Creek Devers Eye Institute will be directed by Thomas Hwang, a board certified ophthalmologist. Hwang earned his medical degree at University of California, San Diego.

Plans for mental health support center
attracts international speaker

Joel D. Corcoran, executive director of the International Center for Clubhouse Development and an internationally known speaker on community mental health and psychiatric rehabilitation, is the keynote speaker for a 10:30 a.m. Friday, Jan. 12, meeting in the Center for Community Health, 1601 E. Mill Plain Boulevard to present plans for creating a Mental Health Clubhouse in Clark County.

The clubhouse will be patterned after the first clubhouse in New York City, founded in 1948, by ex-patients of a New York psychiatric hospital, who met informally, creating a support system for people living with mental illnesses. Among other benefits offered, the proposed clubhouse would help members find employment.

For further information, call Bill Waters, 397-2130.

Calendar

A ribbon-cutting ceremony and dedication of improvements to the 98-year-old Clark County Historical Museum, 1511 Main Street, is at 11 a.m. Friday, Jan. 12. With the addition of the first elevator in the former Carnegie Library building, the museum has become completely accessible to everyone, reports museum director Susan Tissot. The public is invited, and light refreshments will be served. n A farewell reception for Kelly Punteney, who after more than 35’ years service to the City of Vancouver is retiring to enter the private sector, is from 3 to 6 p.m. Friday, Jan. 12, in the Water Resources Education Center. Punteney mobilized people and money to accomplish scores of projects for community beautification, among them, the Burnt Bridge Creek Greenway Project, Discovery Loop, the waterfront trail along the Columbia, Salmon Creek and East Fork of the Lewis River. The reception is followed by a $40-per-person dinner in the Hilton Vancouver Washington. Proceeds from the dinner will go toward development of the Tidewater Cove Jetty viewpoint. For further information on the dinner, call Dan George, 619-1121.

Thursday, Jan. 11, headlines