C-Tran board wants light rail into downtown Vancouver
May 13-The C-Tran board voted 7-2 for a resolution Tuesday evening that urges the Interstate Bridge Replacement Program to stick with the project's original plans for light rail transit in downtown Vancouver.
The preferred vision for the bridge replacement project approved in 2022 by agencies in Oregon and Washington, including C-Tran and the city of Vancouver, called for extending TriMet's light rail from the Expo Center in Portland to a station on Evergreen Boulevard in downtown Vancouver at a spot known as Library Square.
In March, program leaders said cost escalations required them to put the Evergreen station on hold and end the light rail extension above the Vancouver waterfront.
On Tuesday, during the C-Tran board's regular meeting, C-Tran Deputy CEO Scott Patterson told board members that this plan would present challenges to connecting light rail riders to C-Tran's regional bus system.
The Evergreen station, Patterson said, would be at street level with the ability to connect riders to all three of C-Tran's bus rapid transit lines. From there, riders could get to the regional bus system that runs throughout Clark County. The waterfront stop, he said, likely would connect only to C-Tran's Highway 99 bus rapid transit line set to begin service in 2027.
The bridge program's projections, Patterson said, showed that most of the riders transferring onto the new light rail extension would come from C-Tran's system.
"This has been (called) a once-in-a-generation project," Patterson said. "When you're talking about replacing the bridge and bringing light rail ... and your primary focus is connecting it as best as it can to C-Tran's system, we believe that getting it to Evergreen, at least, makes more sense."
Patterson said C-Tran leaders have asked program administrators to share the estimated cost to extend light rail from the waterfront stop to Evergreen but have not yet received that data. The light rail extension to the Vancouver waterfront will cost around $2 billion, he said, with additional costs to run the system to Evergreen Boulevard.
One of the challenges, Patterson said, is that the program had assumed a higher level of ridership that would have required more MAX trains and more frequent service. After 2024, those expectations shifted from 19 trains to three and from stops every 6.5 minutes to stops every 15 minutes, he said; planners also nixed a planned expansion of the Ruby Junction light rail station in Gresham, Ore., and overnight facility at the Expo Center.
The cost for those light rail assumptions was around $3.5 billion, Patterson said, but likely will come down once adjusted for the new ridership projections.
"That $3.5 billion assumed a higher level of service," Patterson said.
Although C-Tran still is waiting for firm estimates, Patterson said, it could cost around $1 billion to extend light rail from the waterfront to the Evergreen stop. Bridge project leaders might need to pursue additional funding from Oregon and Washington just to extend light rail to the Vancouver waterfront, he said.
Board members discussed various amendments to the resolution. Board member and Vancouver City Councilor Kim Harless suggested adding language that would prioritize the Evergreen station over the waterfront stop, but the majority of the board voted against that amendment.
"The reality is, if we skip the waterfront, we probably won't get the waterfront," said Glen Yung, a board member and Clark County councilor. "I think it's unrealistic that we will see that station built if we bypass it. I don't think realistically ... that we're going to find some local money in the future to build it - 91 feet in the air would be incredibly expensive."
Board member Wil Fuentes, who also serves on the Clark County Council, said he felt hesitant to support Harless' amendment.
"I think the waterfront is a tourist destination, and I think it would be incredibly helpful to build it in addition to Evergreen," Fuentes said.
Board members Rian Davis and Tim Hein, who represent the county's smaller cities, each suggested amendments to the resolution that did not go over with the rest of the board.
Hein, a Camas city councilor, wanted to add language that would exempt C-Tran from any future costs associated with extending light rail from the waterfront to Evergreen.
Davis, a Ridgefield city councilor, had hoped to add a paragraph that would direct C-Tran staff to work with the project team and community partners to find ways to demonstrate the financial value of the Evergreen station extension.
Davis said his intention was to try to identify other funding for the extension.
"If we can prove ... that there's economic development value for a terminus at Library Square as opposed to the waterfront," Davis said, "maybe that opens up some extra pots of money."
The board - which recently changed its configuration to meet state requirements and now includes four members of the Vancouver City Council, three members of the Clark County Council and two small-city representatives - voted down both of those amendments.
In the end, the board passed the original resolution 7-2, with Hein and Davis casting the only "no" votes.
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This story was originally published May 13, 2026 at 5:55 PM.