Is the end in sight? Clark County’s second season – road construction – comes in to full swing this week as crews start the local roads paving segment of the Salmon Creek Interchange Project. According to a Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) release, WSDOT work will begin July 11, and Clark County crews will be at it beginning July 12. Aside from long delays, what else should you expect? Long delays.

What can drivers expect?

Both directions of I-5 between NE 134^th and NE 179^th streets
Northbound I-205 near NE 134^th Street
Watch for shoulder closures during the day and single-lane closures at night for the first two weeks of work.

Both directions of I-5 between NE 134^th and NE 179^th streets
Starting in late July, crews will close two lanes and shoulders from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. each night, Monday through Thursday.

NE 10^th Avenue and NE 139^th Street
Plan ahead for delays during paving on NE 10^th Avenue, north of NE Tenney Road, and on NE 139^th Street, west of NE 10th Avenue. Drivers will be able to travel through the area using the temporary one-way pattern implemented in May, with one-way northbound on NE 10^thAvenue and one-way westbound on NE 139^th Street.

Please keep an eye out for crews and take it slow in work zones!

What’s next?
WSDOT will continue working on I-5 and I-205 as Stage three of SCIP gets under way. Stage four, the project’s final stage, is expected to begin this winter. Stage four improves safety and traffic flow on the interstates and NE 134^th Street by building a new I-5 interchange at NE 139^th Street. Paving on local roads indicates that work is beginning to wrap up on Clark County’s portion of this $133 million joint project. Most work on the west side of I-5 is expected to be complete in late August, although weather and other factors can affect construction schedules.

So for those on the west side of the freeways, especially north of 134th around 10th avenue, prepare yourself for the extended drive to your next destination. Leave yourself plenty of time, and please watch out for crews out there.

Salmon Creek Community Club Neighborhood Park is at the corner of NE 159th Street and 20th Avenue in the Fairgrounds area. The 4.5-acre neighborhood park currently features trees and a small area of open lawn. Whipple Creek runs through the property along the northwest boundary and connects with the Whipple Creek Greenway to the north.

All interested neighbors are encouraged to attend the April 20, 2011 meeting at 6:30 pm at the Clark County Event Center at the Fairgrounds (17204 NE Delfel Rd, Ridgefield), where project staff will present a draft concept plan for review and discussion. Public input will be used to develop a preferred draft concept plan, which will be presented to the Parks and Recreation Advisory Commission later this spring.

For more information, visit the Greater Clark Parks District, Salmon Creek Community Club Neighborhood Park.

Salmon Creek is a great place to live, work, play, and have kids go to school. There’s shopping, restaurants, a state of the art hospital, and the WSU Vancouver Campus. We’re a stone’s throw away from fun things like the Sleep Country Amphitheater and the Clark County Fairgrounds. And we have easy freeway access to both I-5 and I-205…

OK, sometimes the freeway access is not so easy, but it’s going to get better!

The Salmon Creek Interchange Project, which is currently underway, “will reduce traffic congestion and improve safety in the fast-growing Salmon Creek area by constructing a new I-5 interchange at NE 139th Street, improving the I-205 northbound off-ramp to NE 134th Street, and constructing other local road improvements”, according to the WSDOT website.

Local road improvements on both sides of the freeways is expected to be complete by Summer 2012, with the entire project scheduled for completion in June of 2014. To keep up to date on current progress, visit WSDOT Salmon Creek Interchange Project online.

The Holiday Inn Express in Salmon Creek has changed their name to Gateway Inn Express in Salmon Creek.

Offering Expanded Continental Breakfast, 24 Hour Indoor Heated, Hot Tub, and Fitness Center, they are located at 13101 NE 27th Avenue, Vancouver, WA.

You can reach them by phone at 360-576-1040 or online at www.gatewayinnexpress.com.

The next North Salmon Creek Neighborhood Association meeting is coming up Tuesday, January 25, 2011, 7 pm at Riverview Community Bank (800 NE Tenney Rd).

Staff from Clark County Public Works and Vancouver-Clark Parks and Recreation will present two draft conceptual development plans for Chinook Neighborhood Park to residents for review and gathering input at the meeting.

Stay and chat a bit and enjoy the refreshments supplied by Starbuck’s and our local Wayside Market. There will also be door prizes from Burgerville and Salmon Creek Cleaners.

It’s finally here (almost). The opening of the new Chuck’s Produce and Street Market is set to open Thursday, October 7 at 13215 SE Mill Plain, in the spot formerly occupied by Joe’s (or GI Joe’s, as it is known by those of us who grew up here ).

Chuck’s Produce and Street Market is a market and specialty foods store, similar to Trader Joe’s or Wild Oats; but with lower prices. The meat department will feature meats produced in Washington and Oregon;  and the produce department will also carry locally grown selections whenever possible. You can also expect a deli with seating for up to 40, and serving up breakfast, lunch and dinner. For dessert, gourmet ice cream and gelato, and fresh local coffees.

Chuck’s is also expecting to have food preservation demos and healthy cooking classes taught in their on site kitchen. And, while I’ll always miss Joe’s, I say, “Welcome to the neighborhood, Chuck!”

This post: “Goodbye, Joe. Hello, Chuck!”
was originally featured at Clark County Live!

For more detailed coverage of the People, Places, Activities and Events throughout the neighborhoods of Clark County, please visit Clark County Live!

Although the Washington State University Vancouver Kindergarten Program started September 1, 2010, they celebrated their opening today, September 30, complete with ribbon cutting ceremony. The private, full-day kindergarten is an expansion of the Washington State University’s successful Child Development Program. The new facility offers children’s learning areas, a library and playground.The kindergarten also provides a learning laboratory for WSU Vancouver students. Those pursuing a degree in human development sometimes observe the kindergarten classroom as part of their studies. WSU Vancouver nursing students provide hearing screenings to the children as part of their coursework.

Funding for the Child Development Program Kindergarten was made possible by a gift from the Tod and Maxine McClaskey Foundation in 2008. “The department of human development is indebted to the McClaskey’s for making the kindergarten a possibility for us. Their foundation has been involved since the early planning stages and is committed to the long-term success of this project,” said Suzanne Smith, associate professor and director of human develpoment.

“The goal of the CDP kindergarten is to prepare children from varying backgrounds for the formal structure of classroom-based learning. The private kindergarten provides students with academic skills in literacy, math, science and social studies while offering them social opportunities for managing themselves in a group setting.

“The CDP Kindergarten gives the WSU Vancouver campus and Southwest Washington a cutting-edge option for early childhood education. We have a small student-to-teacher ratio that provides for flexibility and a more personalized learning environment,” said Smith.

The CDP Kindergarten is open to the children of WSU Vancouver students, staff, faculty members and community members. Tuition is $715 per month. Class size is limited to 18 and space is still available. For more information about the program, call Kathy Austin, early childhood specialist for the Child Development Program at 360-546-9722.”

Join your friends and neighbors for a special dedication event for the Fairgrounds Community Park (216 NW 164th St, Ridgefield) on Saturday May 22, at 10 am. Remember, we live in the beautiful, yet unpredictable, Pacific Northwest, and the ceremony will take place rain or shine.

Approximately 30 acres of this 88 acre property was developed, and includes walking and biking trails, a playground, restrooms, covered picnic areas, basketball hoops, and great views!

Clark County Commissioner Tom Mielke will be making comments, there will be a ribbon cutting ceremony, and light refreshments courtesy of some great local sponsors; including Albertsons, Burgerville (will this be a Nomad sighting?), the Fairgrounds Neighborhood Association, Edward Jones, Krispy Kreme, and Peet’s Coffe and Tea.

For more information, visit the Greater Clark Parks District online, or call 360-397-6118.

Led by efforts of several neighbors, a group formed as Whipple Neighbors which opposes the planned Noble Meadows subdivision petitioned Clark County for changes to the proposed development. At issue was the creation of building lots as small as 4,000 square feet in a neighborhood where adjacent zoning is 10,000 square foot minimums. The neighbors, some sixty strong, and the land-use attorney representing their interests, filed comments which included detailed analysis of errors and issues related to the proposed development.

Some of the primary considerations presented were as follows:

• Failing to process the PUD as a re-zone as required by WA law
• Failing to meet rezone standards
• Failing to meet County PUD standards
• Proposing lot sizes as small as 4,486 sq. feet in a minimum 10,000 sq. foot zone
• Placing a stormwater facility in a riparian buffer/geo-hazard zone
• Proposing 100,000 cubic yards of cut and fill
• Proposing a plan inconsistent with the recommendations of their own geo-tech
• Certifying the project without have traffic counts as required
• Accepting a stormwater plan without appropriate engineering stamp.

In total, there were eleven pages of comments by the Whipple Neighbors group. We have made the documents available for review and download here

We heard recently that Washington State University – Vancouver Campus was to begin work to determine property lines around part of their beautiful Salmon Creek campus. In discussions with WSUV personnel, we were told that they wanted to keep an open channel of communications about the project.  To that end, a postcard was going out to University neighbors – specifically along the western boundary – discussing the upcoming work.  Here is the text of the postcard and the picture they referenced.

Dear Neighbor:

We want to make you aware of some work we’re doing on Washington State University Vancouver’s perimeter. Over the coming weeks and months we will be surveying to determine our property line. Our work may disturb some vegetation in the area. We will work lightly to minimize our impact. After we locate our property line, we will begin construction of our standard “farm fence” along our western boundary. It’s the same fence that runs alongside Salmon Creek Avenue and is pictured on the front of this postcard. We plan to run this fence along our entire property line in time. The fence line will reflect property lines, which may not otherwise be clear. If you have questions or concerns about our project, please call James Martin at 360-546-9000.

Best regards,

Washington State University Vancouver
Go, Cougs!

Sounds like the University is looking to keep neighbors in the loop about events surrounding the boundary survey process.  If you have questions, be a good neighbor and touch base with the University through the contact information they provide.