Rep. Liz Pike to discuss transportation issues at Woodland Chamber luncheon

Rep. Liz Pike to discuss transportation issues at Woodland Chamber luncheon

Rep. Liz Pike, a member of the House Transportation Committee, is the featured guest speaker of the Woodland Chamber of Commerce luncheon next Tuesday, Aug. 18, where she will discuss the latest statewide and regional transportation issues.

Pike plans to present ideas to relieve congestion and improve freight mobility in the I-5 corridor, and specifically over the Columbia River between Washington and Oregon.

"Just because we stopped the deeply-flawed Columbia River Crossing project doesn't mean the traffic problems went away," said Pike, R-Camas. "In fact, with Hanjin and Hapag-Lloyd pulling out of Terminal 6 at the Port of Portland earlier this year, hundreds of thousands of those shipping containers are now being diverted to other ports and carried by trucks onto the local interstate highways. So congestion is only going to get worse."

During the 2015 legislative session, Pike led a bipartisan effort to create a bi-state legislative work group to seek solutions for a bridge crossing over the Columbia River between Vancouver and Portland. An early version of a state transportation budget passed by the House would have provided $100,000 for the Washington State Transportation Commission to coordinate and staff a bi-state project legislative workgroup. Despite Pike's efforts, the funding was later removed in the final compromise transportation budget passed by the Legislature. She is now working to generate community support for new alternatives.

"We need to have serious discussions, not about reviving CRC, but about better, more affordable and workable solutions that Southwest Washington can support," added Pike.

The chamber luncheon is open to the public. The meeting begins at noon, Tuesday, Aug. 18, at the Oak Tree Restaurant, 1020 Atlantic Ave. (I-5 exit 21), in Woodland.

For more information about Rep. Pike, visit: www.representativelizpike.com.

# # #

Rep. Pike's media: