For the first time in 40 years, the boundaries of Longview’s local transportation planning region could expand to encompass the entirety of Cowlitz County.
The Metropolitan Planning Organization, which is run by the Cowlitz-Wahkiakum Council of Governments, is proposing to add the entirety of the county to its planning area for road and transit projects. Longview, Kelso and Rainier are currently the only cities covered by the organization.
The countywide expansion was OK’d by the Cowlitz County commissioners at their April 16 meeting. The Kalama City Council signed off an a letter of support at their meeting last Thursday. Executive Director Bill Fashing has attended a circuit of the other local city councils and ports to gather letters of support for the expansion.
“We want to set forth a stronger vision for planning countywide, specifically for transportation needs countywide moving forward,” Council of Governments Executive Director Bill Fashing said.
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The Federal Transit Administration requires all urban areas with at least 50,000 residents to have a metropolitan planning organization make their long-term transportation plans. The Council of Governments has run the local planning group since 1982.
A map shows the current boundaries of the local Metropolitan Planning Organization. The Cowlitz-Wahkiakum Council of Governments is seeking to expand the boundaries to include the entirety of Cowlitz County.
Growing county
Fashing said the group is considering the expansion now because the smaller cities and rural areas of Cowlitz County continue to grow. The population of Kalama has more than doubled since the 1980 Census and currently hovers around 3,000 people. Woodland saw even more growth, increasing its population by more than 4,000 people in the last 40 years. Castle Rock was deemed part of the Longview-Kelso urban area during the 2020 Census.
Fashing said that given the continued buildup of housing and development along Interstate 5, Kalama and Woodland could be forced into Longview’s urban area before long.
“The next census could already expand it to them. It’s better to start today than catch up in 10 to 20 years,” Fashing said.
The planning organization mostly deals with long-term transportation plans. Fashing said the organization was heavily involved in getting the Lexington Bridge built in 2006. The group worked on funding the Industrial Way/Oregon Way interchange for more than a decade, and while that project is on hold, the council has shifted focus to the Lewis and Clark Bridge.
Fashing said several of Woodland’s road projects could be issues that fall under the new planning organization. One idea that has floated around for years is to build a better connecting road between Woodland and La Center that would run parallel to I-5.
The Council of Governments is already doing some small-scale work in the rest of the county. Earlier this year the group started a rural transit feasibility study in Woodland, Castle Rock, Kalama and Rainier. The study is a preliminary look at what type of public transit could work best in each of the smaller cities, or for the entirety of Cowlitz County.
The final decision on the metropolitan boundaries will be made by the Council of Governments Board of Directors, likely during the board’s May meeting. The boundaries will have to get final approval from the governors of both Washington and Oregon, since Rainier is included in the region.
Brennen Kauffman is a reporter for The Daily News covering government, with a concentration on Longview and Kelso.
