Ten years after the dream of connecting Vancouver, British Columbia, Seattle and Portland via high-speed rail, stakeholders and supporters of the massive project said Wednesday they are still on board — and preparing for a long journey.
With a long and uncertain timeline ahead of the former US Secretary of Transportation Ray Lahoudspeaker at Cascadia Innovation Corridor The conference in Seattle warned many attendees that they likely would not live long enough to see high-speed rail in the Pacific Northwest.
“When you build big things, they cost a lot of money,” LaHood said. “It took us 50 years to build the interstate system.”
Lahoud said the key is to “join” now so that “our children and grandchildren” can reap the benefits.
Former U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood, left, discusses high-speed rail with Washington State Sen. Marco Lias on stage at the Cascadia Innovation Corridor’s annual conference in Seattle on Wednesday. (GeekWire photo/Kurt Schlosser)
In the Cascadia Innovation Corridor Annual event This week, much of the focus has been on how to strengthen the cross-border partnership between three growing cities and the many regions in between. The leaders discussed ideas on innovation, housing affordability, sustainability and economic development. They signed a Confirmation note To consolidate commitments.
Wednesday was about strengthening the transportation connectivity that can help drive all of this, and the work that lies ahead in building a coalition of public and political support across the region, securing funding, beginning planning, and more. Even producing videos like the new one below is part of the massive awareness campaign underway.
A decade ago, high-speed rail was just an idea, said former Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire, president of Cascadia Innovation Corridor. The next decade could be a crucial one.
“You would think we would have thought of doing something in outer space by reacting,” she said. “Today, it is more than just an idea, and we are already moving forward. While we still have a long way to go, as you well know, we are funding the first phase of planning built on one of the most unique alliances in North America.”
By envisioning a huge Silicon Valley-like region, with Vancouver, Seattle and Portland all just an hour apart, Gregoire highlighted the possibilities that could come with high-speed mobility.
“A UW student can intern in Vancouver, a family in Puget Sound can explore a job in Portland, and a cancer researcher in Vancouver can come home to dinner after a shift in Seattle,” she said. “It is a new way to live, work and communicate, one that expands what is possible for everyone who calls Cascadia home.”
Former Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire, president of the Cascadia Innovation Corridor, speaks at the group’s annual conference in Seattle on Wednesday. (GeekWire photo/Kurt Schlosser)
The pace of turning the dream into reality has not been very fast.
In 2017, Microsoft – which has office In downtown Vancouver – donate $50,000 to a $300,000 effort led by Washington state to study a high-speed rail proposal. In 2021, officials from Washington, Oregon and British Columbia signed a memorandum of understanding to form a committee to coordinate the plan.
Last year, the Federal Railroad Administration awarded the Washington State Department of Transportation $49.7 million to develop a service improvement plan for Cascadia high speed train. The timeline on WSDOT’s website indicates 2028 for estimated completion of this plan, and for 2029 and beyond it simply says: “Future phases to be determined.”
Cascadia is not alone in its quest to build high-speed rail.
LaHood, a Republican Cabinet member in the Obama administration, pointed to the former president’s commitment to rail transportation. He said the Trump administration “Recovery” of $4 billion Funding for California’s high-speed rail project between San Francisco and Los Angeles should not be viewed as a “death knell,” though Challenges In that case.
Lahoud referred to the Bright Line train projects In Floridaconnecting Orlando and Miami, and Las Vegaswith a plan to provide high-speed connectivity to Southern California. There is another plan in Texas linking Houston and Dallas. He said all this evidence indicates that this means of transportation is what Americans want to avoid clogged highways and airports.
“Once politicians realize what people want, you get the kind of rail transit that people demand,” LaHood said.
Here are highlights from other speakers at the conference on Wednesday:
Chelsea Levy, Cascadia High-Speed Rail Project Manager for the Washington State Department of Transportation, during the Cascadia Innovation Corridor Conference. (GeekWire photo/Kurt Schlosser)
WSDOT Secretary Julie Meredith He pointed to Seattle’s large transportation infrastructure projects that have transformed the city, including the removal of the Alaska Highway Bridge and the construction of the Waterfront Tunnel at a cost of SR99, as well as the new floating bridge at a cost of SR520. Even as work continues for years to connect communities via the Link light rail line, “I often describe this program as what I’m most excited about, because it represents an opportunity for us to fundamentally transform our region up and down the I-5 corridor,” Meredith said.
Chelsea LevyCascadia, the high-speed rail project manager, said the region can expect a 25% increase in population, or about 3.4 million additional people, by 2050. “The pace and scale of growth really requires us to act,” Levy said. Among other things, WSDOT will need to integrate with transportation networks in British Columbia and Oregon, and Levy stressed that the size and complexity of the project will require streamlining permitting processes across the massive 345-mile region.
Hana Dubravaa Vancouver-based director of corporate affairs at Microsoft, is leading the tech giant’s Cascadia initiative. She said that the company’s support is not just symbolic, and that Microsoft believes that modern and efficient transport and transport options are essential to improving the quality of life. “Cascadia is about partnerships and relationships — despite current geopolitics or baseball results,” she said, referring to Canada’s Toronto Blue Jays, who denied the Seattle Mariners a trip to the World Series.
Related to:
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Long-term vision for Seattle-Portland-Vancouver mega-region will require ‘consensus on growth’
Study: High-speed rail linking Seattle to Vancouver, British Columbia, would stimulate $355 billion in economic growth.
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