The Portland metro area will have three high-capacity bus routes ferrying passengers around the region in 2023.

Two of those rapid bus lines will be in Vancouver.

C-Tran’s board on Tuesday unanimously approved the transit agency’s preferred route for its second-high-capacity bus line. The first route, the 6-mile-long “Vine” along Fourth Plain Boulevard, opened in 2017 and drew more than 1.3 million riders in its second year, up from 1.1 million in year one.

At 10-miles, the second route is longer, and agency leaders say it fills a need along Mill Plain Boulevard, a vital east-west corridor through Washington’s fourth-largest city.

Shawn Donaghy, C-Tran’s CEO, said the Mill Plain line “will deliver on our mission of connecting people to opportunities, supporting economic vitality and enhancing quality of life in this great community.”

“We’re grateful to the board, the Federal Transit Administration and all of our partners as we advance this project and build on the success of The Vine,” he said in a statement.

The Federal Transit Administration in February blessed C-Tran’s proposal, paving the way for the next phase of planning. Once finished in 2023, the route will shuttle 60-foot-long buses from downtown along Mill Plain, terminating at a new transit center near 192nd Avenue. The bus would then return to downtown Vancouver via Evergreen Boulevard.

Chris Selk, a C-Tran spokeswoman, said it’s unclear if the Mill Plain bus will also be called the Vine.

The board also approved a $4.5 million contract with HDR Engineering to design the route. Construction may start in 2020 or 2021, with buses rolling out by 2023.

The project is expected to cost less than $50 million to complete. The Vine cost $53 million, but that figure included costs of building a new Vancouver Mall Transit Center and expansions at the agency’s maintenance facilities to accommodate the 60-foot buses. Standard buses are roughly 40 feet long.

TriMet plans to open its first high-capacity bus route by 2022, a $177 million project along Division Street and into downtown Portland.

-- Andrew Theen

atheen@oregonian.com

503-294-4026

@andrewtheen

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