The problem is traffic congestion along Northeast 134th Street (the Northeast 134th Street-Salmon Creek Avenue corridor) has slowed traffic to below the county's standard of 22 mph. The situation caused commissioners to adopt an emergency moratorium in December. At a public hearing this week, the Commissioners expanded the moratorium area west across Interstate 5, more than doubling its size, and extended it through December 2002.

The decision affects plans by Legacy Health Systems of Portland for development of a 220-bed hospital on Northeast 139th. Commissioners say they will allow the hospital to continue through the preapplication process, but without special dispensation will not be able to receive a building permit until the traffic problem is solved, according to Clark County Senior Transportation Planner Evan Dust.

By mid-March, Legacy hopes to have a certificate of need from the state that would allow it to petition the county to relieve it from the transportation concurrency requirements. The county, for its part, is in the process of establishing an advisory committee to outline possible solutions, but there are said to be only two possible solutions: lower the county's traffic standards or spend millions on road improvements.