Salmon Creek interchange (image courtesy Clark County)

Clark County commissioners and other local leaders will gather Thursday to discuss how the Salmon Creek Interchange Project will create jobs and improve the transportation system in the crowded corridor.

A public event is set for 10 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 2, at the site of the future Salmon Creek Park & Ride, south of Northeast 139th Street and east of 10th Avenue, near the shopping center anchored by Fred Meyer.

In the first phase of a $133 million construction project, a contractor has been working since early August to grade the Park & Ride site and install underground utilities.

Speakers at Thursday’s event will explain the importance of the overall interchange project, as well as the county’s state-leading 13.1 percent unemployment rate.

“We know people are hurting in this economy,” said Steve Stuart, chair of the Board of County Commissioners, in a news release. “This project will help lay the foundation for good-paying jobs, both short-term in construction and long-term in health care and education.”

The Washington State Department of Transportation estimates the project will support about 600 temporary jobs, including direct construction jobs, indirect jobs with suppliers, and additional jobs at stores, restaurants and small businesses. That doesn’t count thousands of permanent jobs that new roads would allow the private sector to create in an area that includes Legacy Salmon Creek Medical Center, Washington State University Vancouver and other regional employers.

In late July, commissioners awarded a $1.2 million contract for the Park & Ride work. In early 2011, the county expects to award a much larger contract, $12 million to $14 million, for local road improvements in the area.