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Voters’ approval soon could be required for high-capacity transit projects through Tigard.

Measure 34-210 calls for setting a basic policy that high-capacity transit projects will be opposed absent a public vote, according to the ballot’s chief sponsor. At 3 p.m. on Wednesday, the margin was 220 votes, with approximately 51 percent supporting the measure and approximately 49 percent opposing it. Turnout was about 36.4 percent, according to the Washington County Elections Division. The final result won’t be announced until Friday.

The measure forces TriMet and Metro to disclose “useful information” to voters, such as how much road capacity would be removed for a light rail project, said Eric Winters, a Wilsonville attorney who co-wrote the ballot measure.

Winters called the likely outcome a “victory for local control.”

“The only way local support can be measured is by going to the voters,” he said. “The ball is in Metro’s court. They have to come up with an option that will appeal to the voters. If they can’t do that they will have to take their ball elsewhere.”

How the measure will affect regional planning efforts is still unclear, said Craig Dirksen, Metro councilor and former Tigard mayor.

“One of my concerns is that the ballot measure has impacts on a greater area than those voting,” he said.

Dirksen is part of a Southwest Corridor planning effort that includes communities stretching from Southwest Portland to Tualatin. That effort had included the possibility of extending high-capacity light rail or bus rapid transit through the corridor.

The planning effort would give residents a voice in how transit decisions are made, Dirksen said. Measure 34-210 could impact the process, he said.

“Either way, the wishes of Tigard residents are going to be respected,” he said. “But no matter how the measure goes, the problem with traffic congestion still exists.”

More information on the election is available at .