COLUMN | Keep Oregon Moving: Now is the time to weigh in on the Interstate Bridge

Published 2:20 pm Tuesday, October 29, 2024

When the first span of the Interstate Bridge between Oregon and Washington opened for travel in 1917, Woodrow Wilson was president of the United States, and it would be years before sound was added to Hollywood movies.

For all that time, this bridge has remained a vital travel and trade route for regional, national and international economies. Today, however, the bridge no longer meets the needs of modern commerce and travel. Travelers, including freight drivers and transit riders, face hours of congestion daily and sit in back-ups due to bridge lifts contributing to higher-than-average crash rates.

The structures are vulnerable to earthquakes. Options for those choosing not to travel by single-occupancy vehicle are limited, especially for those wanting to use high-capacity transit or walk, bike or roll.

The bi-state Interstate Bridge Replacement Program is working to address these transportation issues by replacing the aging structure with a new seismically resilient bridge as part of a multimodal transportation corridor that improves safety and provides transportation choices to serve the people in our region however they choose to travel.

This program presents the opportunity to make substantial improvements to support travelers’ needs for future generations. As we work toward this goal, we must ensure that this significant public investment is done right — both in terms of what is built and how it is built.

On Sept. 20, we reached a pivotal milestone with the publication of the IBR program’s Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (Draft SEIS). That date also marked the opening of a 60-day public comment period, which runs through Nov. 18.

This is a critical part of the process for major infrastructure projects and is one of the best opportunities for the public to weigh in and help shape program outcomes. During the public comment period, the community is encouraged to review the document and provide feedback on the potential benefits and impacts of program investments on transportation, the environment and the local community.

To help ensure that everyone can participate in this process, the program is steadfastly committed to minimizing barriers to participation and ensuring information is easily accessible to all. The program has a dedicated webpage with the Draft SEIS and other resources (www.interstatebridge.org/DraftSEIS). This includes an executive summary translated into multiple languages, ensuring documents are ADA-compliant, an online document search function, offering ASL interpretation at events, educational videos and more.

The input received during public comment will be used to update the technical analysis, narrow design options and refine the preferred alternative. These outcomes will be documented in the Final SEIS and federal Record of Decision, marking the federal government’s approval for the IBR program to move into construction. These benchmarks are anticipated to occur in mid- to late-2025.

There are numerous ways to participate. For a comment to be included as part of the formal record, it must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. PST on Nov. 18, 2024, in one of these official ways:

Online comment form:

• www.interstatebridge.org/DraftSEIS
• Email: DraftSEIS@interstatebridge.org.
• Include “Draft SEIS public comment” in the subject line.
• Phone: 866-IBR-SEIS (427-7347). Include “Draft SEIS” in your message.
• Mail: Interstate Bridge Replacement Program, Attention: Draft SEIS public comment, 500 Broadway, Suite 200, Vancouver, WA 98660
• We want to hear from you! Community input is needed to help ensure we are building a bridge worthy of this community and make sure the investments made by taxpayers on both sides of the river benefit everyone in our community for the next 100 years.