Its release will mark the beginning of the official 60-day public comment period, which will run through Nov. 18, 2024
The Interstate Bridge Replacement program will publish its Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) on Fri., Sept. 20. Its release will mark the beginning of the official 60-day public comment period, which will run through Nov. 18, 2024. For more information, visit IBR Draft SEIS.
For more background and context, view this previous Clark County Today report.
The IBR program will conduct extensive notification and outreach to get the word out to the community when the document is available, and public comment officially opens on Sept. 20. During the public comment period, the public is encouraged to review the document and provide feedback on the benefits and impacts of program investments, including the proposed design options and technical analysis.
The comment period will include a variety of in-person and virtual opportunities for the public to receive information on the Draft SEIS document and how to provide public comment. These events include open houses currently planned in Vancouver (Oct. 15 at Clark College) and Portland (Oct. 17 at Portland Expo Center), as well as virtual public hearings to provide official comment and virtual briefings to learn more about the findings of the document. The IBR website Meetings & Events page will continue to be updated with engagement opportunities as the release date approaches.
The Draft SEIS studies the program’s potential benefits and impacts on transportation, the environment and the local community. The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requires the program to complete this process to evaluate how proposed transportation infrastructure investments might impact areas like air and water quality, parks, historic sites, ecosystems, greenhouse gas emissions, noise, travel times, congestion, economics, land use, property acquisitions, and neighborhoods within the study area. It also analyzes the program’s impact on social issues, such as environmental justice, equity and climate change.
All comments during the 60-day period will be recorded and responded to in the Final SEIS in late 2025. Public input will help inform technical analysis, design options and refine the preferred alternative that will move into the Final SEIS, including the program footprint and mitigations. Following publication of the Final SEIS, an Amended Record of Decision will provide federal authorization for the IBR program to begin construction, anticipated as early as late 2025.
Additional program updates are available in our September newsletter.
Also read:
- Letter: British Columbia’s new immersed tunnel can solve Interstate Bridge Replacement Program’s $17.7 billion problem
Bob Ortblad argues that an immersed tunnel similar to a project underway in British Columbia could significantly reduce costs and impacts associated with the Interstate Bridge Replacement Program. - C-TRAN offering free service on Transit Equity Day, Feb. 4
C-TRAN will offer free service across its entire system on February 4 in observance of Transit Equity Day, honoring the legacy of Rosa Parks. - Opinion: The many reminders not to speed
Doug Dahl examines the many technological and policy-based reminders aimed at reducing speeding and explains why most drivers still choose not to use them voluntarily. - Rep. John Ley’s new bill calls for an independent audit of Interstate 5 Bridge Replacement Project
Rep. John Ley introduced legislation requiring an independent audit of the Interstate 5 Bridge Replacement Project to review costs, management, and oversight. - Opinion: IBR’s evasive, misleading and dishonest excuses for higher cost
Joe Cortright argues the Interstate Bridge Replacement Program has withheld detailed cost estimates while offering contradictory explanations for rising costs tied to the I-5 Bridge project.
For starters, nobody in the Public or Private sectors can possibly read and assimilate a 10,000 page document within a 60 day period. That’s the only comment that deserves to be made.
However, there still is no real plan, and certainly no indication that the Coast Guard is going to allow the Columbia River to be closed for navigation at Vancouver, simply to extend Portland’s Loot Rail across the river. That makes this farce of a document all the more of a waste of time and lots of money.