Date:
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Contact:
Danielle Cogan, 360-816-8857, CRC Communications Manager
Carley Francis, 360-816-8869, CRC Public Information Officer
VANCOUVER - The 39-member panel advising the Columbia River Crossing project will meet for the last time Tuesday, June 24, to recommend which of five alternatives best meets the community's needs and helps address congestion, mobility and safety problems on I-5 between Vancouver and Portland.
The eight project sponsors will consider the recommendation by the CRC Task Force along with the technical findings in the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and hundreds of public comments when they select one alternative as the Locally Preferred Alternative (LPA) later this summer. The Task Force's recommendation and the LPA will focus on three choices: 1) bridge type (replacement or supplemental); 2) high capacity transit mode (bus rapid transit or light rail); and 3) terminus location for high capacity transit.
Once a LPA is selected, the CRC project will continue work with the community to refine the alternative and several unresolved elements, including: financing and tolling plan, number of lanes and design of the I-5 bridge, highway and interchange design, pedestrian and bicycle pathway, high capacity transit alignment on Hayden Island and Vancouver, travel demand management strategies, sustainability plan and mitigation plan. The LPA and other project elements will be included in a Final EIS, expected in late summer or early fall 2009.
Tuesday's meeting will begin at 4 p.m. at the Southwest Region office of the Washington State Department of Transportation, 11018 NE 51st Circle, Vancouver, WA. The agenda includes a short presentation on project and public involvement updates. At 4:45 p.m., the Task Force will hear oral public comment. Discussion and a vote will follow public testimony. The agenda and meeting materials are posted online.
On May 2, the CRC project initiated a 60-day public comment period with the release of a Draft EIS and Draft Section 4(f) Evaluation. The document describes the potential environmental and community effects of the five alternatives in the project area as well as proposed de minimis impacts to four Vancouver parks. Public comment on the project may be submitted at any time. Comments received during the Draft EIS comment period of May 2 to July 1, 2008, will be responded to in the Final EIS. A summary of the comments received during the first half of the public comment period is included in the June 24 Task Force meeting materials.
The Draft EIS can be found on the project's Web site.
CRC is a bi-state project to reduce congestion, enhance mobility and improve safety on I-5 between SR 500 in Vancouver and Victory Boulevard in Portland. To meet its goals, the project seeks to add high capacity transit across the Columbia River, add merging and weaving lanes between interchanges, rebuild seven interchanges, enhance the bicycle and pedestrian path between the two cities and make the I-5 crossing seismically sound. Cost estimates for the project range from $3.1 to $4.2 billion, a portion of which would likely be financed by bridge tolls.
The CRC Task Force includes leaders from Oregon and Washington's, business, civic, neighborhood, freight, commuter and environmental agencies and groups. The Oregon and Washington departments of transportation formed the Task Force in 2005 to obtain input on a variety of issues in the project area, including congestion, freight mobility, high capacity transit, environmental protection and funding.
CRC is sponsored by the Oregon Department of Transportation, Washington State Department of Transportation, Metro Council, Regional Transportation Council, TriMet, C-TRAN, City of Portland and City of Vancouver.
< Back to News Home