Officials present I-5 bridge replacement environmental impact findings, ask for public input

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — A massive multi-billion dollar project to rebuild the Oregon-Washington Interstate bridge wants to hear from you.

On Friday, the Interstate Bridge Replacement Program unveiled new findings on how the project might affect transportation, the environment and the community.

In short, the program looked at the potential benefits and impacts of moving ahead with the project and compared that to the outcome if they did nothing.

The bridge replacement project is estimated to cost at least $6 billion and would include seismic upgrades since experts say the current bridge would not be able to withstand an earthquake.

"Whether you love the idea of the bridge or you hate it, we want to hear from you,” said IBR Program Administrator Greg Johnson.

The Interstate Bridge Replacement Program just released its Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement. They're now seeking the public’s input on it.

The statement finds that when looking ahead to 2045, replacing the 100-year-old bridge could reduce crashes in the area by 13%-17%, increase transit ridership and reduce carbon emissions. It would also create more than 43,000 construction jobs.

But it comes at a cost: Program leadership said they are looking to raise between $1.1-$1.6 billion through tolling to help fund the rest of the project.

And they said it would cause roughly 47 acres of displacement, including losses of 616 jobs and 43 homes.

"The impacts to businesses and people is real to us, and so we are taking every step to avoid and minimize those,” said IBR Assistant Program Administrator Ray Mabey "We know that eminent domain, like you mentioned, is one of the last resort things that's on the table for us, and it's not a tool that we use lightly or willingly.”

According to the draft statement, a replacement bridge could also reduce morning southbound car travel by 4-8 minutes when compared to not building anything. It would also cut the afternoon northbound rush from an estimated 42 minutes to as low as 14 minutes, depending on the model. Total congestion is also estimated to drop by several hours, for both north and southbound.

KOIN 6 News asked Johnson what's different about the project this time around, given the first iteration of the project began ten years ago with nothing built in all that time.

"We have commitments of $5.7 billion from our federal partners or state partners, and including the potential of tolling," Johnson said. "So that tells us we're going to get something built this go round."

The new findings are now available to the public.

And program leaders said they want to hear from you, with a 60-day public comment period opening on Friday.

Click here on the Interstate Bridge Replacement Program's website to review the entire Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement and submit public comments.