Program Updates

Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement

Thank you for your feedback!

The 60-day public comment period for the Draft SEIS closed on Nov. 18 . Thank you to everyone who took the time to review the document and submit comments through one of our official channels (online, in-person, email, postal mail and voice message). Responses to the public comments received on the Draft SEIS and refinements to design and technical analysis will be documented in the Final SEIS, currently expected to be published in late 2025. Stay tuned for more updates.

  Review the SEIS   

 

Group of open house attendees submitting comments

What is the Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement?

What is the SEIS?

This comprehensive document is a federal requirement under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The SEIS analyzes the potential impacts and benefits of the Modified Locally Preferred Alternative (LPA) in comparison to a No-Build Alternative. The SEIS supplements the Columbia River Crossing (CRC) Final Environmental Impact Statement. Publishing the Draft SEIS kicked off a 60-day public comment period. The input received from the community during public comment will help shape the solution that advances to the Final SEIS as the program works to replace the aging Interstate Bridge with a safer, more resilient multimodal corridor that is responsive to the needs of travelers and communities within our region for decades to come.  

What should you expect to see in the Draft SEIS? 

The Draft SEIS identifies the Modified LPA's major design elements and the potential associated benefits, impacts, and proposed mitigation measures. The Draft SEIS also evaluates a No-Build Alternative in order to understand what would happen in the future if the proposed improvements are not constructed. The Modified LPA is not the program's final design, but identifies key foundational program components. Additional refinements and adjustments will be made to the Modified LPA in response to public comments and design considerations.   

What does the Modified LPA include?

  • A new pair of Columbia River bridges built west of the existing bridge. Three bridge configuration options are under consideration: single-level fixed-span, double-deck fixed-span, and single-level movable-span.
  • Improvements to the I-5 mainline and seven interchanges, north and south of the Columbia River, including options with or without C Street ramps and I-5 alignment options in downtown Vancouver, as well as related enhancements to the local street network.
  • Extension of light rail from the Expo Center in Portland to Evergreen Boulevard in Vancouver, along with associated transit improvements, including transit stations at Hayden Island, Vancouver Waterfront, and near Evergreen Boulevard and options for park and ride locations in Vancouver.
  • One or two auxiliary lane(s) in each direction and safety shoulders on the bridge.
  • A variety of improvements for people who walk, bike and roll throughout the Program area.
  • Variable rate tolling for motorists using the river crossing as a demand management and financing tool.
  • For more information, visit our Modified LPA page.

What We Heard: Draft SEIS Public Comments

Over the course of the Draft SEIS public comment period, thousands of community members shared their thoughts on the impacts and benefits of the Modified LPA. The Program received more than 3,600 public comment submissions that included over 9,000 individual comments. While feedback covered a range of topics, the top four topic areas included transportation, design, tolling, and alternatives and bridge components.  See below for more information. 


What is the difference between a submission and a comment?

A submission refers to the entire document submitted, such as an email, letter, or comment form. Each submission is reviewed and separated into comments based on topic. A single submission can contain multiple comments.

Transportation Comment Themes

Received approximately 2,700 comments related to how the Modified LPA would affect travel patterns and mobility for cars, freight, transit and transit riders, and pedestrians and bicyclists.

Common topics within transportation:

  • Capacity
  • Number of lanes
  • Bottlenecks outside of the Program area
  • Freight
  • Transit
  • Traffic modeling
  • Safety
  • Active transportation

Design Comment Themes

Received approximately 1,300 comments related to the design of the roadway and transit alignment, bridge and interchange design, and seismic resilience.

Common topics within design:

  • Integration of travel modes
  • Seismic resilience
  • Elevation and grade of the shared use path
  • Aesthetics

Tolling Comment Themes

Received approximately 600 comments related to tolling of the Interstate Bridge and other regional tolling efforts.

Common topics within tolling:

  • Opinions on tolls
  • Toll discounts and exemptions
  • Effect of tolls on Hayden Island residents

Alternative and Bridge Component Comment Themes

Received approximately 600 comments related to components of the Modified LPA and previously dismissed alternatives.

Common topics within alternatives:

  • Third bridge
  • Tunnel
  • High-speed rail
  • Retrofitting the existing bridge
  • Bridge configuration

View Public Comment Submissions

To read the public comments submitted during the comment period please use the links below.

  1. Search for your name in the Submissions Record. The submissions are sorted by last name.
  2. Look at the submission number on the left and the the submission file name on the right. 
  3. Open the corresponding file and search for your name or the submission number.

Submissions Record*
Submissions_0000-1000*
Submissions_1001-2000*
Submissions_2001-2800*
Submissions_2801-3000*
Submissions_3001-3955*

*Remediation available upon request.

Notifications and Engagement

Notifications

Informational materials were developed and notifications were distributed during the public comment period. These tools and tactics provided information about the IBR Program, the Draft SEIS, and how to provide comments.

  • Six e-newsletters to 7,100 subscribers
  • Mailings sent to 91,000 addresses
  • Canvassing to households and businesses
  • Ads in 12 print and digital outlets, 8 radio stations, inside C-Tran and TriMet buses, and 1 billboard; altogether reaching over 3.2 million people
  • 155 total organic social media posts with over 4,000 engagements and about 62,000 impressions
  • Paid social media ad campaigns with about 312,000 people reached and close to 500,000 impressions
  • Over 33,000 website visitors

Engagement

The IBR Program team conducted a variety of activities to engage communities. This outreach was designed to be accessible, provide information about the IBR Program and Draft SEIS document, and inform the community on how to submit public comments.

  • Eight Draft SEIS events including hearings, briefings and open houses
  • 61 briefings to jurisdictions, agencies, neighborhood associations and advisory groups
  • Coordinated with Community Engagement Liaisons to connect with community members in-language

View our Summary of Engagement to learn more.

 

Next Steps

The feedback received during the Draft SEIS public comment period will be used to refine the Modified LPA and update the technical analyses as appropriate. All public comments will be responded to and published in the Final SEIS, which is anticipated to be completed in late 2025. 

The IBR Program will continue to collaborate closely with federal, state and local partner agencies and consult with tribes as refinements are made to the Modified LPA.  

Read more about the Draft SEIS findings

Below is a high level snapshot of some of the findings in the Draft SEIS. To read more, you can review the executive summary (linked under #3 below) that includes overview of all of the chapters in the document or read each full chapter.

Transportation

Compared to the No-Build Alternative, the Modified LPA is expected to benefit transportation in 2045 by:​

  • Reducing crashes​

  • Increasing people moving through the corridor while reducing the number of vehicles on the road

  • Improving access to public transit

  • Providing safer and more accessible crossings for people who walk, bike and roll.

  • Decreasing travel times and reducing the number of hours of congestion experienced at the bridge

Expected safety outcomes in Program area roadways in 2045​

Demonstrated crash reduction with the Modified LPA

See Chapter 3.1

Expected travel reduction with the Modified LPA in 2045

Average weekday vehicle trips on I-5 Columbia River Bridges

See Chapter 3.1

Expected congestion reduction at the Columbia River Bridges in 2045

Number of hours in a weekday that congestion (speeds under 45 mph) is expected to occur northbound (NB) and southbound (SB) at the new Columbia River bridges in the year 2045. Southbound and northbound hours of daily congestion decrease under both Modified LPA options as compared to the No-Build. ​

Hours of daily congestion at the I-5 Columbia River Bridges

See Chapter 3.1

Vehicle travel times 

Travel times are calculated as trips between the I-5/I-205 interchange near Salmon Creek and the I-5/I-405 interchange in North Portland during weekday two-hour peak in the year 2045. Southbound (AM) and northbound (PM) travel times decrease under both Modified LPA options as compared to the No-Build. ​

Southbound 6 am - 10 am

See Chapter 3.1

Northbound 3 pm - 7 pm

See Chapter 3.1

Transit travel times

Average travel times (including 10-minute walk access on either end of trip) by transit between downtown Vancouver and Pioneer Courthouse Square in downtown Portland in the year 2045 on weekdays. ​

Southbound AM Express Bus

See Chapter 3.1

Northbound PM Express Bus

See Chapter 3.1

Light Rail both directions

See Chapter 3.1

Cross-river transit ridership

See Chapter 3.1

Intersection Operations

The Program studied 80 intersections as part of the No-Build Alternative and 86 as part of the Modified LPA and design options due to interchange and access changes under the Modified LPA which would remove some intersections, add others, and modify some as well.

See Chapter 3.1 

Navigation

The Modified LPA is expected to have the following benefits and impacts to marine navigation on the Columbia River:​

Benefits:

  • Reduces the number of in-water piers.​
  • Increases horizontal navigation clearance to 400 feet. ​
  • Switches the locations of the primary navigation channel and the barge channel.​
  • Reduces the number of directional changes vessels need to make when transiting both the new Columbia River bridges and the BNSF Railway Bridge.​
  • Increases seismic resiliency by reducing the risk of bridge failure or collapse.

Impacts to marine navigation:

  • Reduces the available distance to align with the openings of the Columbia River bridges and the BNSF Railway Bridge.​
  • Fixed-span bridge reduces the vertical navigation clearance to 116 feet. ​

Neutral changes to marine navigation:​

  • Shifts the Upper Vancouver Turning Basin to the west by approximately 350 feet. ​
  • Movable-span bridge maintains the vertical navigation clearance at 178 feet.​​

See Chapter 3.2, Page 3.2-14, Table 3.2-6

Aviation

The Modified LPA is expected to have less intrusion into Pearson Field protected airspace than what exists today.

See Chapter 3.22 ​

Community and Environment

Acquisitions and Displacements

The document identifies properties which may be impacted by construction and require a full, partial, or temporary acquisition. Below is a summary with more information provided in Chapter 3.3.​

Acquisitions: 47.0 acres ​

  • Two auxiliary lanes: additional 0.1 acre​
  • I-5 westward shift: additional 0.9 acre​
  • Single-level fixed-span/movable-span: additional 0.2 acre​
  • Waterfront Park & Rides​
    • Site 2: Columbia Street/SR14: additional 0.1 acre​
    • Site 3: Columbia Street/Phil Arnold Way (Waterfront Gateway Site): additional 1.5 acres​
  • Evergreen Park & Ride​
    • Site 1: Library Square: additional 3.16 acres​

Displacements: 43 residential units, 36 businesses, 1 public use site ​

  • I-5 westward shift​
    • 3 additional businesses
    • 33 additional residential units
  • Waterfront Park & Rides​
    • Site 3: 1 additional business​

See Chapter 3.3, Page 3.3-8, Tables 3.3-2 & Table 3.3-3 

Economics

The Modified LPA is expected to benefit and impact economics in the following ways:

​Benefits to economic activity:​

  • Improved freight mobility​

  • Improved access to economic opportunities for all demographics due to faster travel times

Impacts to economic activity:​

  • Reduced property tax revenue compared to No-Build due to displacement of residential units and businesses​

  • 616 jobs impacted due to 36 businesses displaced

    • I-5 westward shift: Three additional businesses displaced with 142 additional employees impacted​

    • Waterfront Station Park & Ride Site 3: One additional business displacement; 53 additional employees impacted​

  • Option to remove C Street Ramps would impact local businesses near Mill Plain Boulevard and downtown Vancouver due to traffic delay and increased travel time

See Chapter 3.4, Page 3.4-17, Table 3.4-6​

​Environmental Justice

Executive Order 12898, Federal Actions to Address Environmental Justice in Minority Populations and Low-Income Populations (February 11, 1994) requires federal agencies to analyze the “disproportionately high and adverse” environmental effects resulting from federal actions on minority and low-income populations.

Impacts and benefits to EJ populations similar to those for the general population:​

  • Increased access to high-capacity transit and active transportation, and reductions in vehicle travel time​
    • Single-level fixed-span bridge: Active transportation users would have more exposure to noise but would experience a shorter distance to walk/bike/roll across the bridge and may feel safer due to the extra security provided by visibility from passing vehicles.​
    • Single-level movable-span: There may be travel delays for transit and active transportation users due to bridge openings.​
  • Increased job access to due to faster travel times​
  • Improved air quality​
  • Increased traffic and noise impacts from construction​

Impacts that would be disproportionately high and adverse:​

  • Costs associated with tolling​
  • Residential and business displacements in high-priority and meaningfully greater EJ areas​
    • I-5 Westward Shift: Additional residential and business displacements in EJ areas​
  • Potential impacts to cultural resources​

See Chapter 3.20, Page 3.20-21, Table 3.20-11​

Climate Change​

The Modified LPA would have the following benefits and impacts to climate change compared to the No-Build:​

  • Increased mode share of low- and zero-emission modes (transit, active transportation).​
  • Lower energy consumption and GHG emissions in 2045 due in part to mode shift promoted by expansion of transit services and improvement of active transportation facilities, but also consistent with national trends and regulations.​
  • Improvements in climate resilience with materials and design.

See Chapter 3.19, Page 3.19-14, Table 3.19-4 ​

Water Quality and Ecosystems

Water Quality

  • The Modified LPA would have a substantial beneficial effect on water quality because it would include stormwater treatment facilities to remove pollutants in runoff from all roadway surfaces within the Program footprint. ​
    • Includes inlets, catch basins and gravity pipe drainage systems that would collect and convey runoff from the new bridges, transit guideway, and road improvements to stormwater treatment facilities. ​
  • The Modified LPA would treat 190 acres of stormwater which currently is untreated.

Habitat​

  • Under the Modified LPA, bridge removal and replacement would result in direct permanent impacts to sensitive aquatic habitats in the Columbia River and North Portland Harbor. ​
  • While a specific restoration plan has not yet been developed, these areas would be restored consistent with federal, state, and local regulatory requirements, providing new habitat function.​

See Chapter 3.14 and Chapter 3.16 

Review the Draft SEIS and technical reports

Executive Summary - Available in 10 Languages

Executive Summary (ADA complaint and can be used with braille reader)

Front Matter, Table of Contents, List of Acronyms & Abbreviations

Front and Back Cover
Front Matter
Table of Contents, List of Acronyms and Abbreviations

Chapter 1. Purpose and Need

Chapter 1. Purpose and Need

Chapter 2. Description of Alternatives

Chapter 2 Description Of Alternatives

Chapter 3. Existing Conditions and Environmental Consequences

3.0 Introduction
3.1 Transportation
3.2 Navigation
3.3 Property Acquisitions and Displacements
3.4 Land Use and Economic Activity
3.5 Neighborhoods and Equity
3.6 Public Services and Utilities
3.7 Parks and Recreation
3.8 Cultural Resources
3.9 Visual Quality
3.10 Air Quality
3.11 Noise and Vibration
3.12 Energy
3.13 Electric and Magnetic Fields
3.14 Water Quality and Hydrology
3.15 Wetlands
3.16 Ecosystems
3.17 Geology and Groundwater
3.18 Hazardous Materials
3.19 Climate Change
3.20 Environmental Justice
3.21 Section 6(f) and Federal Lands to Parks
3.22 Aviation
3.23 Cumulative Effects

Chapter 4. Draft 4(f) Evaluation

Chapter 4. Draft 4(f) Evaluation

Appendices

Appendix A. Agency and Tribal Coordination
Appendix B. Public Involvement
Appendix C. Conceptual Design Drawing
Appendix D. Design Option Development and Screening Report
Appendix E. References
Appendix F. List of Preparers
Appendix G. List of Recipients
Appendix H. List of Technical Reports and Memoranda
Appendix I. Glossary
Appendix J. Index

Download all SEIS files (254 MB)

Technical Reports

Download all Documents & View a Program Map

Download all documents:

View a program corridor map:

View the Program area roll map* that shows the Program's proposed preliminary conceptual design which is subject to change and is currently under analysis. The components shown on this map represent the areas being studied for potential impacts and benefits in the Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement and other environmental documents and do not reflect a final decision about what will be built. Specific property impacts will be determined during final design.

*Remediation available upon request.

How to Search in the Documents

To search for particular keywords in the Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement, follow these steps: 

  1. Open the document you want to search in. 
  2. Use the "Find" function to search in the document:
    • On Windows: Press the "CTRL" key and the "F" key at the same time (CTRL + F).
    • On Macs (Apple computers): Press the "Command" key and the "F" key at the same time (Command + F).
  3. Type the keyword in the pop-up box at the top of the page. 
  4. Click "Next" or the downward arrow to see the next instance of the keyword in the document.

View a previously hosted meeting online or presentation boards to learn more!

From September 20 through November 18, there was a 60-day public comment period. There were several opportunities to provide a public comment, including an online comment form, dedicated email and hotline, and online and in-person events. 

Virtual Community Briefings to learn more about the findings of the Draft SEIS 
Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024 | View the meeting online
Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024 |  View the meeting online

In-Person Public Hearing and Open Houses to learn more about the findings or provide your comment
Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2024 | 5:30 PM - 8:30 PM : Clark College, Gaiser Hall 150, 1933 Fort Vancouver Way, Vancouver, WA 98663 | View the presentation boards
Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024 | 5:30 PM - 8:30 PM : Portland Expo Center, Exhibit Hall E2, 2060 N. Marine Drive, Portland, OR 97217 | View the presentation boards

Draft SEIS Virtual Public Hearing to provide your comment 
Saturday , Oct. 26, 2024 | View the meeting online
Wednesday , Oct. 30, 2024 | View the meeting online

For current events, visit the calendar and events page. 

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Information

WSDOT Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Information
Accommodation requests for people with disabilities can be made by contacting the WSDOT Diversity/ADA Affairs team at wsdotada@wsdot.wa.gov or by calling toll-free, 855-362-4ADA (4232). Persons who are deaf or hard of hearing may make a request by calling the Washington State Relay at 711. 
Title VI Statement to Public: It is WSDOT’s policy to assure that no person shall, on the grounds of race, color, or national origin, as provided by Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be otherwise discriminated against under any of its federally funded programs and activities. Any person who believes his or her Title VI protection has been violated may file a complaint with WSDOT’s Office of Equity and Civil Rights (OECR). For additional information regarding Title VI complaint procedures and/or information regarding our non-discrimination obligations, please contact OECR’s Title VI Coordinator at 360-705-7090.

ODOT Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Information
For ADA Title II or Civil Rights Title VI accommodations, translation/interpretation services or for additional information call 503-731-4128, TTY (800) 735-2900 or use the statewide Oregon Relay Service: 7-1-1.
Title VI Statement to Public: It is the Oregon Department of Transportation’s policy to assure that no person shall, on the grounds of race, color, national origin, age, sex, disability, income level or Limited English Proficiency as provided by Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and related authorities, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefit of, or be otherwise discriminated against under any of the programs or activities it administers.

Further reading on the federal environmental review process

What is the Draft SEIS? Program fact sheet
Council on Environmental Quality’s NEPA webpage
FHWA’s Environmental Review Toolkit
FTA’s Environmental Review Process

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