The Interstate Bridge spans Vancouver Washington to Portland Oregon. The new project anticipates spending roughly $6 billion to improve the current bridge which spans the mighty Columbia River. Design options are still under consideration.
The ultimate goal is to speed up commutes, reduce crashes, and offer more transit options and ultimately to reduce air pollution per a new report that was released on Friday.
Of course, there are other things to consider. When construction starts, they will have to buy up as many as 43 homes. That’s 43 families that will be displaced. The new bridge will also affect 36 businesses that will have to be relocated. These homes and businesses are in Washington State and Oregon.
The Supplemental Environment Impact Statement is hundreds of pages long. It examines how the transportation, cumulative effects and acquisitions will all affect the public.
One of the biggest challenges is that one section of the bridge is over a century old, and the other section is at least 65 years old. The biggest concern is that a large earthquake could take it out in a nanosecond.