PORTLAND, Oregon — The Interstate Bridge Replacement Program continues churning forward.
Announced earlier this week, the deadline for community involvement has been extended to Dec. 27 at 5 p.m. So, far the program has received about 200 applicants to sit on one of two advisory boards. Here is the link to apply to the Equity Advisory Group. Here's a link to apply for the Community Advisory Group.
Greg Johnson, the program administrator, said, "this is a bridge that, once built, will outlive our children. It's important that both communities [Portland & Vancouver] have their say in what this bridge looks like and how it services them going into the future, services their community, services their commute, and services the environment.”
There are several more phases to go through in order to start construction --that's still several years away.
Bridge planners hope to have their environmental impact study wrapped up by late 2023. Funding sources for this mega-project also need to be identified.
The joint ODOT/WSDOT program wants to seat about 60 people on their public advisory boards to help inform the planning moving forward.
If you’d like to take part, they’re taking applications through Dec. 27. See above for links to those applications.