Collaborative resolution of CRC issues

Local partners work together on project recommendations

Project Sponsors Council (PSC) members at their August 2010 meeting unanimously agreed on a set of recommendations to the governors of Washington and Oregon for moving ahead with development and construction of the I-5 bridge project.

The PSC recommendations are based on work completed by the Integrated Project Sponsors Council Staff (IPS), a group of staff members from all the agencies represented on the council, as well as the ports of Portland and Vancouver. IPS was convened in April 2010 by PSC co-chair Henry Hewitt to collaboratively address several questions posed by PSC members. The IPS followed a work plan focused on some of the project plans to-date as well as several additional concepts:

Hayden Island Access
Remove City Center Access
Alternative 10 Lane Bridge
Post-Completion Transportation Demand Management/Managed Lanes
Performance Measures
Metroscope Modeling

Work groups were formed to research each topic. The IPS reported its findings to PSC members at workshop sessions held on April 23, May 14, June 11, and June 25. A set of draft IPS recommendations were presented to PSC at a workshop on July 16. Public input on the findings and draft recommendations was received at a public meeting on Aug. 5. The IPS concluded its work with a report to PSC.

Hayden Island Access

As part of their work plan, the IPS members developed concepts for a refined “on-island” Hayden Island interchange and for an “off-island” interchange with alternative access that would reduce impacts on Hayden Island. New concepts were expected to accommodate all traffic movements in the Locally Preferred Alternative (LPA).

Feedback from a Hayden Island Design Group and public meetings was used to develop and inform possible interchange concepts. The Hayden Island Design Group (HIDG) was convened to incorporate perspectives of island residents and business owners. HIDG met up to twice weekly to discuss evolving design concepts. Public meetings were held on Hayden Island on June 14, June 29 and August 5 to listen to community perspectives on design concepts.

An evaluation comparing interchange concepts found that Concept D provides the best balance of access to Hayden Island, freight mobility, environmental and community benefits, and project costs. Concept D carries a consensus recommendation from project partners, Hayden Island residents, and other stakeholders involved throughout the process. Further technical analysis on design, environmental, and cost issues related to Concept D will be needed.

Remove Vancouver City Center Access

The IPS explored the potential to remove access in downtown Vancouver to/from I-5 from C Street and to/from SR 14 at Columbia Street to reduce the size of the I-5 bridge. A work group concluded that a closure of City Center access would have no effect on the proposed I-5 bridge size because access ramps at C St. and SR 14 merge with other auxiliary lanes and are not carried across the bridge. The work group also reported that closure of access points in the city center would have a negative effect on traffic patterns in downtown Vancouver. PSC members agreed no further discussion of the concept was needed.

Alternative Lane Configurations on the Bridge

A work group evaluated the potential to reduce the number of lanes on the I-5 bridge. The City of Portland retained URS Corporation to evaluate several scenarios and findings were documented in a report to the City of Portland.

PSC agreed with the IPS recommendation to design a replacement bridge with three through lanes, two add/drop lanes and full safety shoulders in each direction, making a 10-lane facility. Analysis found a 10-lane bridge performs similarly to a 12-lane crossing.

Post-Completion Transportation Demand Management

The CRC project will provide alternatives to driving for commuters on I-5. Strategies will also be used to relieve congestion during the construction of the CRC project through programs that help shift drivers from single-occupancy vehicles onto busses, carpools/vanpools, and other alternatives. PSC adopted IPS recommendations to expand and increase strategies to shift traffic into alternative modes of travel, collectively known as travel demand management (TDM), in the years after the project is completed.

Performance Measures

An IPS work group was formed to suggest a set of performance measures that could be used to inform the overall set of IPS and PSC recommendations. The group is focused on a range of topics that demonstrated the relative performance of different project scenarios. These measures include travel times for commuter, freight, and transit mobility; safety (number of projected collisions in the project area); greenhouse gas emissions; and an overall benefit/cost ratio. PSC recommended this package of indicators be refined and used to inform future recommendations made by a mobility council.

Metroscope Modeling

Metroscope is a regional model maintained by the Metro Regional Government that forecasts where households and employment will locate in the future based on travel time. The purpose of using the Metroscope model was to expand on analysis completed by the CRC project to look at the potential of the project to induce growth and affect the ability of the region to meet land use goals. PSC members agreed on a set of Metroscope scenarios for analysis that is now complete.

Metro found that the project would have negligible impact on population and employment growth in Clark County. This finding is based on comparing the projected growth that would occur with the CRC project to projected growth that would occur without implementing any CRC project improvements to the existing bridge, highway and transit system. The project’s most significant land use effect would be to boost North Portland employment by about 1.5 percent. This analysis takes into account the effect of tolls and light rail in reducing vehicle trips across the bridge compared with the no-build scenario.

The results of the Metroscope model support other recommendations of the IPS and will also help inform conversations between local decision makers about issues of a bi-state nature that are outside of the scope of this project.