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As the leader of the Sellwood Bridge planning project, Multnomah County organized a decision-making process that considered the views of all parties in order to lead to a sustainable decision based on regional consensus. From the start, it was believed that only a solution derived from broad community input would have the regional support needed for an implement-able, fund-able solution. The County has been and remains committed to engaging all parties in a transparent decision-making process.

Public input has greatly influenced project decision making and the selection of the preferred alternative. However, other important decisions remain. Public input will be sought on the bridge type, design and aesthetic treatments.

Your continued involvement is welcome. If you are not already on the project mailing list, add your contact information to be noticed of future public involvement opportunities. July 21, 2010 Open House A public open house and online survey will be held this summer to obtain your input to the type of new replacement bridge to be built. The open house was held at the Oaks Park Dance Pavilion on July 21, 2010 from 5:00 – 7:30 p.m. Over 100 people attended the meeting to tell the project about their preference on the bridge type. A summary of the open house will be posted here, when it is completed. The display boards that were shown at the open house are available. September 30, 2009 Open House The sixth public event for the Sellwood Bridge project was held on Wednesday, September 30, 2009 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. in the Oaks Park Dance Pavilion. Around 130 people attended the two hour event. The goal for this meeting was to share revisions made to the preferred alternative that have been made since the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (Draft EIS) was published. These revisions were made to comply with various agency policies and regulations. They include:
  • Refining access to properties with driveways on SW Macadam Avenue
  • Mitigating historic and natural resource impacts
  • Improving bicycle and pedestrian facilities on the west side
  • Narrowing the bridge cross section near the west side interchange
  • Planning more detailed connections to transit and trails
The display boards from the open house are available for review, as well as the open house summary.

A postcard announcing the open house was mailed to the mailing list. You can sign up now to join the mailing list for future updates about the project.

back to top Draft EIS Public Information and Comment Collection The Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) was available for public review and comment between November 7 and December 22, 2008. Comments received were considered by the Community Task Force and Policy Advisory Group in the selection of a Preferred Alternative. Comments will be responded to in the Final EIS.

To learn more about the Draft EIS, visit the Draft EIS page.

County Commissioner Ted Wheeler addresses the attendees at the public hearing.

An open house/public hearing was held on December 10, 2008. Over 150 people attended the event. Read the summary for more information or review the display boards that were shown during the night.

Dozens of comments were collected, both in written form and as part of a formal testimony before the Policy Advisory Group. All comments were summarized for the January 2009 CTF meeting.

The open house featured information stations, as well as opportunities for the public to provide comments to a court reporter, the Policy Advisory Group, or through a written comment form.

back to top Fourth Public Event - November 28, 2007 Open HouseThe fourth public event for the Sellwood Bridge project was held on Wednesday, November 28, 2007 from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. in the Oaks Park Dance Pavilion. Presentations (2.23MB) were held every hour, beginning at 6:00 pm, followed by a question and answer session. The goal for this meeting was to share information about the alternatives that have been selected for detailed analysis in the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (Draft EIS), obtain public feedback on preferred bridge types for a replacement structure, and share information about potential funding sources. The display boards (6.36MB) showed this information.

Examining the different bridge types at the open house.

Public comments from this event and the fourth survey will be reviewed by the Community Task Force and the project's technical team in December. A summary of the open house will also be reviewed.

back to top Third Public Event - July 25, 2007 Open HouseThe third public event for the Sellwood Bridge project was held on Wednesday, July 25, 2007 from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. in the Sellwood Middle School gym. Presentations were held every 45 minutes to provide a project update and explain the results of the alternative screening process. The public's input was collected on the alternatives.

July open house colleced input on the alternatives and kicked off the Build-A-Bridge tool.

Public comments from this event and the third survey will be reviewed by the Community Task Force and the project's technical team. The narrowed list of alternatives (as recommended by the Community Task Force and determined Policy Advisory Group) will be evaluated in the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (Draft EIS). The Community Task Force will recommend a preferred alternative after reviewing the Draft EIS.

A summary of the open house summarizes the comments that the project team heard.

back to top Second Public Event - April 4, 2007 WorkshopThe second public event for the Sellwood Bridge project was held on Wednesday, April 4, 2007 from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. in the Sellwood Middle School gym. An estimated 330 people attended the workshop, which was announced in a newsletter and through numerous media outlets.

The banner inviting bridge users to visit the project website.

The goal for the workshop was to get input on the range of alignment, interchange, and cross-section concepts. Public input from the April 4 workshop will help decide the full range of concepts to be considered. The nearly 1,900 surveys that were collected (both online and at the workshop) will also help decide the full range of concepts.

Later steps will use those concepts to create a list of alternatives to be evaluated in the environmental impact statement and to select the preferred alternative.

Discussing concept ideas. Members of the public talking about the yellow alignment.

A summary of the public workshop summarizes the comments that the project team heard. Several new concepts suggested by the public have been developed since the workshop.

back to top First Public Event - October 25, 2006 Open HouseThe first public open house for the Sellwood Bridge project (the Scoping Open House) was held on Wednesday, October 25, 2006 from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. at the Oaks Park Dance Pavilion in the Sellwood neighborhood.

The Sellwood Bridge Sign-in station.

The meeting had a drop-in open house format with an ongoing orientation program. The open house was publicized through a mass mailing to 23,000 households in the project vicinity, as well as through the media.

The goals for this open house were to identify the issues and concerns of the community and to gather background data to inform the alternatives development process for the Sellwood Bridge environmental impact statement (EIS). Project team members also gathered feedback on the project’s draft Purpose and Need Statement. Community input from this meeting will help shape the alternatives that will be evaluated in the EIS.

Visitors to the open house wrote down their issues and concerns on the Issues Wall Visitors could write a comment or issue and also vote on other issues with sticker dots

Issues wall topic areas included:

  • Commuter Access
  • Business/Shopping Access
  • Neighborhood Access
  • Freight/Delivery Access
  • Transit
  • Bike/Pedestrian Access
  • Neighborhood Livability
  • Bridge Design/Aesthetics
  • Visual Resources
  • Funding
  • Private Property Impacts
  • Historic Resources

The floor had taped laid out to illustrate the size of the Sellwood Bridge One of the stations at the open house was to discuss NEPA

All open house materials can be found on the project library page. More public meetings will be held over the next year. back to top
Recreational trails do not connect well.
You can help us better understand the issues and identify alternatives by participating online and in person.
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