Final Environmental Impact Statement and Record of Decision for the Earthquake Ready Burnside Bridge Project Publication: Federal Register Agency: Federal Highway Administration Byline: Keith Lynch Date: 31 January 2024 Subjects: American Government , The Environment, Roads & Highways

[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 21 (Wednesday, January 31, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 6163-6164]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-01830]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Highway Administration

[4910-RY]


Final Environmental Impact Statement and Record of Decision for 
the Earthquake Ready Burnside Bridge Project

AGENCY: Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The FHWA is issuing this notice to advise other Federal, 
State, and local agencies, Tribes, and the public that a combined Final 
Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) and Record of Decision (ROD) have 
been prepared in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act 
for the Earthquake Ready Burnside Bridge (EQRBB) Project to create a 
seismically resilient Burnside Street lifeline route crossing of the 
Willamette River in Portland, Oregon.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Keith Lynch, Division Administrator, 
Federal Highway Administration, 530 Center Street NE, Suite 420, Salem, 
OR 97301; Telephone: (503) 316-2540. Thomas Parker, Environmental 
Program Manager, Federal Highway Administration, 530 Center Street NE, 
Suite 420, Salem, OR 97301; Telephone: (503) 316-2549.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The FHWA, the Oregon Department of 
Transportation (ODOT), and Multnomah County (County) propose to 
undertake the seismic improvement of the Burnside Bridge over the 
Willamette River in Portland, Oregon. Federal cooperating agencies in 
the preparation of the FEIS and ROD include the National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration National Marine Fisheries Service, U.S. Army 
Corps of Engineers, and the U.S. Coast Guard.
    The EQRB Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) included a No-
Build Alternative and four build alternatives. It identified one build 
alternative (the Long-span Alternative) as the Preferred Alternative. 
Following the issuance of the Draft EIS, additional cost and funding 
analysis identified a substantial risk that the construction costs of 
any of the build alternatives would exceed $1 billion. The Selected 
Alternative is anticipated to cost between $830 to $915 million. This 
risk led the County to direct the project team to identify and evaluate 
ways to reduce the Project's construction costs while still meeting the 
Project's purpose and need and striving to achieve the other

[[Page 6164]]

advantages of the Draft EIS Preferred Alternative. The Refined Long-
span Alternative, which addressed that directive and was evaluated in 
the SDEIS, was identified as the Preferred Alternative in the SDEIS 
that was made available for public review and comment. The public was 
able to view and comment on the SDEIS for a period of 45 days from 
April 29 to June 13, 2022. The SDEIS NOA was published in the Federal 
Register on April 29, 2022. Multnomah County held live SDEIS Public 
Hearing testimony on June 8, 2022.

(Authority: 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.; 23 U.S.C. 139)

    Issued on: January 25, 2024.
Keith Lynch,
FHWA Division Administrator, Salem, OR.
[FR Doc. 2024-01830 Filed 1-30-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-RY-P