Public Involvement (You) Community Advisory Committee (CAC) Public Stakeholder Committee (PSC)

Agency Coordinating Team (ACT) Technical Working Groups Consultant Team

The Public (You)

Public involvement has played an enormous role in this project. The input from you and thousands of other interested and engaged people has directly influenced project outcomes. People have been informed and involved through a variety of means, including newsletters, public open houses and workshops, small group stakeholder meetings, online surveys, a speakers’ bureau, and this Web site.

Your input guided the NEPA decision milestones at each key decision point.

A public open house and online survey will be held in the summer 2010 to obtain your input to the type of new replacement bridge to be built. The open house will be held at the Oaks Park Dance Pavilion (7100 SE Oaks Park Way) on July 21, 2010 from 5:00 – 7:30 p.m.

Community Advisory Committee (CAC)

The Community Advisory Committee (CAC) is meeting this spring and summer to provide a recommendation for the type of new replacement bridge to be built. The CAC provides a balanced representation of stakeholder interests, affected communities, and geographic areas. It also serves as a communications link with those interests and communities. Initial Members include leaders of neighborhoods on both sides of the bridge, as well as representatives of local and regional business groups and advocates for different bridge user groups such as commuters, transit users, pedestrians, and bicyclists. Members were appointed by the Multnomah Board of County Commissioners.

Responsibilities of the CAC members include:

• Represent constituents’ perspectives during group deliberations
• Communicate project progress with constituents
• Work to develop consensus recommendations for the Public Stakeholder Committee (PSC)

A similar group to the CAC – the Community Task Force (CTF) met 23 times throughout the course of the NEPA planning phase to make recommendations to the Policy Advisory Group at key milestones. Meeting materials and summaries of the past CTF meetings can be found on the meeting materials page.

Public Stakeholder Committee (PSC)

The Public Stakeholder Committee (PSC) includes elected and appointed officials of local agencies and jurisdictions with regulatory responsibility for, or who have a strong interest in, the project. The PSC was previously known as the Policy Advisory Group (PAG) during the NEPA phase (first phase of the project). The PSC will meet three times during the current public process to review the work of the CAC, receive their bridge type recommendation, and provide a recommendation to the Multnomah Board of County Commissioners.

The group included:

• Co-Chair, Chair Jeff Cogen/Multnomah County
• Co-Chair, Commissioner Deborah Kafoury/Multnomah County
• Mayor Sam Adams/City of Portland
• Councilor Carlotta Collette/Metro
• Chair Lynn Peterson/Clackamas County
• Mayor Jeremy Ferguson/City of Milwaukie
• Neil McFarlane, General Manager/TriMet
• Representative Carolyn Tomei/Oregon State House
• Senator Diane Rosenbaum/Oregon Senate
• Johnell Bell/Office of U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley
• Jason Tell/Oregon Department of Transportation
• Phillip Ditzler/Federal Highway Administration

Meeting materials and summaries of the PSC meetings are provided on the committee meetings page. PAG meeting materials are also available.

• Agency Coordinating Team (ACT)
  
  

  The Agency Coordinating Team (ACT – previously referred to as the Project Management Team in the NEPA phase) includes Multnomah County and consultant project managers, as well as key staff resources from Metro, City of Portland, Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT), and Federal Highway Administration (FHWA).
  
  The ACT’s responsibilities include:
  • Manage project scope, schedule, and budget
  • Direct, produce, and assure quality of technical and public/agency involvement work
  • Provide staff support to the Public Stakeholder Committee, Senior Agency Staff, and Community Advisory Committee

• Technical Working Groups
  
  Three Technical Working Groups (Bridge Tech Group, Hwy. 43 Tech Group, and Bike-Ped Tech Group), comprised of consultant team members, local and state agencies and key stakeholder groups, are meeting throughout the current phase to advise the Agency Coordinating Team on specific technical issues concerning the new bridge structure, Hwy. 43 interchange, and bicycle/pedestrian access and connectivity.
  
  Bicycle and pedestrian issues have been important to many people following the Sellwood Bridge public process. The Bike-Ped Tech Group is led by Mia Birk of Alta Planning and Design and consists of representatives from ODOT, Metro, PBOT, Multnomah County, the Bicycle Transportation Alliance and the Willamette Pedestrian Coalition. This group is advising the ACT on the alignment for the Willamette Greenway Trail, signal phasing and Hwy. 43 intersection operations, and connections on the east side of the bridge. back to top
  

• Consultant Team
  
  CH2M HILL is the prime contractor for the NEPA process and current alternatives selection phase, which includes project management, engineering, and environmental analysis and documentation. CH2M HILL managed the development and evaluation of project alternatives and prepared the Draft and Final Environmental Impact Statements for the project.
  
  Other firms working with CH2M HILL as part of the project team include:
  
  • Alta Planning and Design (bicycle and pedestrian facilities)
  • ECO Northwest (economic and financial analysis)
  • David Parisi Associates (travel demand modeling and operations analysis for automobiles, freight, and transit)
  • JLA Public Involvement (public involvement and outreach)
  • National Constructors Inc. (cost estimation and construction analysis)
  • PTV America (traffic modeling support)
  • Real Property Consultants (Right of Way impact analysis)
  • Safdie Rabines (bridge architects)
  • T.Y. Lin International (bridge design)