Public involvement
Your thoughts and opinions are important to us. The major improvements that comprise the Salmon Creek Interchange Project, the new freeway access and the NE 139th Street connection, have been considered in other planning processes such as the Salmon Creek/Fairgrounds Regional Road System Plan and WSDOT's I-5/I-205 North Corridor Strategy Report (pdf 5.0 mb).
The proposed improvements were shared with community members during those processes as well as the during the Access Point Decision Report process in 2002 that considered changes to freeway access. Since 2002, WSDOT and Clark County have held two additional community open houses to share progress and gather feedback as the designs evolved. Additional public involvement opportunities will occur throughout the environmental assessment process, project design and construction.
The project team hosted a public open house about the Salmon Creek Interchange project on June 22, 2005 at WSU Vancouver. A project newsletter (pdf 312 kb) detailing information about the project and the June 22 open house was mailed out to local residents, businesses and property owners during the week of June 6, 2005. A second newsletter (pdf 297 kb) was mailed out during the week of June 25, 2006, which reflected the updated design.
On July 26, 2009 WSDOT presented project information to the Hispanic community at an open house held in Vancouver. Click here to view the project flyer, also available Spanish.
For more public involvement information in WSDOT's Southwest Region, visit the Southwest Region's Public Involvement page.
Increasing safety is our priority
This project will help keep traffic moving on I-5 and I-205 and freeway off ramps and surface streets in the NE 134th Street vicinity. Improved mobility and decreased congestion contributes to safer roads and appropriate travel speeds and reduced accident rates.
Environmental protection
WSDOT makes every effort to assess and minimize negative impacts from highway improvement projects. An environmental assessment for the project is currently underway, which will look at how construction of this project might affect the natural and built environment. The environmental assessment will also determine how best to minimize these potential impacts. The public is encouraged to participate in the creation and review of the environmental assessment by attending public open houses or contacting the project team. Please see the "Public Involvement" and "How can I get more information?" sections of this Web page for more information.
For environmental information specific to this project, please contact Barb Aberle at (360) 905-2186, or e-mail AberleB@wsdot.wa.gov.
Will this project impact tribal resources?
At WSDOT we seek to address the concerns of the tribal nations using the process outlined in Section 106 of The National Historic Preservation Act and the WSDOT Tribal Consultation Policy adopted in 2003 by the Transportation Commission as part of the WSDOT Centennial Accord Plan.
This project lies within the usual and accustomed areas of the Cowlitz Tribe. WSDOT has initiated the consultation and is working through the process with the Tribe.
For more information visit our WSDOT Tribal Liaison website.