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The history of the five-mile-long Interstate Bridge Replacement (IBR) Program area is incredibly rich, diverse, and varied.

When the northbound span of the Interstate Bridge opened in 1917, it was important to the region’s vibrancy as the first automobile bridge across the Columbia River between Oregon and Washington. There was a 5-cent toll, per vehicle or horse, to cross the 38-foot-wide roadway. Electric streetcars operated across the bridge until 1940, and the bridge became part of Interstate 5 in 1957.

Along with the new interstate system came a second parallel bridge, which opened to southbound traffic in 1958 and required a toll for vehicles crossing the river. Today, the Interstate Bridge remains a critical connection linking both states as part of a vital trade route regionally, nationally, and internationally.

The historical and cultural legacy of both the Interstate Bridge and the surrounding program area on both sides of the river is at the heart of the work being done by the IBR cultural resources team comprised of archaeologists, architectural historians, planners, and other specialists. I am privileged to lead this team as we guide the program through a detailed consultation process required by the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA). Section 106 of the NHPA requires projects involving federal funds or permits to consider the effects of their actions on historic and cultural resources. IBR is one of the largest infrastructure-related Section 106 efforts under way in the United States.

Right now, we are in the middle of the process, which picked up speed early in 2022 when I joined the program as cultural resources program manager. We began by designing an approach for our overall process, analyzing historical records to generate a robust historic contextual understanding, and then identifying historic resources in what federal regulations call the Area of Potential Effect, or APE, using field survey and background research.

This work involves consulting with the Oregon State Historic Preservation Office, the Washington State Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation, federal agencies, federally recognized Native American tribes, project consulting parties, and the public. Targeted through this effort are any precontact (before contact of an Indigenous people with an outside culture) sites or historic districts, buildings, structures, or objects that are included – or are eligible for inclusion – in the National Register of Historic Places.

As you can imagine, this is a broad set of criteria that covers a lot of ground. To date, a baseline survey helped us identify 206 historic resources in Vancouver and 46 more in Portland. We are now embarking on a public comment period during which we are asking the community to share with us as much information as possible about any historic and cultural resources we may have missed. The ultimate aim is to determine if there will be any adverse effects to those resources caused by construction of a new bridge and other IBR program elements. The comment period runs through May 18.

We want to ensure that we understand everything we can about this area to inform our work. And, ultimately, if this project is shown to potentially impact cultural resources, we’ll have a broad mitigation process in place that I believe will be very rewarding. A programmatic agreement, expected to be completed in late 2024, will cover any mitigation efforts agreed upon by responsible parties.

Interpretation of history and culture through the lens of the Section 106 process is a delicate balance. We never want to present ourselves as an authority on historical knowledge. Instead, we’re asking the community and our partners for their help as we strive to create a picture as complete as possible. We want to make sure we learn about everyone else’s personal stories, especially if they’ve never been told before.

We know that past infrastructure projects throughout the country have had disproportionate impacts on people of color and their communities. But we’ve come a long way in recognizing the importance of preserving the stories of those communities – it’s how we ensure that future transportation megaprojects like the IBR program lead the way by learning from the past.

To participate in the IBR program’s cultural resources online open house, visit .

Hayli Reff is the cultural resources program manager for the Interstate Bridge Replacement Program. Contact her via email at [email protected].

The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed in the preceding commentary are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of the Daily Journal of Commerce or its editors. Neither the author nor the 91ÊÓƵ guarantees the accuracy or completeness of any information published herein.