Forum to address Black community concerns
The twin I-5 bridges over the Columbia River between Portland and Vancouver are aging and are need of replacement, according to transportation officials
Transportation leaders and are reaching out to the Black community as plans to replace the twin I-5 bridges over the Columbia River between north Portland and Vancouver move forward.
The Interstate Bridge Replacement program will host “Black Communities and their Relationships with Infrastructure,” highlighting the importance of learning from the history of transportation infrastructure and the resulting displacement of Black communities, on Friday, Feb. 25 from 5 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
The virtual roundtable discussion will feature prominent local Black leaders discussing how lessons learned from past harms are elevating equity-focused practices into current-day infrastructure projects.
Greg Johnson, IBR program administrator, will be joined by Portland City Commissioner and IBR Executive Steering Group member Jo Ann Hardesty, Vancouver NAACP President and IBR Community Advisory Group member Jasmine Tolbert, Director of Outreach & Community Engagement in Global Diversity & Inclusion for Portland State University and IBR program Community Advisory Group Co-Chair Ed Washington, IBR program Principal Equity Officer Johnell Bell, and Assistant Professor at Portland State University and IBR program Equity Advisory Group Facilitator Dr. Roberta Hunte.
The session will be live-streamed on the Internet, available for playback on YouTube, and the IBR program Facebook page. To learn more, visit interstatebridge.org.