Bridge comment deadline is nigh

SANDPOINT — The deadline to submit public comments on a draft environmental assessment is on Wednesday.

The U.S. Coast Guard announced on March 27 that the public comment period on the draft EA was being extended by 30 days, which set Wednesday’s deadline.

BNSF Railway Co. is proposing a second bridge across Lake Pend Oreille at Sandpoint in addition to ancillary bridges over Sand Creek and Bridge Street in order to eliminate a traffic bottleneck on the existing span.

The draft EA addresses environmental impacts and socioeconomic effects related to the proposed construction of railroad bridges built parallel to existing bridges crossing the same water bodies.

The extended comment period follows a round of public hearings in Ponderay on March 13 which saw people testify in support of or in opposition to another bridge across the lake. The most common refrain during the proceedings was the call for a full-blown environmental impact statement under the National Environmental Policy Act, which is more comprehensive NEPA review than an EA.

Wild Idaho Rising Tide, a North Idaho environmental group, has come out strongly against a second span and views it as a threat to water quality, fish and wildlife habitat and air quality, among other points. Lake Pend Oreille Waterkeeper, meanwhile, is deferring a position on the matter while it gathers more information about the proposal and calls for a more rigorous EIS.

The Sandpoint Junction Connector project, however, has ardent supporters who contend it will facilitate commerce and reduce blockages at at-grade railroad crossings.

Comments on the project can be posted online at regulations.gov/docket?D=USCG-2018-1085 .

Keith Kinnaird can be reached by email at kkinnaird@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow him on Twitter @KeithDailyBee.