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Community Impact Mitigation Plan for the Inner Harbor Navigational Canal (IHNC) Lock Replacement Project
In September 1991, GCR & Associates, Inc. (GCR) completed a study for the Corps entitled Socio-Economic Impact Analysis and Mitigation Plan, INHC Lock Project. This study examined the impacts of new lock construction upon the four neighborhoods in the area of the Inner Harbor Navigation Canal (IHNC).
In October 1999, as construction began on the lock project, the New Orleans District commissioned GCR to assist in the development and implementation of the Community Impact Mitigation Plan for the Inner Harbor Navigational Canal (IHNC) Lock Replacement Project. The IHNC is a vital link in the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, serving the Gulf Coast from Florida to Mexico and the Mississippi River system of inland waterways. According to the Corps, there exists a need for a new larger, more efficient and safer lock to accommodate increased barge traffic.
GCR led the establishment of a Community-Based Mitigation Committee (CBMC), which is comprised of representatives from the four diverse neighborhoods. The CBMC has conducted a needs assessment of the communities adjacent to the Canal and continues to make recommendations to the Corps for a long range, annually updated mitigation program to lessen the direct and indirect impacts of the ten to twelve year project. The plan, along with other relevant project information, is accessible at the CBMC's website: http://www.communitymitigation.org/
GCR and the Corps have been nationally acknowledged for their ground breaking planning relating to this broad-based community participation and partnership program. The American Planning Association recognized the firm and the Corps with its Outstanding Non-Military Planning Project Award in January 2001 for the Community Impact Mitigation Plan concept and implementation.
The IHNC Lock Replacement Project's Congressional legislative requirement, as provided in Section 326 of the Water Resources Development Act of 1996, provides a unique opportunity to build a broad-based community participation process to work in tandem with a public agency such as the Corps. The focus of GCR is for this initiative to serve as a national benchmark for citizen's participation in a public project. The active solicitation of and constructive feedback and input from impacted communities can serve as an opportunity not only for minimization of project impacts, but also for possible revitalization of this urban community adjacent to the IHNC.
GCR is confident that, through partnership efforts between public agencies tackling neighborhood-disruptive construction projects and affected communities, the enhanced trust and confidence can and will lead to productive and meaningful resolutions, if not long term benefits.
