the Highway Department—to advertise bids for the southernmost section in February 1975. The Portland City Council called on the state and county to seek a compromise but endorsed the modified design with a busway. ODOT released the second draft EIS in February 1975; it concluded that constructing I-205 as originally designed would reduce congestion on other corridors but would cause increased air and noise pollution along the route, particularly in Lents and Maywood Park. The report also found freeway construction would destroy trees and other vegetation near Rocky Butte and on Government Island. In July 1975, Governor Bob Straub and Multnomah County officials announced a general compromise on a six-lane design for I-205 with seven transit stations connected by a busway, pending federal approval. At hearings, state legislators from eastern Multnomah County and members of the public criticized the design, which also reduced the number of full interchanges, as being inadequate for the area's needs. In January 1976, as part of a pressure campaign to support the eight-lane design with additional interchanges, businessman Fred G. Meyer announced plans to build a Fred Meyer store and motel in the Gateway area. In late 1975, as a compromise between the competing proposals, ODOT engineers conceived a third design incorporating a six-lane freeway with seven interchanges that alternated between partial and full access, a separated busway, and a bicycle trail. The FHWA initially opposed the busway design and were concerned about the safety of partial interchanges, but later withdrew their complaints following further design changes and endorsed the third concept in December. The Multnomah County Board of Commissioners endorsed the third design in February 1976 and Portland City Council followed later in the month, allowing it to be included in the EIS. In June, following a positive reception for the revised design at a public hearing, the Portland City Council and Multnomah County Commissioners approved construction of I-205 by unanimous votes. The final EIS was published in July and submitted to the FHWA, which granted its approval in October 1976. The state government acquired 1,448 properties on the I-205 route, mostly by the end of 1973 and at a cost of $120 million (equivalent to $ in dollars); the properties were cleared while the state government waited for the design changes. Portland and Vancouver construction Construction of the section on the Washington side of the river began in July 1971. Early work on