[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 3 (Wednesday, January 5, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 551-552]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-201]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Highway Administration
Environmental Impact Statement: Corridor 18 (Proposed Extension
of I-69 From Indianapolis to Evansville, Indiana)
AGENCY: Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), DOT.
ACTION: Notice of intent.
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SUMMARY: The FHWA is issuing this notice to advise the public that an
Environmental Impact Statement will be prepared for the proposed
extension of I-69 from Indianapolis to Evansville in Southwest Indiana
(Corridor 18).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Larry Heil, Planning and Program
Development Manager, Federal Highway Administration, Federal Building,
Room 254, 575 North Pennsylvania Street, Indianapolis, Indiana 46204,
Telephone (317) 226-7491, or Cristine Klika, Commissioner, Indiana
Department of Transportation, 100 N. Senate Avenue, Room N755,
Indianapolis, Indiana 46204-2217, Telephone (317) 232-5526.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The FWHA in cooperation with the Indiana
Department of Transportation (INDOT) will prepare a Tier 1
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on proposed highway corridors to
provide better access to Southwest Indiana and better access between
Indianapolis and Evansville. The southern terminus of the proposed
action will be I-64 just north of Evansville, Indiana and the northern
terminus will be I-465 in Indianapolis, Indiana. The length of the
proposed corridors will vary between 225 and 274 kilometers (140 and
170 miles).
A previous Notice of Intent (NOI) was published on December 5, 1990
to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for a section of highway
between Indianapolis and Evansville titled the Southwest Indiana
Highway. The Southwest Indiana Highway Draft Environmental Impact
Statement (DEIS) was approved for circulation by FHWA on March 27, 1996
and circulated for review and comment. Based upon comments received on
the DEIS, the scope and termini of the proposed action are hereby being
expanded to include the entire corridor between Indianapolis and
Evansville, Indiana. The original December 5, 1999 NOI and March 27,
1996 DEIS for the Southwest Indiana Highway are hereby formally
withdrawn. The proposed extension of I-69 from Indianapolis to
Evansville (Corridor 18) Tier 1 Environmental Impact Statement
described in this NOI will be the decision-making process that serves
to replace the previous Southwest Indiana Highway decision-making
process.
The essence of the Tier 1 Environmental Impact Statement for this
proposed action will be to resolve ``big picture'' planning issues such
as ``build'' vs. ``no-build''; modal preferences; preferred corridor;
and logical termini for ``projects of independent utility'' within the
preferred corridor.
This proposed action is intended to strengthen the highway network
in Southwest Indiana by providing improved linkages among the existing
highway routes in the region and by providing more direct connections
among the region's major population centers. By strengthening the
highway network, this proposed action is intended to stimulate economic
growth in Southwest Indiana by enhancing access to existing centers of
economic activity and creating new opportunities where possible.
This proposed action is intended to complete the Indiana portion of
Corridor 18, a strategic, high priority highway serving east-central
United States. Corridor 18 is planned to be a continuous north-south
corridor linking Canada, the United States, and Mexico. Any alternative
corridors under evaluation in Southwest Indiana must be analyzed with
respect to meeting the objectives of Corridor 18.
The development of the traditional environmental impact study for a
project of this length (225 to 274 kilometers (140 to 170 miles)) and
scale (the entire region of Southwest Indiana) would be a lengthy
process and would result in a voluminous and unwieldy environmental
impact statement. Consequently, the FHWA after consultation with
various resource agencies, is using a tiered EIS concept to focus on
issues in an organized manner as discussed in the Council of
[[Page 552]]
Environmental Quality (CEQ) regulations at 40 CFR 1502.20. The Tier 1
document will be a detailed document with a comprehensive, in-depth
analysis of alternative corridors. The Tier 1 document will involve
extensive environmental studies, as well as transportation studies,
economic impact studies, and cost analysis. This document will provide
the basis for FHWA to grant corridor location approval for a specific
corridor.
The Tier 2 documents will be a series of smaller studies for
individual sections of the corridor. These sections of the corridor
would have independent utility--i.e., each section could serve a useful
transportation purpose by itself. Within each section of the corridor,
specific alignments would be identified and evaluated based upon their
social, economic and environmental impacts. The Tier 2 documents would
be more closely tailored to address the needs of the communities
located within each project section.
A scoping meeting will be held for the regulatory agencies followed
by several public scoping meetings held at various locations in the
project area. Early Coordination letters describing the proposed action
and soliciting comments will be sent to appropriate Federal, State, and
local agencies. As part of the process, public hearings will also be
held. Public notice will be given as to the time and place of the
meetings and hearings. The public hearings will be held after the draft
EIS is available for review.
To ensure that the full range of issues related to this proposed
action is addressed and any significant impacts are identified,
comments and suggestions are invited from all interested parties.
Comments or questions concerning this proposed action and this Tier 1
EIS should be directed to the FHWA or the INDOT at the address provided
above.
(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Program Number 20.205,
Highway Planning and Construction. The regulations implementing
Executive Order 12372 regarding intergovernmental consultation on
Federal programs and activities apply to this program)
Issued on: December 21, 1999.
Lawrence M. Heil,
Planning and Program Development Manager, Indianapolis, IN.
[FR Doc. 00-201 Filed 01-04-00; 8:45 am]
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