98-34224. Notice of Availability of the Record of Decision for the Final Environmental Impact Statement, Southern Terminus of the Natchez Trace Parkway

[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 248 (Monday, December 28, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 71503-71504]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-34224]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Availability of the Record of Decision for the Final 
Environmental Impact Statement, Southern Terminus of the Natchez Trace 
Parkway

SUMMARY: The Department of the Interior, National Park Service has 
prepared a Record of Decision for the Final Environmental Impact 
Statement for the Natchez Trace Parkway, Section 3X, Southern Terminus 
in Adams County, Mississippi. This Record of Decision is a statement of 
the decision made, the background of the project, other alternatives 
considered, the basis for the decision, the environmentally

[[Page 71504]]

preferable alternative, measures to minimize environmental harm, and 
public involvement in the decision making process.

DATES: This Record of Decision (ROD) will become effective upon 
signature by the Regional Director of the Southeast Region of the 
National Park Service.

ADDRESSES: Public reading copies of the Record of Decision for the 
Natchez Trace Parkway's Southern Terminus (Section 3X) final 
environmental impact statement will be available for public review at 
the following locations:

1. Natchez Trace Parkway Headquarters, 2680 Natchez Trace Parkway, 
Tupelo, Mississippi 38801, [phone]
2. Natchez National Historical Park, Post Office Box 1208, Natchez, 
Mississippi 39121, [phone]
3. Judge George W. Armstrong Library, 220 South Commerce Street, 
Natchez, Mississippi 39120, [phone]
4. Jackson/Hinds Library System, Eudora Welty Library, 300 North State 
Street, Jackson, Mississippi 39201, [phone] (This is the 
Headquarters or main library in Jackson)

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
For copies of the ROD or additional information, please contact: 
Wendell A. Simpson, Superintendent, Natchez Trace Parkway, 2680 Natchez 
Trace Parkway, Tupelo, Mississippi 38801. Telephone: [phone].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Final Environmental Impact Statement 
(FEIS) for the Southern Terminus (Section 3X) of the Natchez Trace 
Parkway is presented in abbreviated form. The abbreviated FEIS includes 
responses to public comments, errata, and a Statement of Findings for 
Wetlands. The abbreviated FEIS, when combined with the Draft 
Environmental Impact Statement, Natchez Trace Parkway, Section 3X, 
Southern Terminus (May 8, 1998), comprises the complete Final 
Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS). Only minor revisions to the DEIS 
were necessary.
    The National Park Service will implement the preferred alternative, 
alternative 2--Liberty Road, as described in the Final Environmental 
Impact Statement, Natchez Trace Parkway, Section 3X, Southern Terminus 
issued on October 2, 1998.
    The intent of the preferred alternative (hereafter referred to as 
the selected alternative) is to complete the southern end of the 
Natchez Trace Parkway by extending the existing motor road to the city 
of Natchez, Mississippi, thereby completing the parkway, which was 
begun in 1938 and fulfilling a major goal of the Natchez Trace Parkway 
General Management Plan adopted in 1987. The Natchez Trace Parkway 
currently ends eight miles outside of Natchez at U.S. Highway 61. The 
parkway has been partially constructed from U.S. 61 to U.S. Highway 84/
98, but this four-mile segment will not open until a terminus 
alternative is fully constructed. Under the selected alternative, the 
parkway will extend four miles past U.S. Highway 84/98 and terminate 
with an interchange at Liberty Road.
    The selected alternative includes the construction of 4.2 miles of 
roadway; interchange bridge, access ramps, and retaining wall 
construction at Liberty Road; bridge construction at St. Catherine 
Creek, Melvin Bayou, County Road A, Palestine Road, Perkins Creek, and 
County Road B; and earth embankments and excavations and related 
drainage systems and structures. In addition, road crossings will 
require the relocation of approximately 2,030 feet of County Road A, 
760 feet of County Road B, 6,200 feet of County Road P, and 5,410 feet 
of Palestine Road.
    The selected alternative alignment will stay within existing NPS 
owned lands for all but the final 0.5 mile of its total length. This 
alternative requires the acquisition of 76.8 acres of additional land 
between St. Catherine Creek and Liberty Road. The enabling legislation 
for the Natchez Trace Parkway (16 U.S.C., Section 460) prohibits the 
National Park Service from purchasing land for parkway construction, 
therefore, the additional land acquisition must be accomplished by 
other entities, such as the city, county, or state, and donated to the 
National Park Service. The required land acquisition will include a 
portion of the southeast edge of the fairgrounds (including portions of 
a baseball diamond and a horse exercise area) and will displace or 
relocate 17 residential properties, five commercial properties, and 
four industrial properties. Of the 76.8 acres to be acquired, 13.5 
acres is state land and 63.4 acres is privately owned land.

    Dated: December 11, 1998.
Daniel W. Brown,
Regional Director, Southeast Region.
[FR Doc. 98-34224 Filed 12-24-98; 8:45 am]
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