[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 32 (Thursday, February 18, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Page 8161]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-3938]
[[Page 8161]]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Highway Administration
Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement: Pulaski
County, Arkansas
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 a
Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement (SDEIS) will be
prepared for a proposed highway project in Pulaski County, Arkansas.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Elizabeth A. Romero, Environmental
Specialist, Federal Highway Administration, Arkansas Division, 700 West
Capitol Avenue, Room 3130, Little Rock, Arkansas, 72201-3298,
Telephone: (501) 324-6430.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The FHWA, in cooperation with the Arkansas
Highway and Transportation Department will prepare a Supplemental Draft
Environmental Impact Statement (SDEIS) on a proposal to construct a
four-lane, divided, fully controlled access facility located on new
alignment. In 1994, a Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) and a
Record of Decision (ROD) identified a selected alignment. However, a
portion of this alignment was not compatible with the City of
Sherwood's Master Street Plan and was not included in the
Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) developed by Metroplan, the
responsible Metropolitan Planning organization. Due to the time (3
years +) since the ROD and existence of the local concerns, a
reevaluation was deemed necessary. This preliminary reevaluation
resulted in the identification of a new alternative alignment more
compatible with the City of Sherwood's Master Street Plan, thereby
necessitating the need for the proposed Supplemental Environmental
Impact Statement (SEIS).
The proposed project will primarily serve central Arkansas
including Little Rock, North Little Rock, Sherwood, Jacksonville, and
northern Pulaski County, Arkansas. The Supplemental Draft EIS will
address a new alternative and three previously studied alternatives
located between the Highway 107/Brockington Road interchange and the
eastern boundary of Camp Robinson near Maryland Avenue and Batesville
Pike. These three previously studied alternatives were evaluated in the
project's Draft EIS in 1991 and Final EIS in 1994.
The Supplemental EIS will focus on the study area between
Batesville Pike and Brockington Road in northern Pulaski County, since
this is the portion of the proposed corridor where several alternative
alignments are being considered. The remaining portions of the selected
and approved Northbelt Freeway alignment to the east toward U.S.
Highway 67/167 and to the west through Camp Robinson ending at the I-
430/I-40 interchange will be reviewed only to a level to document if
any substantial changes have taken place since the completion of the
project's Final EIS.
In additional to documenting the engineering and environmental
aspects of a new alignment alternative and updating three previously
studied alignment alternatives, the SDEIS will provide a comparative
analysis of the project's feasible alternatives with the primary goal
of the identification of a preferred alternative for the entire freeway
project from U.S. 67/167 to the I-430/I-40 interchange. This evaluation
will also include a determination of how these project alternatives
relate to Metroplan's and the City of Sherwood's Long-Range Plans and
Master Street Plans.
Letters describing the proposed action and soliciting comments will
be sent to appropriate federal, state, and local agencies and to
private organizations who have expressed interest in the project in the
past. A formal public hearing will be held in the North Little Rock/
Sherwood area during the circulation of the SDEIS. Public notice in
major Arkansas newspapers including news releases and specific
advertisements will be used to inform the public of the time and place
of the public hearing. The SDEIS will be available for public and
agency review and comment prior to the public hearings. The U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency are
cooperating agencies for the EIS. A formal scoping meeting for these
Northbelt freeway alternatives will be held and an opportunity for
public comment will be provided.
To ensure that the full range of issues related to this proposed
action and all significant issues are identified, comments and
suggestions are invited from all interested parties. Comments or
questions concerning this proposed action and the EIS should be
directed to the FHWA Arkansas Division at the address provided above.
(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Program 20.205, Highway
Planning and Construction. The regulations implementing Executive
Order 12372 regarding intergovernmental consultation of Federal
programs and activities apply to this program.)
Issued on: February 11, 1999.
Elizabeth A. Romero,
Environmental Specialist FHWA, Little Rock, Arkansas.
[FR Doc. 99-3938 Filed 2-17-99; 8:45 am]
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