[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 48 (Friday, March 12, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12400-12402]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-6152]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Transit Administration
Environmental Impact Statement: Transportation Improvements
Within the Riverview Corridor Study Area in the City of Saint Paul,
Minnesota
AGENCY: Federal Transit Administration, DOT.
ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement.
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SUMMARY: The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) is issuing this
notice to advise interested agencies and the public that FTA and Ramsey
County Regional Railroad Authority (RCRRA) intend to study and evaluate
alternative transportation system changes in the Riverview Corridor
study area in the City of Saint Paul, Minnesota, in an Environmental
Impact Statement.
DATES: Public scoping interviews with key community stakeholders were
held in November and December, 1998, and January and February, 1999, to
receive information on the scope, alternatives and transportation
problems in the corridor. Interagency and public scoping and
information meetings will be held on March 25, 1999, from 10 a.m. to
12:00 p.m., and from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., respectively. The
locations of both meetings are wheelchair-accessible. Sign language
interpreters for the hearing impaired can be arranged with advance
notice of seven business days. Please contact the RCRRA office (651-
266-2762) for further information and for directions to the meeting
locations.
Scoping Interviews with 60 stakeholders were held as follows:
November 1998:
November 24-25, 1998
December 1998:
December 7-8, 1998
December 21-22, 1998
January 1999:
January 4-28, 1999
February 1999:
February 8-12, 1999
Interagency Scoping Meeting will be held at the following location:
Thursday, March 25, 1999, from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., West Seventh
Community Center, Gymnasium, 265 Oneida Street, St. Paul, MN 55102.
Public Scoping Meeting will be held at the following location:
Thursday, March 25, 1999, from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., West Seventh
Street Recreation Center, Gymnasium, 265 Oneida Street, St. Paul, MN
55102.
ADDRESSES: Written comments on the scope of analysis and impacts to be
considered should be sent by April 24, 1999 to: Ms. Kathryn
DeSpiegelaere, Director, Ramsey County Regional Railroad Authority,
Suite 665 RCGC West, 50 West Kellogg Boulevard, Saint Paul, MN 55102.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Paul Fish, Director, Planning &
Program Development, FTA Region 5, 200 West Adams Street, Suite 2410,
Chicago, IL 60606, Telephone: (312) 353-2789.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: RCRRA, in consultation with the Metropolitan
Council and the Minnesota Department of Transportation, has decided to
conduct a Major Investment Study (MIS) to assist local decision-making,
even though the separate MIS requirement was eliminated by the
Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21) legislation.
The transportation improvements are being defined in the MIS for the
study area. The MIS includes the NEPA scoping process, the
identification and evaluation of multi-modal transportation facility
and/or service alternatives, and, if appropriate the selection of a
preferred design concept and scope in the study area. Subsequently,
alternative transportation facility alignments and designs that are
consistent with the selected concept and scope may be addressed in an
EIS for the study area. It is important to note that a final decision
to prepare an EIS has not been made at this time. This decision will be
made at the end of the Major Investment Study and will depend upon the
nature of the selected concept and its expected impacts.
I. Scoping
The public scoping process was initiated by the Ramsey County
Regional Railroad Authority on November 24, 1998, based upon
approximately 60 interviews with individuals representing the local
residential communities, businesses and other interests within the
study area. This process was continued through February 1999.
Additional meetings have been scheduled to ensure that all interested
parties in the corridor and the
[[Page 12401]]
adjacent community are provided an opportunity to participate in the
process of determining the scope of the study.
Two scoping meetings will be held at different hours on the same
day to facilitate attendance by interested agencies and the general
public. An interagency scoping meeting will be held on March 25, 1999,
from 10:00 am to 12:00 p.m. at the West Seventh Community Center, and a
general public scoping meeting will be held on March 25 from 5:00 p.m.
to 8:00 p.m. at the same location. FTA and RCRRA invite all interested
individuals, organizations, and federal, state, and local public
agencies to participate in the scoping process defining the
alternatives to be evaluated in the MIS and identifying any significant
social, economic or environmental issues related to the alternatives.
FTA and RCRRA invite interested individuals, organizations, and
public agencies to participate in the scoping process by attending the
scoping meetings and participating in establishing the purpose,
alternatives, time frame, and analysis approach, as well as an active
public involvement program. The public is invited to comment on the
public involvement approach, the alternatives to be addressed, the
modes and technologies to be evaluated, the alignments and termination
points to be considered, the environmental, social, and economic issues
related to the alternatives, and the evaluation approach to be used to
select a locally preferred alternative.
People with special needs should call Kathy DeSpiegelaere at 651-
266-2762. The buildings for the scoping meetings are accessible to
people with disabilities.
To ensure that a full range of issues is addressed and all
significant issues are identified, comments and suggestions are invited
from all interested parties. Comments or questions should be directed
to Ms. Kathryn DeSpiegelaere at the address provided above.
II. Description of Study Areas and Project Need
The study area being analyzed for this MIS is the Riverview
Corridor, which generally follows the Mississippi River between the
eastern edge of the Saint Paul downtown area, the Fort Snelling site,
the Minneapolis Saint Paul International Airport, and the Mall of
America. The corridor includes two major roadways, West 7th Street and
Shepard Road, which traverse the study area running parallel with the
Mississippi River floodplain, and a railroad alignment located between
the roads.
The Riverview Corridor study area can be described as a long,
narrow corridor aligned in a southwesterly to northeasterly direction.
The study area limits are generally the Mississippi River on the south,
West 7th Street on the north, Arcade Street at 7th Street on the
northeast, and the Minneapolis Saint Paul International Airport and
Mall of America on the southwest. The Riverview Corridor study area
covers approximately 20 square miles in the City of Saint Paul, the
City of Minneapolis, and the City of Bloomington. Potential alignments
for crossing the Mississippi River and connecting with the airport and
Mall of America are located in the cities of Minneapolis and
Bloomington and on federal lands where Fort Snelling and the adjacent
Minneapolis Saint Paul International Airport are located.
There are several issues that have been identified in the Riverview
Corridor study area that relate to transportation. These include
mobility limitations, redevelopment activity within the study area,
projected growth of residential population, changing demographics in
the local population that would correlate with an increased proportion
of transit captive residents, projected growth of employment, lack of
east-west connections along the corridor, lack of an efficient
connection from the Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport to the
Saint Paul Central Business District (CBD), congestion (especially
along I-35E and State Highway 5), and pedestrian and vehicular safety.
III. Alternatives
It is expected that the public scoping process and written comments
will be a major source of candidate alternatives for consideration in
the study. The types of transportation alternatives suggested in a
prior study for consideration in the Riverview Major Investment Study
include: No-Build, Transportation Demand Management (TDM),
Transportation Systems Management (TSM), Busway Alternatives, and Light
Rail Transit Alternatives.
1. No-Build Alternative--Existing and planned transit services and
programmed new transportation facilities to the year 2020.
2. Transportation Demand Management (TDM)--Strategies to reduce
automobile usage such as carpooling programs, parking fee increases and
employer-based programs.
3. TSM Alternative--Low cost improvements, such as enhanced bus
service, or signal coordination or ramp metering to enhance the
capacity of the existing roadway system.
4. Busway Alternative--Exclusive lanes for buses to move transit
riders more quickly.
5. Light Rail Transit Alternative--Light rail transit service that
would connect the Saint Paul CBD with the Minneapolis-Saint Paul
International Airport and Mall of America, and eventually link to other
proposed busway and/or light rail lines as part of an integrated
regional transit system.
The previous study of the Riverview Corridor also concluded that
the following alignments should be examined for transportation
improvements in the study area: West Seventh Street Busway; Canadian
Pacific Railroad Corridor Busway; Canadian Pacific Railroad Corridor
Light Rail Transit; and West Seventh Street Light Rail Transit. Based
on public input received during scoping and subsequent technical
analyses, variations of the above alternatives and other
transportation-related improvement options will be considered for the
study area.
IV. Probable Effects/Potential Impacts for Analysis
Issues and impacts to be considered during the study analyses
include potential changes to: the physical environment (air quality,
noise, water quality, aesthetics, etc.); the social and manmade
environment (land use, development, neighborhoods, etc.); vehicular
circulation, parking and in-street operation of buses and rail;
parklands and historic resources; transportation system performance;
capital, operating and maintenance costs; available financial
resources; and positive or negative financial impact on the region.
Evaluation criteria will include consideration of the local goals
and objectives established for the study area, measures of
effectiveness identified during scoping, criteria established by FTA
for ``New Start'' transit projects, consistent with the applicable
Federal, State of Minnesota, and local standards, criteria,
regulations, and policies. Mitigation measures will be explored for any
adverse impacts that are identified as part of the analyses.
V. Procedures
In accordance with the regulations and guidance established by CEQ,
as well as with 23 CFR 450 and 23 CFR 771 of the FHWA/FTA planning and
environmental regulations and policies, the MIS and possible Draft EIS
(DEIS) will include an evaluation of the social, economic, and
environmental impacts
[[Page 12402]]
of the alternatives. The MIS will also comply with the requirements of
the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 (CAAA) and with the Executive
Order 12898 on Environmental Justice. After its publication, the MIS
and DEIS will be available for public and agency review and comment. If
a DEIS is prepared, a public hearing will be held. On the basis of the
MIS and DEIS, and the comments received, RCRRA and the MPO will select
a locally preferred alternative for a major investment strategy. The
locally preferred alternative will then be reaffirmed by the MPO for
inclusion into the Transportation Policy Plan for the Twin Cities
Metropolitan Area (regional transportation plan) and the Transportation
Improvement Program (TIP). The MIS shall lead to specification of the
project's mode, the design concept and scope in sufficient detail to
meet the requirements of the US Environmental Protection Agency's
transportation conformity regulations [40 CFR 93 and 23 CFR
450.322(b)(8)]. RCRRA and the MPO will then seek approval from FTA to
continue with Preliminary Engineering and the preparation of the Final
EIS.
Issued on: March 8, 1999.
Joel P. Ettinger,
Regional Administrator, Federal Transit Administration, Chicago,
Illinois.
[FR Doc. 99-6152 Filed 3-11-99; 8:45 am]
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