[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 222 (Friday, November 15, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 58601-58602]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-29319]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Highway Administration


Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement: Lane County, Oregon

AGENCY: Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice of Intent to supplement a final environmental impact 
statement.

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SUMMARY: The FHWA is issuing this notice to advise all concerned that a 
supplement to the final environmental impact statement will be prepared 
for the West 11th Street-Garfield Street, Florence-Eugene Highway 
(known locally as the West Eugene Parkway) in Lane County, Oregon. This 
notice

[[Page 58602]]

supersedes a previous notice published in the May 10, 1996 Federal 
Register. The May 1996 notice announced the preparation of a 
Supplemental EIS for only the proposed changes on the west and east 
segments of the West Eugene Parkway. This revised notice is to announce 
that the Supplemental EIS will now be prepared for the entire project.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Elton Chang, Environmental Engineer, Federal Highway Administration, 
530 Center Street N.E., Room 100, Salem, Oregon, 97301, Telephone: 
(503) 399-5749, Fax (503) 399-5838.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The FHWA, in cooperation with the Oregon 
Department of Transportation and the City of Eugene Public Works 
Department will prepare a supplement to the final environmental impact 
statement (FEIS) on the proposal to construct an approximately 9.3 
kilometers (5.8 miles) east-west thoroughfare as an extension of the 
6th and 7th couplet on a new alignment in the City of Eugene. The 
previous Notice of Intent to supplement the Final Environmental Impact 
Statement was published in the Federal Register on May 10, 1996. At 
that time, the intent was to prepare a supplemental EIS to evaluate the 
impacts caused by changes on the western and eastern ends of the 
project. That notice was based on a Federal Highway Administration 
(FHWA) February 29, 1996 approval of an Environmental Re-evaluation 
submitted by the Oregon Department of Transportation describing 
activities and proposed actions that had occurred since the approval of 
the Final Environmental Impact Statement in October 1989. Since the 
FHWA February 1996 approval, a number of events have occurred which 
have resulted in the decision to now include the entire project in the 
Supplement EIS.
    The original FEIS (FHWA-OR-EIS-85-05-F) for this roadway was 
approved on November 20, 1989 and the Record of Decision (ROD) signed 
on April 4, 1990. The final EIS followed a draft EIS dated October 3, 
1985 and a supplemental draft EIS dated June 5, 1986. All three 
environmental documents were reviewed by the public and interested 
agencies.
    The new proposed roadway would start in the east at Garfield Street 
and the 6th and 7th Streets couplet near Highway 99W and terminate in 
the west with a connection to Route 126 approximately 1.1 kilometers 
(0.7 miles) west of the Oak Hill railroad overpass in Lane County, 
Oregon. In general, the new roadway would have four 3.6-meter (12-foot) 
wide travel lanes and a parkway-type design that would include a 4.3-
meter (14-foot) wide landscaped median with 1.2-meter (4-foot) inside 
shoulders for both roadways, and 2.4-meter (8-foot) wide shoulder/bike 
lanes on the outside of the travel lanes.
    The new proposed roadway would be an important linkage between I-
105/I-5 in east Eugene and Highway 126 in the west. The need for an 
limited access east-west thoroughfare has been documented in land use 
and transportation plans since 1959 to serve the existing and projected 
traffic demand resulting from the growth projected in the industrial 
development of west Eugene. In addition, the parkway would serve the 
growth in residential development in the Bethel-Danebo Neighborhood to 
the north of the proposed roadway.
    Since the approval of the final EIS and the selection of 
Alternative 1 (Modified) and the signing of the ROD in 1990, additional 
coordination and consultation have been done with environmental 
resource agencies to avoid and minimize project impacts to rare, 
threatened and endangered species and their habitats found in the 
project area. As a result of this consultation, a design modification 
has been proposed for the western 5.2 kilometers (3.25 miles) of the 
adopted project (slightly east of Terry Street to Highway 126). The 
FEIS approved design for the western segment of the West Eugene Parkway 
(WEP) had the alignment south of and parallel to the Southern Pacific 
railroad line. The western segment is now being proposed to be shifted 
north of and parallel to the railroad. Initial analysis (October 1994) 
of the northern design option has found that there would be less direct 
impacts on the Willamette Valley wet prairie wetlands, a rare habitat 
type, and the direct impacts to the Western pond turtles, a sensitive 
species, would be eliminated.
    In addition, recent traffic analysis from the City of Eugene has 
shown that projected traffic for local streets and Highway 99W that the 
eastern portion of the WEP can best be served by a minor design 
modification at the intersection with Highway 99W and the approved 
project. The northbound 99W connection to the westbound new WEP is now 
proposed to be made by an elevated structure rather than at grade to 
maintain an acceptable level-of-service.
    These two minor design modifications are being proposed to the 
approved project to further reduce the impacts disclosed in the final 
EIS. The impacts of the modifications will be examined in greater 
detail in the proposed supplemental EIS.
    Newsletters describing the proposed action and soliciting comments 
have been sent to appropriate Federal, State and local agencies, and to 
private organizations and citizens who have previously expressed or are 
known to have an interest in this proposal. Public meetings have been 
held in Eugene to identify issues that should be addressed and to 
report preliminary findings of the technical studies to the public. In 
addition, a public hearing will be held following the distribution of 
the draft supplemental EIS for public and agency review. Public notice 
will be given of the times and places of all meetings and hearings. No 
formal scoping meeting will be held.
    To ensure that the full range of issues related to this proposed 
action are addressed and all significant issues identified, comments 
and suggestions are invited from all interested parties. Comments or 
questions concerning this proposed action and the supplemental EIS 
should be directed to the FHWA at the address provided above.

(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Program Number 20.205, 
Highway Research, Planning and Construction. The regulations 
implementing Executive Order 12372 regarding intergovernmental 
consultation on Federal Programs and activities apply to this 
program)

    Issued on: November 1, 1996.
Elton Chang,
Environmental Engineer.
[FR Doc. 96-29319 Filed 11-14-96; 8:45 am]
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