[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] ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 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. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 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] BILLING CODE 4910-22-M