[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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