[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 115 (Wednesday, June 16, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 32300-32303]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-15321]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Transit Administration


Environmental Impact Statement for the Proposed Wilmington 
Transit Connector, Wilmington, DE

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), as Federal lead 
agency, and the Delaware Transit Corporation (DTC), a division of the 
Delaware Department of Transportation (DelDOT), as local lead agency, 
in cooperation with the City of Wilmington (City) and the Wilmington 
Area Planning Council (WILMAPCO), intend to prepare an Environmental 
Impact Statement (EIS) on a proposed investment strategy to improve 
mobility among major destinations within the City. The EIS will be 
prepared in conformance with the National Environmental Policy Act 
(NEPA). The corridor under study is approximately

[[Page 32301]]

1.8 miles in length and 0.5 miles in width, and encompasses the major 
activity centers making up Wilmington's downtown. The planning horizon 
for the work will be 20 years with the year 2020 to be employed as the 
`design year.'
    1. The alternatives include: (1) A No Build Alternative: this 
alternative involves no change to transportation services or facilities 
in the Corridor beyond already committed projects; (2) Transportation 
Systems Management (TSM) Alternatives: these alternatives would 
optimize existing transportation facilities and operations with low-
cost investments to meet the travel demand. Components of this 
alternative include selected pedestrian, roadway and bus service 
enhancements; (3) two types of build alternatives--dedicated bus or 
busway and fixed rail. Each build alternative will consider a range of 
technologies, routes/alignments, and service levels. Preliminary 
routes/alignments have been identified for consideration in each of 
four areas of the corridor beginning at the north end of the corridor, 
as follows:

Segment 1--4 alignments serving Rodney Square Transit hub in the north 
section;
Segment 2--2 north-south alignments in the central section of the 
corridor;
Segment 3--3 alignments serving the Amtrak station transit hub; and
Segment 4--3 alignments serving the cultural/entertainment district in 
the south Riverfront area.

    Other alternatives or revisions to the above alternatives that 
arise through the scoping process will also be considered.
    Scoping will be accomplished through correspondence and meetings 
with interested persons, organizations, and Federal, State, and local 
agencies. A public meeting will be held regarding this project on 
Tuesday, June 29, 1999 from 4 to 7 p.m. in Wilmington, Delaware. See 
ADDRESSES below. The project also will be included in the future 
meetings, workshops, and focus groups of the `Wilmington Initiatives,' 
an element of the Metropolitan Transportation Plan (MTP) for the 
region, through which the public will have full and regular access to 
project information and opportunity to comment on the findings as they 
emerge. As part of the systems planning of the Wilmington Initiatives, 
two public meetings have been held on April 14 and May 19 to discuss a 
transit connector concept.

DATES:
    Comment Due Date: Written comments on the alternatives to be 
considered and comparative environmental impacts to be evaluated should 
be postmarked by August 2, 1999 and sent to the Delaware Transit 
Corporation or the Delaware Department of Transportation. See ADDRESSES 
below.
    Scoping Meeting: A public scoping meeting will be held on Tuesday, 
June 29, 1999, from 4 to 7 p.m. at the Grand Opera House. See ADDRESSES 
below. The meeting will be held in an ``open-house'' format, and 
representatives of DTC/DelDOT, the City of Wilmington and WILMAPCO will 
be available to discuss the proposed project. Informational displays 
and written material will also be available. Provision to make written 
and verbal comments on the materials will be provided. The building in 
which the scoping meeting will be conducted is accessible to people 
with disabilities, and provisions will be made for the hearing 
impaired.

ADDRESSES: Written comments should be sent to:

Mr. Raymond C. Miller, Director, Delaware Transit Corporation (DTC), 
655 Bay Road, Suite 4G, Dover, DE 19901

or

Terry Fulmer, Manager of Environmental Services, Delaware Department of 
Transportation (DelDOT), P.O. Box 778, Dover, DE 19903

    The scoping meeting will be held as follows: Tuesday, June 29, 
1999, From 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., Grand Opera House, Lower Level 
Function Room, 818 Market Street, Wilmington, Delaware 19801.
    As mentioned above, there will also be provisions for written and 
verbal comments at the public meeting. People with special needs should 
contact: Doug Andrews, Delaware Transit Corporation (DTC), 400 S. 
Madison Street, Wilmington, DE 19801, (302) 577-3278 x3451.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John T. Garrity, Federal Transit 
Administration (FTA), Region III, 1760 Market Street, Suite 500, 
Philadelphia, PA 19103-4124, (215) 656-7100.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Scoping

    FTA and the DTC/DelDOT, along with the City and WILMAPCO, invite 
interested individuals, organizations, and Federal, State, and local 
agencies to participate in defining transportation alternatives to be 
evaluated in the EIS and in identifying social, economic, or 
environmental issues related to the alternatives. An information packet 
describing the Wilmington Transit Connector, the study area, the 
proposed alternatives, and the impact areas to be evaluated are being 
mailed to affected Federal, State, and local agencies. Other interested 
parties may request the scoping materials by contacting Mr. Raymond C. 
Miller, Director of the Delaware Transit Corporation. See ADDRESSES 
above.
    During scoping, comments should focus on identifying social, 
economic, or environmental impacts to be evaluated and suggesting 
alternatives that meet identified mobility needs in a cost-effective 
manner. However, scoping is not the appropriate time to indicate a 
preference for a particular alternative. Comments on preferences should 
be communicated after the scoping, during and immediately after the 
development of Alternatives Analysis Draft EIS. If you wish to be 
placed on the mailing list to receive further information as the 
project develops, contact Mr. Raymond C. Miller, Director of the 
Delaware Transit Corporation. See ADDRESSES above.

II. Description of Study Area and Project Need

    The study area extends from 14th Street in the north to Walnut 
Street on the east, along the Christina River in the southwest, to the 
Conrail rail tracks to the south, I-95 on the west, to 2nd Street east 
to Washington Street, joining 14th Street. The corridor is 
approximately 1.8 miles long and 0.5 miles wide. The corridor 
encompasses the major activity centers making up Wilmington's downtown 
and the developing riverfront entertainment district:
    1. Substantial Office Core: Currently there are 8 million square 
feet of single-tenant and 4.2 million of square feet of multi-unit 
tenant office space in downtown Wilmington.
    2. Downtown Retail Areas: Downtown Wilmington contains 
approximately 200,000 square feet of retail space.
    3. Cultural Facilities: Cultural facilities include the Grand Opera 
House, the Dupont Playhouse, the Delaware Theatre Company, the Delaware 
Historical Society, Opera Delaware, the Christina Cultural Arts Center 
and the First USA Riverfront Arts Center. Wilmington's cultural 
attractions generate at least half a million visitors per year today.
    4. Higher Education Facilities: Seven educational institutions with 
a current enrollment of 4,000 students are located in the corridor.
    5. Hotels: Five hotels, with close to 850 rooms, generate 
approximately 230,000 guests per year today.

[[Page 32302]]

    This area is the transportation hub of the region and is traversed 
by intercity rail, bus and highway networks extending up and down the 
northeast corridor of the United States. The corridor accounts for 
approximately 20% of the State of Delaware employment and 64% of the 
City's workforce.
    The need for the project arises from three considerations: 
distances between major activity centers, constrained access to several 
of these activity centers, and planned economic development that is 
constrained by transportation access. First, Wilmington's corporate 
offices, retail, educational, cultural and entertainment centers are 
dispersed along most of the corridor. A major travel market for a 
transit service is the office employment in this corridor. However, 
employment sites are spread out over a length of about one mile 
(Christina Gateway Complex between 2nd and 4th Streets at Walnut and 
the Rodney Square/Delaware Avenue area (north of 9th Street). 
Supportive land uses of retail and entertainment are generally 
separated from these concentrations by more than the typical one to 
three block distance that workers will walk at lunch time or after 
work. Considering current and projected (year 2006) employment 
approximately 1,700 trips per day would be generated for reliable 
transit service in this corridor. Other identified markets for transit 
in this corridor include: riverfront attractions and jobs (1,850 
potential trips), commuting to and from train station (300 trips) and 
trips to and from educational facilities (100 trips).
    Second, access to the rapidly developing entertainment, cultural, 
and retail centers on the riverfront is constrained by the northeast 
corridor viaduct, I-95, and the river. Patrons arriving at the train 
station in the middle of the corridor have limited options for getting 
to the new Exhibition center or retail due to these barriers and their 
effect on street configuration and connection. While the Downtown 
Circuit bus connects these two locations, the route is circuitous and 
subject to traffic delays. Use of an abandoned rail corridor, now owned 
by the state presents one of the few options for increased capacity and 
reliability of transit service.
    Finally, the study corridor contains the City's major office, 
retail, hotel, transportation, cultural and educational facilities, and 
more is coming. Office facilities include several corporate 
headquarters and Federal and State office complexes. Entertainment/
retail facilities have expanded along the riverfront and more is on the 
drawing boards. Hotels include the Hotel DuPont, a national historic 
landmark and national chains such as Wyndham, Marriott and Sheraton. A 
new hotel and residential apartments were announced in early 1999. A 
``Shipyard Shops'' retail complex opened on the riverfront in May 1999. 
A rejuvenated retail area on southern Market Street called ``Ship's 
Tavern District'' breaks ground in May 1999. The study corridor also 
includes a judicial complex currently under construction at Fourth and 
King Streets. The Wilmington train station, with AMTRAK and regional 
rail facilities, serves as a major transit hub in the middle of the 
corridor; with Rodney Square, the transit hub in the northern segment. 
A major challenge of this study is how to efficiently serve these 
facilities and limit traffic and parking impacts. A high quality 
transit service in this corridor would allow implementation of a park-
once policy, so that internally generated traffic and land devoted to 
parking would be minimized.
    Also at issue is the need to link workers to the new jobs. To 
accomplish this will require better transit service between the train 
station and riverfront developments and between in-town neighborhoods 
and the new employment centers in the corridor.

III. Alternatives

    Among the alternatives that the Alternatives Analysis and DEIS will 
evaluate are:
    1. No Build Alternative: this alternative involves no change to 
transportation services or facilities in the Corridor beyond projects 
already committed for construction in the regional transportation 
improvement program and state capital improvement program.
    2. Transportation Systems Management (TSM) Alternatives: these 
alternatives would optimize existing transportation facilities and 
operations with low-cost investments to meet the travel demand and 
improve safety. Components of this alternative will include selected 
pedestrian, roadway and bus service enhancements.
    3. Fixed Guideway Alternatives: fixed guideway alternatives will 
include dedicated busway and rail alternatives, employing a combination 
of existing streets and former rail right-of-way. A range of specific 
alignments will be considered.
    It is expected that the public scoping process and written comments 
will be a major source of additional candidate alternatives for 
consideration in the study. The types of transportation alternatives 
suggested in prior studies for consideration in this corridor includes 
Transportation Systems Management (TSM) options such as changes in 
transit routes, fares, and equipment, parking enforcement, and traffic 
operational changes. Major capital improvements considered have 
included both rubber-tire trolley and rail transit alternatives.
    The alternatives to be evaluated in the EIS will be based on an 
element of the Metropolitan Transportation Plan (MTP) for the region, 
known as the Wilmington Initiatives. The transit element of the 
Initiatives is defined by six analyses:
     Rummel, Klepper & Kahl Consulting Engineers, Parsons 
Brinkerhoff, and Richard H. Pratt, Consultant, Inc. Regional Rail Study 
Phase III: Transit Opportunities Along Rail Corridors Within Northern 
New Castle County ``Initial Feasibility Assessment: 6 Corridors''. 
Delaware Department of Transportation, 1996.
     Johnson, Mirmiran & Thompson. Downtown Wilmington 
Transportation Study: Draft Technical Report, Downtown Circulation 
Study. 1997.
     TransManagement, Inc. Downtown Wilmington Land Use and 
Development Capacity Assessment. 1997.
     SG Associates, Inc. Wilmington Transportation Studies 
Transit Shuttle Feasibility Analysis. 1998.
     SG Associates, Inc. Wilmington Transportation Studies 
Transit Downtown Free Fare Zone Feasibility Analysis. 1998
     Kimley-Horne and Associates, Inc. Wilmington 2000 
Streetcar Conceptual Study. 1998.
    These analyzes may be reviewed at the Delaware Transit Corporation, 
400 Madison Street, Wilmington; WILMAPCO, 850 Library Avenue, Suite 
100, Newark, the Wilmington Institute Public Library at 10th & Market 
Streets, Wilmington [or obtained from Doug Andrews, Delaware Transit 
Corporation]. See ADDRESSES above.

IV. Factors To Be Evaluated

    FTA and the DTC/DelDOT, along with the City and WILMAPCO, will 
evaluate the social, economic, and environmental impacts of the 
alternatives under consideration. Among the primary transportation 
issues to be evaluated are the expected increase in transit ridership, 
including recreational and work trips and the expected increased need 
for mobility for the transit dependent population. The support of the 
region's air quality goals, economic benefits, satisfying overall 
transportation needs of the corridor, capital outlays needed to 
construct the project, cost of operating and

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maintaining the facilities created by the project, and the financial 
impacts on the funding agencies will all be considered. Potentially 
affected environmental and social resources to be evaluated include, 
land use and neighborhood impacts, residential and business 
displacements and relocations, impacts on historic properties and 
districts, traffic and parking impacts near stations and along the 
alignments, economic development potential, visual impacts, impacts on 
cultural resources, and impacts on parklands. Impacts on archaeological 
resources, air quality, water quality, wetlands and noise will also be 
considered. New information will be gathered and detailed studies on 
these subjects will be conducted as necessary. Existing findings about 
the presence of sites containing hazardous materials will be summarized 
and utilized; additional studies will be done as necessary. The 
environmental impacts will be evaluated both for the construction 
period and for the long-term period of operation. Measures to mitigate 
adverse impacts will be considered.

V. FTA Procedures

    In accordance with the regulations and guidance established by the 
Council on Environmental Quality, as well as with 23 CFR 450 and 23 CFR 
771 of the FTA/Federal Highway Administration planning and 
environmental regulations and policies, an Alternatives Analysis/Draft 
EIS (DEIS) will include an evaluation of the social, economic, and 
environmental impacts of the alternatives and will review alternatives 
on the basis of conceptual design. The EIS 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 
preparation, the Alternatives Analysis/DEIS will be available for 
public and agency review and comment and a public hearing will be held. 
On the basis of the Alternatives Analysis/DEIS, and the comments 
received, the City 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 Metropolitan Transportation Plan and the 
Transportation Improvement Program (TIP). Following this action, the 
DTC / DelDOT will request FTA authorization to initiate preliminary 
engineering and to proceed with needed additional environmental studies 
prior to issuance of a Final EIS.

    Issued on: June 11, 1999.
Sheldon A. Kinbar,
Regional Administrator, Federal Transit Administration, Region III.
[FR Doc. 99-15321 Filed 6-15-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-57-U