[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 123 (Monday, June 26, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 39466-39467]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-16036]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Transit Administration


Environmental Impact Statement on the Dulles Corridor Rapid 
Transit Project in Metropolitan Washington, DC

AGENCY: Federal Transit Administration, DOT.

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement 
(EIS).

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SUMMARY: The Federal Transit Administration (FTA), the Virginia 
Department of Rail and Public Transportation (DRPT), and the Washington 
Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) intend to prepare an 
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) in accordance with the National 
Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), as amended, on the proposed 
Dulles Corridor Rapid Transit Project in Fairfax and Loudoun Counties, 
Virginia, which are within the metropolitan area of Washington, D.C. 
The lead agencies will also seek the cooperation of the Federal 
Aviation Administration (FAA), the Virginia Department of 
Transportation (VDOT), and the Metropolitan Washington Airports 
Authority (MWAA) in conducting this review.
    The EIS will address the need to improve transit access and 
mobility in response to projected growth, traffic congestion, and land-
use plans for the Dulles Corridor, including Tysons Corner. The EIS 
will develop alternatives for the project which will (1) be feasible, 
cost-effective, and beneficial transportation improvements that enhance 
connections to the existing transit systems, to Washington Dulles 
International Airport, and to land developments throughout the Dulles 
Corridor; (2) increase transit bus and Metrorail ridership; and (3) 
enhance the region's economic vitality and quality of life. The EIS 
will evaluate a No-Build Alternative, a Transportation Systems 
Management (TSM) Alternative, several Build Alternatives, and any 
additional alternatives generated by the scoping process. The TSM 
Alternative will assess low cost, operationally oriented improvements 
to meet the transportation needs in the Dulles Corridor and will be 
equivalent to enhanced local and express bus service in the two 
counties. The Build Alternatives will consider Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), 
Metrorail rapid transit, and combinations of these transit modes. The 
type, design, location, and need of ancillary facilities, such as 
parking facilities, bus maintenance depots, and rail yards, will also 
be considered for the Build Alternatives. Scoping will be accomplished 
through meetings and correspondence with interested persons, 
organizations, the general public, Federal, State, regional, and local 
agencies.

DATES: Comment Due Date: Written comments on the scope of alternatives 
and impacts to be considered should be sent to Mr. Leonard Alfredson, 
Project Manager, Office of Extensions, Washington Metropolitan Area 
Transit Authority, 1550 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 300, Arlington, VA 
22209, by Thursday, August 10, 2000.
    Scoping Meetings: Public scoping meetings for the Dulles Corridor 
Rapid Transit Project will be held on:

Tuesday, July 25, 2000

    7 p.m. to 10 p.m., George C. Marshall High School, 7731 Leesburg 
Pike, Falls Church, Virginia 22043.

Wednesday, July 26, 2000

    7 p.m. to 10 p.m., Langston Hughes Middle School, 11401 Ridge 
Heights Road, Reston, Virginia 20191.

Thursday, July 27, 2000

    7 p.m. to 10 p.m., Ashburn Elementary School, 44062 Fincastle 
Drive, Ashburn, Virginia 20147.
    The locations of the scoping meetings are accessible to persons 
with disabilities. Any individual with a disability who requires 
special assistance, such as a sign language interpreter, to participate 
in the scoping meetings, should contact Mr. Leonard Alfredson at the 
address below or call the project INFO line at 888-566-7245 (TTD: 202-
638-3780) by Monday, July 17, 2000, in order for WMATA to make 
necessary arrangements.
    Scoping material will be available at the meetings and may also be 
obtained in advance of the meetings by contacting Mr. Alfredson at the 
address below or by calling the project INFO line above. Oral and 
written comments may be given at the scoping meetings; a video team 
will record all comments. If you wish to be placed on the mailing list 
to receive further information as the project develops, contact Mr. 
Leonard Alfredson at the address below, call the project INFO line at 
888-566-7245, or send an e-mail (including your name and address) to 
[email protected].

ADDRESSES: Written comments on the project scope should be sent to Mr. 
Leonard Alfredson, Project Manager, Office of Extensions, Washington 
Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, 1550 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 300, 
Arlington, VA 22209. Scoping meetings will be held at the locations 
identified above in the DATES section.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Douglas Kerr, P.E., Washington 
Metro Area Coordinator, Federal Transit Administration, 202-366-1641.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:   

I. Scoping

    The FTA, DRPT, and WMATA invite all interested individuals and 
organizations, and federal, state, regional, and local agencies to 
provide comments on the scope of the project. During the scoping 
process, comments should focus on identifying specific social, 
economic, or environmental issues to be evaluated and on suggesting 
alternatives, which may be less costly or have less environmental 
impacts, while achieving similar transportation objectives. Comments 
should focus on the issues and alternatives for analysis and not on a 
preference for a particular alternative. Scoping material will be 
available at the meetings or in advance of the meetings by contacting 
Mr. Leonard Alfredson at WMATA or by calling the project INFO line, as 
indicated above.
    The Dulles Corridor Rapid Transit Project will be closely 
coordinated with the following major regional studies and projects:
     Capital Beltway Corridor Rail Feasibility Study, a study 
by DRPT on the feasibility of constructing commuter rail from the 
existing mass transit rail facilities at Springfield to the mass 
transit rail facilities at or near Tysons Corner and Vienna. The study 
will examine the continuation of rail from Tysons Corner to a 
connection with rail in Maryland.
     Capital Beltway NEPA Study, an analysis by the Virginia 
Department of Transportation (VDOT) of beltway capacity and access 
improvements.
     Dulles International Airport Master Plan and landside 
improvements, a program of projects by the Metropolitan Washington 
Airports Authority.
     I-66 EIS and Location Study, a step in developing and 
implementing highway and transit improvements in the I-66 corridor 
between U.S. Route 15 in Prince William County and I-495 in Fairfax 
County.

[[Page 39467]]

    Following the public scoping process, public outreach activities 
will include meetings with communities and organizations; public 
meetings on alternatives; public hearing(s) on the Draft EIS; 
distribution of project fact sheets and newsletters; and use of other 
outreach methods.

II. Description of Study Area and Transportation Needs

    The study area of the proposed Dulles Corridor Rapid Transit 
Project is centered on the alignment of the Dulles Airport Access Road 
and the Dulles Toll Road within Fairfax County, and the Dulles 
Greenway--the private extension of the Toll Road--in Loudoun County. 
The length of the Corridor is more than 24 miles, extending from the 
Metrorail Orange Line, at a point between the West Falls Church Station 
and East Falls Church in Fairfax County, through the Washington Dulles 
International Airport and onto Route 772 in Loudoun County. The study 
area encompasses Tysons Corner, through which alignment alternatives 
traverse. The study area also includes the vicinity of stations and 
ancillary facilities such as parking, bus maintenance depot, and rail 
yard. This study area is generalized and considered flexible, subject 
both to the outcome of the scoping process and the locations of the 
alternatives studied in detail.
    The Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments expects the 
population and employment in the Dulles Corridor over the next twenty 
years to increase more rapidly than the metropolitan regional averages. 
The increases in households and jobs in the Corridor are significantly 
large in both relative and absolute numbers. MWAA projects that the 
Washington Dulles International Airport will also have significant 
increases in air travel patronage, air cargo operations, and employees; 
therefore, ground-side access volumes at the Airport will be growing 
substantially. The projected consequence of this rapid growth in travel 
is markedly higher traffic volumes on highways and streets throughout 
the region and in the Dulles Corridor. Traffic congestion on the Toll 
Road will increase in both severity and duration as the peak period 
``spreads'' to encompass earlier and later hours. VDOT projects travel 
on parallel arterials to increase proportionately as increasing 
congestion on the Toll Road will cause a higher fraction of travel in 
the Corridor to use alternative routes.
    In response to the above transportation conditions, DRPT conducted 
a Major Investment Study (MIS), with a supplement, for the Dulles 
Corridor. The results of the 1997 MIS study and its 1999 supplement 
resulted in a four-phase implementation program of express bus service 
in two phases, then Bus Rapid Transit as an interim transit service to 
rail, and then Metrorail. These documents are available for inspection 
by contacting Mr. Alfredson as described in the DATES section above or 
by visiting the DRPT web site, http://www.drpt.state.va.us/library.htm.

III. Alternatives

    The alternatives proposed for evaluation include: (1) The No-Build 
Alternative, which involves the current infrastructure of highways and 
bus service, in addition to all ongoing and upcoming roadway and 
transit projects outlined in the regional Transportation Improvement 
Program (TIP); (2) the Transportation Systems Management (TSM) 
Alternative, which includes all elements of the No-Build alternative in 
addition to enhanced express bus service in the two counties. The TSM 
Alternative is a low cost alternative that uses existing facilities to 
the greatest extent possible to meet the identified transportation 
needs in the study area. The TSM Alternative also provides the baseline 
against which the cost-effectiveness of capital investments in other 
alternatives can be evaluated; and (3) the Build Alternatives of Bus 
Rapid Transit and Metrorail. There are three Build Alternatives:
    (a) Bus Rapid Transit for the full length of the Dulles Corridor, 
between the West Falls Church Station of the Orange Line and Route 772. 
This alternative will be developed to permit the phased conversion of 
Bus Rapid Transit to Metrorail, as proposed in the 1999 Supplement to 
the MIS.
    (b) Metrorail between the Orange Line and Tysons Corner, plus Bus 
Rapid Transit for the remainder of the Corridor, between Tysons Corner 
and Route 772. This alternative will also be developed to permit the 
phased conversion of Bus Rapid Transit to Metrorail, as proposed in the 
1999 Supplement to the MIS.
    (c) Metrorail for the full length of the Dulles Corridor, between 
the Orange Line and Route 772.
    The Build Alternatives include alignments in the medians of the 
Dulles Airport Access Road and Dulles Greenway toll road, and through 
Tysons Corner and Washington Dulles International Airport; new stations 
along the alignments; and ancillary facilities of parking, bus 
maintenance depot, rail yard, traction power substations, and 
tiebreaker stations.
    Additional reasonable Build Alternatives suggested during the 
scoping process, including those involving other modes, may be 
considered.

IV. Potential Impacts for Analysis

    The FTA, DRPT, and WMATA will evaluate all environmental, social, 
and economic impacts of the alternatives analyzed in the EIS. Impacts 
include land use, zoning, and economic development; secondary 
development; cumulative impacts; land acquisition, displacements, and 
relocation of existing uses; historic, archaeological, and cultural 
resources; parklands and recreation areas; visual and aesthetic 
qualities; neighborhoods and communities; environmental justice; air 
quality; noise and vibration; hazardous materials; ecosystems; water 
resources; energy; construction impacts; safety and security; 
utilities; and transportation impacts. The impacts will be evaluated 
both for the construction period and for the long-term period of 
operation of each alternative. Measures to mitigate adverse impacts 
will be identified.

V. FTA Procedures

    A Draft EIS will be prepared to document the evaluation of the 
environmental, social, and economic impacts of the alternatives. Upon 
completion, the Draft EIS will be available for public and agency 
review and comment. Public hearing(s) on the Draft EIS will be held 
within the study area. On the basis of the Draft EIS and the public and 
agency comments received, a locally preferred alternative will be 
selected and described in full detail in the Final EIS.

    Dated: June 20, 2000.
Hiram J. Walker,
Associate Administrator for Program Management.
[FR Doc. 00-16036 Filed 6-23-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-62-P