[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 46 (Friday, March 8, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10798-10800]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-5636]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Transit Administration
Environmental Impact Statement: South Corridor Phase 2 in
Sacramento, CA
AGENCY: Federal Transit Administration, DOT.
ACTION: Notice of Intent to prepare a Supplemental Environmental Impact
Statement (SEIS).
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SUMMARY: The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) and the Sacramento
Regional Transit District (RT) intend to prepare a Supplemental
Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) in accordance with the National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and a Subsequent Environmental Impact
Report (SEIR) in accordance with the California Environmental Quality
Act (CEQA) for a proposed light rail extension in the South Sacramento
Corridor from Meadowview Road to Calvine Road at Auberry Road (Calvine/
Auberry).
The proposed light rail transit mode and alignment were selected in
1995 by the RT Board of Directors as the Locally Preferred Alternative
(LPA) following completion in 1994 of an Alternatives Analysis/Draft
EIS/Draft EIR (AA/DEIS/DEIR) for the South Sacramento Corridor. Seven
transit alternatives (including bus, high-occupancy vehicle, and rail
modes) with various alignment and station locations were evaluated in
the AA/DEIS/DEIR). The LPA was included in the Sacramento Area Council
of Government's Metropolitan Transportation Plan.
The LPA (called the Low/UPRR Alignment in the AA/DEIS/DEIR) is an
11.5-mile extension to the existing light rail system beginning in
downtown Sacramento and extending to Calvine/Auberry. In agreement with
FTA, RT planned to build the LPA in phases. Phase 1 is currently under
construction and extends light rail from downtown Sacramento for 6.5
miles to Meadowview Road, with seven stations at Broadway, 4th Avenue/
Wayne Hultgren, City College, Fruitridge, 47th Avenue, Florin, and
Meadowview. Revenue service for Phase 1 is anticipated to begin in
September 2003.
The proposed Phase 2 would extend light rail approximately five
miles from Meadowview Road to Calvine/Auberry. To date, five stations
have been identified at Franklin Boulevard, Center Parkway (optional),
Cosumnes River College/College Square, Power Inn Road (optional), and
Calvine/Auberry. The proposed Phase 2 light rail extension would follow
the Union Pacific Railroad (UPRR) right-of-way south from Meadowview
Road, turn east along the proposed extension of Cosumnes River
Boulevard, follow the Boulevard to Bruceville Road, turn south along
Bruceville Road to serve Cosumnes River College/College Square
development, turn east to cross State Route 99, and terminate at a
station at Calvine/Auberry.
The SEIS/SEIR will evaluate a No-Action Alternative, a future ``New
Starts'' Baseline Alternative, the Phase 2 Light Rail Extension
Alternative, and additional alternatives that emerge from the scoping
process. Scoping will be accomplished through correspondence and
discussions with interested persons; community organizations; federal,
state and local agencies; and through public meetings.
DATES: Comment Due Date: Written comments on the scope of alternatives
and impacts to be considered in the SEIS/SEIR must be received no later
than May 15, 2002, and must be sent to RT at the address indicated
below.
Scoping Meetings
Public scoping meetings will be held on: (1) March 25, 2002 from
5:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at Cosumnes River College Recital Hall, 8401
Center Parkway, Sacramento, CA 95823 and (2) April 11, 2002 from 5:30
p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at the Pannell Center located at 2450 Meadowview
Road, Sacramento, CA 95832. The formal scoping meetings will be
preceded by an open house (5:30 to 6:30 pm), allowing for the public to
discuss the SEIS/SEIR work scope, process, proposed project, and
alternatives with RT staff and consultants. A brief presentation will
be given at 6:30 p.m., beginning the formal scoping meeting. Graphic
presentations and scoping materials will be provided to assist the
public in understanding the
[[Page 10799]]
proposed project alternatives. The presentation will focus on the
project purposes and alternatives and will be followed by a question
and answer period, which will be recorded and transcribed. The open
house will then resume until 8:00 p.m. Interested community
organizations and the public are invited to attend. A federal, state,
and local agency scoping meeting is scheduled for April 11, 2002, from
10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at RT's Transit Administration Building in the
Auditorium located at 1400 29th Street, Sacramento, CA 95816.
Opportunities will be offered during the scoping meetings for
comments to be provided either orally during the question and answer
period or in writing during the entire scoping comment period.
ADDRESSES: Written comments should be sent to Mr. David M. Melko,
Policy and Program Manager, Sacramento Regional Transit District, P.O.
Box 2110, Sacramento, CA 95816-2110. Phone: (916) 321-2992. Fax: (916)
444-2156. To be added to the mailing list, contact Ms. Susan Willson,
The Hoyt Company, 660 J Street, Suite 444, Sacramento, CA 95814, (916)
448-2440, e-mail address: [email protected]. Please specify the
mailing list for the South Sacramento Corridor Phase 2 SEIS/SEIR.
People with special needs such as sign language interpretation also
should contact Susan Willson, as indicated above. The dates and
addresses of the scoping meetings are given in the DATES section above.
All locations are accessible to people with disabilities.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To request a scoping information
packet, contact Mr. David Melko, Policy and Program Manager, Sacramento
Regional Transit District, P.O. Box 2110, Sacramento, CA 95812-2110.
Phone: (916) 321-2992. Fax: (916) 444-2156. The Federal agency contact
is Mr. Jerome Wiggins, Office of Planning and Program Development, FTA,
201 Mission Street, Room 2210, San Francisco, CA 94105. Phone: (415)
744-3115.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Scoping
The FTA and RT invite all interested individuals and organizations,
and federal, state, regional, and local agencies to provide comments on
the scope of the project and environmental considerations. The 1994
Alternatives Analysis/Draft Environmental Impact Statement/Draft
Environmental Impact Report (AA/DEIS/DEIR) is available for public
review at the Cosumnes River College Library, 8401 Center Parkway,
Sacramento, CA 95823 and at the RT Administration Building, 1400 29th
Street, Sacramento, CA 95816. Please contact Mr. Melko to review the
copy at RT. Written comments on the project alternatives and potential
impacts to be considered should also be sent to Mr. Melko.
II. Purpose and Need
The project purpose is to improve public transit service in the
severely congested South Corridor by providing increased transit
capacity and faster, convenient access throughout the Sacramento
metropolitan region.
As stated in the 1994 AA/DEIS/DEIR, the project's goals are to: (1)
Provide a transportation system that is safe, efficient, and
coordinated, and that provides a balanced set of travel alternatives in
the corridor, (2) ensure compatibility between land use policies and
transportation policies so that the need for and amount of travel using
automobiles is minimized, (3) provide a transportation system that
makes the most efficient use of limited resources, (4) provide a
transportation system that enhances and preserves the physical and
natural environment, (5) provide a transportation system that is
consistent with the needs and desires of the residents of the corridor,
and that thereby maximizes community acceptance and political support.
There is a need to alleviate severe and ever-increasing traffic
congestion on State Route 99 (SR 99), which currently has recurring
traffic congestion (Level of Service F) for one to two hours during
both the morning and afternoon commute periods between Calvine and
Florin roads. Daily traffic volumes north of Mack Road along SR 99 are
expected to increase by 20 to 25 percent over the next 20 years.
Between Calvine and Mack Roads, a 40 to 50 percent increase is
expected. During the 1990s, SR 99 was widened to accommodate High
Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes from Elk Grove Boulevard north to the
Sacramento Central City. However, no additional improvements are
planned for this section over the next 20 years. The projected increase
in traffic volumes will cause congestion on SR 99 to expand to more
hours of the day and extend southward to Elk Grove, and this congestion
is expected to cause traffic diversions to numerous parallel arterial
roadways in the corridor, thereby adding to anticipated congestion
levels along these roadways.
III. Alternatives
The SEIS/SEIR will evaluate a No-Action Alternative, a future ``New
Starts'' Baseline Alternative (sometimes called the Transportation
Systems Management Alternative), and the Phase 2 Light Rail Extension.
The alternatives will be developed further during the preparation of
the Draft SEIS/SEIR. A brief description of the alternatives is
provided below.
No-Action Alternative
This alternative consists of highway and transit systems existing
as of year 2000, plus programmed improvements to the year 2025. It
includes future conditions against which the transportation,
environmental, and community impacts of the other alternatives are
compared under NEPA.
Future ``New Starts'' Baseline Alternative
The Baseline Alternative is best described as transit improvements
lower in capital cost than the proposed ``Build'' (light rail)
Alternative. This alternative is generally the ``best that can be
done'' without building the rail project. By definition, this
alternative must result in a better ratio of transit mobility measures
compared to cost than the No-Action Alternative.
The purpose of the Baseline Alternative is to isolate costs and
benefits of the proposed major transit investment. At a minimum, the
Baseline Alternative must include in the project corridor all
reasonable cost-effective transit improvements short of investment in
the light rail project. The New Starts Program is a federal program
that provides funds for qualifying bus, rail and other transit-related
projects.
Light Rail Alternative
This alternative consists of the construction of a five-mile
extension of the light rail system from Meadowview Road to Calvine/
Auberry and a supporting feeder bus system. To date, five stations have
been identified at Franklin Boulevard, Center Parkway (optional),
Cosumnes River College/College Square, Power Inn Road (optional), and
Calvine/Auberry. The proposed extension would follow the UPRR right-of-
way south from Meadowview Road, turn east along the proposed extension
of Cosumnes River Boulevard, follow the Boulevard to Bruceville Road,
turn south to serve Cosumnes River College/College Square development,
turn east to cross State Route 99, and terminate at a station at
Calvine/Auberry. Due to funding constraints, the light rail extension
may need to be constructed in phases to one of two possible temporary
terminal stations: Franklin Boulevard or Cosumnes River College/College
Square. It is assumed that these temporary
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terminal stations would be served by bus, express bus, and/or bus rapid
transit routes and be supported by park-and-ride facilities.
IV. Probable Effects
The purpose of the SEIS/SEIR is to fully disclose, in advance of
any decisions to commit substantial financial or other resources, the
environmental consequences of building and operating a major capital
investment in the Sacramento South Corridor. The SEIS/SEIR will explore
the extent to which study alternatives and design options result in
environmental impacts and will discuss actions to reduce or eliminate
such impacts. Environmental issues to be examined in the SEIS/SEIR
include: changes to the physical environment (biological and cultural
resources, air quality, noise/vibration, water quality, floodplains,
geology, visual/aesthetics); changes in the social environment (land
use, development, business and neighborhood disruptions); changes in
traffic and pedestrian circulation; changes in transit service and
patronage; associated changes in traffic congestion; and impacts on
parklands and historic sites. Impacts will be identified both for the
construction period and for the long-term operation of the
alternatives. The proposed evaluation criteria include transportation,
social economic, and financial measures, as required by current federal
(NEPA) and state (CEQA) environmental laws and the implementing
regulations of the Council on Environmental Quality, FTA, and the State
Office of Planning and Research.
The relationship of the alternatives to other major corridor
projects will be evaluated in the SEIS/SEIR. Examples include:
Cosumnes River Boulevard extension,
Roadway widenings--Cosumnes River Boulevard and Bruceville
Road,
Floodplain/drainage/levee/floodwall improvements,
Existing and proposed utitilies in the corridor--major
sewer interceptors, possible Freeport Diversion water pipeline,
Land use developments--College Square, City redevelopment
areas, Cosumnes River College plans and improvements,
UPRR capacity improvements, and
Master Plan for the County Sanitation District
Bufferlands.
To ensure that the full range of issues related to this proposed action
will be addressed and all significant issues identified, comments and
suggestions are invited from all interested parties. Comments or
questions concerning this proposed action and the SEIS/SEIR should be
directed to the RT Program Manager as noted in the ADDRESSES section
above.
V. FTA Procedures
To streamline the NEPA process and to avoid duplication of effort,
the agencies involved in the scoping process will consider the results
of any previous planning studies or financial feasibility studies
(e.g., Multi-Corridor Study [RT, 2001] and Sacramento Systems Planning
Study [RT, 1991]) prepared in support of a decision by the Sacramento
Area Council of Governments to include a particular alternative in the
Regional Transportation Plan for Metropolitan Sacramento. Prior
transportation planning studies may be pertinent to establishing the
purpose of and need for the proposed action and the range of
alternatives to be evaluated in detail in the SEIS/SEIR. The Draft
SEIS/SEIR will be prepared simultaneously with conceptual engineering
for the alternatives, including station and alignment options. The
Draft SEIS/SEIR process will address the potential use of federal funds
for the proposed action, as well as assess the social, economic, and
environmental impacts of the alternatives. Station designs and
alignment alternatives will be refined to minimize and mitigate any
adverse impacts. After publication, the Draft SEIS/SEIR will be
available for public and agency review and comments, and (a) public
hearing(s) will be held. Based on the Draft SEIS/SEIR and comments
received, RT will further refine the preferred alternative identified
in the Final SEIS/SEIR and will apply for FTA approval to initiate
Preliminary Engineering of the preferred alternative.
Issued March 4, 2002.
F. James Kenna,
Deputy Region IX Administrator.
[FR Doc. 02-5636 Filed 3-7-02; 8:45 am]
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