[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 246 (Monday, December 23, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 78267-78268]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-32258]



[[Page 78267]]

=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Highway Administration


Environmental Impact Statement/Alternatives Analysis: Westchester 
and Rockland Counties, NY, Tappan Zee Bridge/Interstate-287 Corridor

AGENCIES: Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and Federal Transit 
Administration (FTA), United States Department of Transportation

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an Alternatives Analysis (AA) and 
an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the I-287 Corridor between 
Suffern, New York (Rockland County) and Port Chester, New York 
(Westchester County). Included within the corridor is the Tappan Zee 
Bridge.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: FHWA and FTA, in cooperation with the New York State Thruway 
Authority (NYSTA) and the Metro-North Railroad, a subsidiary of the 
Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA/MNR), will prepare an AA and 
an EIS for the I-287 Corridor in Westchester and Rockland Counties, NY, 
which includes the Tappan Zee Bridge, the Corridor's most important 
infrastructure element. The FTA and FHWA are the federal lead agencies 
under NEPA and the NYSTA and MTA/MNR are the project sponsors. The AA 
and the DEIS are being prepared in accordance with the National 
Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), as amended, and implemented by 
the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) regulations (40 CFR parts 
1500-1508), the FTA/FHWA Environmental Impact regulations (23 CFR part 
771), and the FTA/FHWA Statewide Planning/Metropolitan Planning 
regulations (23 CFR part 450). This study will also comply with the 
requirements of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, as 
amended, section 4(f) of the 1966, U.S. Department of Transportation 
Act, the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments, the Executive Order 12898 on 
Environmental Justice, and other applicable statutes, rules, and 
regulations. The EIS and the environmental review process will also 
satisfy requirements of the New York State Environmental Quality Review 
Act (SEQRA); this Notice of intent eliminates the need for a positive 
declaration under that statute.
    The purpose for the study is to identify and evaluate alternative 
multimodal highway and transit proposals to address the transportation 
needs of the Tappan Zee Bridge/I-287 Corridor (the project). The study 
will also take into account the structural needs of the Tappan Zee 
Bridge, as well as other existing infrastructure in the Corridor. The 
AA will document the identification, evaluation and screening of a 
large number of possible actions to produce a reasonable range of 
alternatives that meet the proposed Project's purpose and need. The 
DEIS (which will incorporate the findings of the AA) will then document 
the evaluation of those identified alternatives in terms of their 
environmental impacts and other relevant factors as compared to a 
baseline case (i.e., the No Build alternative). A preferred 
alternative(s) will be identified in a Final EIS (FEIS).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Robert Arnold, Division Administrator, 
Federal Highway Administration, New York Division, Leo W. O'Brien 
Federal Building, 7th Floor, Clinton Avenue and North Pearl Street, 
Albany, New York, 12207. Telephone: (518) 431-4127; or Irwin B. 
Kessman, Director of Planning and Program Development, Federal Transit 
Administration, One Bowling Green, Room 429, New York, NY 10004 
Telephone: (212) 668-2177; or Christopher A. Waite, Executive Project 
Manager, New York State Thruway Authority, 200 Southern Boulevard, 
Albany, NY 12209. Telephone: (518) 436-3190; or Janet M. Mainiero, 
Deputy Project Manager, MTA Metro-North Railroad, 347 Madison Avenue, 
New York, NY 10017. Telephone: (212) 340-4085.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

1. Scoping

    FHWA and FTA invite interested individuals, organizations, and 
federal, state, and local agencies to provide comments on the scope of 
the Tappan Zee Bridge/I-287 Corridor AA/EIS. Comments should suggest 
alternatives that meet the Project's transportation goals and 
objectives and have the potential to reduce environmental impacts. 
Comments should also focus on specific environmental issues and other 
relevant factors that should be evaluated during the course of the 
Project.
    To assist interested parties in formulating their comments, a 
scoping information packet has been prepared and is available upon 
request from the FHWA, FTA, NYSTA, or MTA/MNR representatives 
identified above or online at the project's Web site (www.tzbsite.com). 
The information packet includes the project's purpose and need, goals 
and objectives, a preliminary list of alternatives, and environmental 
areas that will be addressed during the course of the study. An outline 
of the public participation program is also contained in the 
information packet.
    Three public scoping meetings will be conducted, one each in 
Westchester, Rockland, and Orange Counties, to solicit public comments 
on the scope of the AA/DEIS. Each scoping meeting will run from 4-9 
p.m. and consist of an informal open house setting and two formal 
presentations. Formal presentations will be made at 4:30 p.m. and again 
at 6:30 p.m. after which comments will be received in the group forum. 
Those wishing to speak must sign up by 8:45 pm. A court reporter will 
be available to record the formal meeting and public comments. The 
public scoping meetings will be held in the following locations:
    Westchester County Public Scoping Meeting: Tuesday, January 14, 
2003, Sleepy Hollow High School, 200 North Broadway, Sleepy Hollow, NY 
10591.
    Rockland County Public Scoping Meeting: Wednesday, January 15, 
2003, Adler Room, Palisades Mall, 1000 Palisades Center, West Nyack, NY 
10994.
    Orange County Public Scoping Meeting: Thursday, January 16, 2003, 
Orange County Community College, 115 South Street, Middletown, NY 
10940.
    The public comment period will be open for a minimum of 45 days 
following the January 16 meeting. Comments will be accepted until March 
4, 2003.
    The project sponsors will also conduct two governmental agency 
scoping meetings, one each in New York City and Albany, to solicit 
input and comments from local, state and federal agencies. The agency 
meetings will be held at the following times and locations:
    January 21, 2003, 2-4 p.m., MTA/MNR Headquarters, 347 Madison 
Avenue, New York, NY 10017.
    January 22, 2003, 1-3 p.m., New York State Thruway Authority, 200 
Southern Boulevard, Albany, NY 12209.

2. Description of the Project Area and Transportation Needs

    The Tappan Zee Bridge/I-287 Corridor extends from the I-287/I-87 
interchange in Suffern to the I-287/I-95 interchange in Port Chester 
for approximately 30 miles through Rockland and Westchester Counties. 
The Corridor includes the lifeline 3.1 mile-long Tappan Zee Bridge 
crossing of the Hudson River, and encompasses a critical section of the 
New York State Thruway, as well as the entire Cross Westchester 
Expressway (CWE). The Corridor intersects all five of MNR's commuter 
rail lines (Port Jervis, Pascack

[[Page 78268]]

Valley, Hudson, Harlem and New Haven). However, MNR's commuter rail 
lines in the Corridor are all oriented north and south and none cross 
the Hudson River.
    The Tappan Zee Bridge opened to traffic in 1955 and carried an 
average of 18,000 vehicles daily. Today, approximately 135,000 vehicles 
cross the bridge on an average weekday, with volumes as high as 170,000 
vehicles on some peak days. During the past 20 years, traffic volumes 
have grown significantly in the Corridor, by over 50 percent on the CWE 
and by more than 70 percent on the Tappan Zee Bridge. As a result, the 
Corridor experiences varying levels of traffic congestion throughout 
its 30-mile length. The steady increase in traffic demand over the 
years, together with only limited increases in roadway capacity and a 
paucity of east-west modal alternatives, have resulted in continual 
increases in travel time and delay. These problems are most acute in 
the vicinity of the Tappan Zee Bridge itself during the eastbound 
morning and westbound evening peak periods. This congestion is 
projected to worsen, detrimentally affecting mobility and the economic 
health and quality of life in the Corridor.
    In addition to addressing the mobility needs in the Tappan Zee 
Bridge/I-287 Corridor, the Project will also address the structural 
needs of the Tappan Zee Bridge, the Corridor's most important 
infrastructure element.

3. Alternatives Being Considered

    Based on previous studies, as well as numerous public meetings 
convened to discuss the matter, a preliminary list of alternatives has 
been developed to address the mobility and structural needs of the 
Corridor. The potential alternatives identified to date, which are 
expected to be supplemented during the public scoping process, have 
been organized into four broad categories as follows:
    [sbull] Transportation Demand/System Management Strategies: these 
are generally lower cost management strategies intended to impact 
travel demand, choice of travel mode, or time of travel; or actions to 
improve the overall efficiency of the existing transportation system.
    [sbull] New/Improved Transit Services: these are generally actions 
to improve existing transit services or add new ones that do not 
require the construction of major new transportation infrastructure in 
the Corridor.
    [sbull] River Crossing Improvements: these include all of the 
various proposals put forward to rehabilitate or replace the existing 
Tappen Zee Bridge with improved roadway and transit facilities. Bridge, 
tunnel, and combination bridge and tunnel solutions have been 
suggested.
    [sbull] Corridor Improvements: these are the various proposals to 
upgrade and/or add new transportation infrastructure elsewhere in the 
Corridor such as new commuter rail, light rail or guided busway.
    All alternatives will include maintaining the Interstate highway 
link. Through a process of technical evaluation and public input, the 
relatively large number of alternatives developed in the early stages 
of the AA's program will be reduced to a smaller set considered most 
likely to achieve the Project's goals and objectives. The reduced set 
of alternatives will be evaluated in the DEIS along with the No Build 
alternative.

4. Probable Effects

    Impacts of the final set of Tappen Zee Bridge/I-287 Corridor-wide 
alternatives will be evaluated in the DEIS will summarize the results 
of coordination with federal, state, and local agencies; present the 
appropriate federal, state, and local regulations and policies; 
inventory and compile previous studies; describe the methodology used 
to assess impacts; identify the affected environment; predict and 
analyze the construction-related (short-term) and operational (long-
term) impacts (direct, indirect, and cumulative) of reasonable 
alternatives; and identify opportunities and measures for mitigating 
significant adverse impacts.
    [sbull] Specific scopes for the environmental studies to be 
conducted for the DEIS will be established during the public and agency 
scoping process. The DEIS analysis will cover relevant aspects of the 
natural and human environment expected to be affected by each 
alternative.

5. FHWA/FTA Procedures

    Upon completion, the AA, and subsequently the DEIS, will be 
available for public and agency review and comment. Public hearings 
will be held on the DEIS within the study area. On the basis of the AA/
DEIS and the public and Agency comments, a preferred alternative will 
be selected and fully described in the FEIS. Following completion of 
the FEIS a Record of Decision (ROD) will be issued by the federal lead 
agencies.

(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.)

    Authority: 23 U.S.C. 315; 23 CFR 771.123

    Dated: December 13, 2002.
David W. Nardone,
Senior Operations Engineer, Federal Highway Administration, Albany, New 
York.
[FR Doc. 02-32258 Filed 12-20-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-22-M