[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 59 (Friday, March 26, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 15925-15926]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-6809]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Highway Administration


Notice To Rescind a Notice of Intent To Prepare a Supplemental 
Draft Environmental Impact Statement (SDEIS): Pulaski County, AK

AGENCY: Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), DOT.

ACTION: Rescind Notice of Intent to prepare a SDEIS.

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SUMMARY: The FHWA is issuing this notice to advise the public that the 
Notice of Intent published on February 18, 1999 to prepare a 
Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement (SDEIS) for a 
proposed highway project in Pulaski County, Arkansas is being 
rescinded.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Randal J. Looney, Environmental 
Specialist, Federal Highway Administration, Arkansas Division, 700 West 
Capitol Avenue, Room 3130, Little Rock, Arkansas 72201-3298, Telephone: 
(501) 324-6430.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The FHWA, in cooperation with the Arkansas Highway and 
Transportation Department, is rescinding the notice of intent to 
prepare a Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement (SDEIS) on 
a proposal to construct the North Belt Freeway, a four-lane, divided, 
fully controlled access facility located on new alignment in northern 
Pulaski County.
    In 1994, a Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) and a Record 
of Decision (ROD) identified a selected alignment (1A). However, a 
portion of this alignment was not compatible with the City of 
Sherwood's Master Street Plan, and the project was not included in the 
Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) developed by Metroplan, the 
responsible Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO). On February 18, 
1999, FHWA published a NOI to prepare a SDEIS as part of the 
development process for the construction of this proposed freeway 
project.
    The proposed project will primarily serve central Arkansas 
including Little Rock, North Little Rock, Sherwood, Jacksonville, and 
northern Pulaski County, Arkansas. The SDEIS was to have addressed a 
new alignment alternative (1B) proposed by the City of Sherwood and 
three previously studied alternatives located between the Highway 107/
Brockington Road interchange and the eastern boundary of

[[Page 15926]]

Camp Robinson near Maryland Avenue and Batesville Pike. The three 
previously studied alternatives were evaluated in the project's Draft 
EIS in 1991 and in the project's Final EIS in 1994.
    The SDEIS was to focus on a limited study are between Batesville 
Pike and Brockington Road in northern Pulaski County, since this is the 
portion of the proposed corridor where several alternative alignments 
were still being considered. The remaining portions of the selected and 
approved North Belt Freeway alignment to the east toward Highway 67 and 
to the west through Camp Robinson ending at the I-40/I-430 interchange 
were to be reviewed only to a level necessary to document if any 
substantial changes have taken place since the completion and approval 
of the project's FEIS and ROD.
    A preliminary study of the project alignments completed in 2003 
attempted to establish if the local community and MPO could support the 
originally selected project alternative. The public involvement process 
associated with this reevaluation indicated public opposition for the 
originally selected alignment alternative. The City of Sherwood and 
Metroplan, citing the project's incompatibility with local and regional 
plans, refused to endorse the originally selected alignment alternative 
as the locally preferred route. Therefore, an SDEIS will be conducted 
to evaluate all feasible alternatives, possibly including alignments 
not evaluated in the project's original DEIS and FEIS. The original NOI 
for the SDEIS is being rescinded because it limited the area of study. 
A notice of intent to announce an SDEIS with an expanded study area for 
this project will be published subsequent to this NOI.
    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 regarding this 
action to rescind the NOI published on February 18, 1999 for the 
proposed North Belt Freeway. Comments or questions concerning this 
proposed action should be directed to the FHWA Arkansas Division at the 
address provided above.

(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Program Number 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: March 16, 2004.
Sandra L. Otto,
Division Administrator, FHWA, Little Rock, Arkansas.
[FR Doc. 04-6809 Filed 3-25-04; 8:45 am]
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