[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 80 (Monday, April 26, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 22592-22594]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-9389]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Transit Administration


Preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement on the Proposed 
Peninsula Rail Transit Project in the Cities of Hampton and Newport 
News, VA

AGENCY: Federal Transit Administration (FTA), U.S. Department of 
Transportation (DOT).

ACTION: Notice of Intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement.

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SUMMARY: The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) and Hampton Roads 
Transit (HRT) intend to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) 
in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969 
for the proposed Peninsula Rail Transit Project to provide rail service 
to the Peninsula region of Hampton Roads. In addition to meeting the 
requirements of NEPA, the NEPA process will be used to comply with the 
requirements of the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments; the National 
Historic Preservation Act of 1966, as amended; section 4(f) of the 1966 
U.S. Department of Transportation Act; the Executive Order 12898 on 
Environmental Justice; and all other applicable laws, regulations, and 
executive orders.
    A Major Investment Study (MIS) for the Peninsula Corridor was 
completed in 1997, adopting Light Rail Transit as the Preferred 
Alternative. In 2001, Hampton Roads Transit (HRT) initiated an 
Alternatives Analysis study (AA) to update the MIS by evaluating a 
range of transit alignments and potential transit system extensions. 
HRT, with extensive coordination from the Hampton Roads Planning 
District Commission (HRPDC) serving as the Metropolitan Planning 
Organization (MPO), municipalities, local and State agencies, community 
and business stakeholders, and the public, identified ten potential 
alignments and two rail technologies (Light Rail Vehicles [LRV] and 
Diesel Multiple Units [DMU]) for further evaluation. The evaluation 
recommended a Locally Preferred Alternative (LPA) that was formally 
adopted in Spring 2003 by the HRPDC serving as the MPO, York County, 
James City County, and the Cities of Williamsburg, Newport News, and 
Hampton. The LPA consisted of a rail transit corridor between 
Williamsburg and downtown Newport News (including the Southeast 
Community of Newport News) generally along the CSX railroad right-of-
way, including and connecting with a rail transit corridor

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generally along Hampton Roads Center Parkway to downtown Hampton. The 
LPA Report available for public review from HRT as described below in 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION documents the initial results of the 
Alternatives Analysis study.
    Because of the large regional scale of the LPA (a 32-mile 
corridor), HRT proposed phased implementation for the LPA beginning 
with an initial phase that is commonly referred to as a Minimum 
Operable Segment (MOS). Five alternative initial phases or MOSs were 
discussed with the municipalities beginning in summer 2003. Based upon 
agreed upon evaluation criteria and other factors such as special trip 
generator locations, two MOSs have been selected to be carried forward 
for study in the EIS. The technologies under consideration for these 
two MOSs include LRV and DMU. FTA will require that the initial phase 
have logical termini and independent utility so that it does not 
prejudice the consideration of alternatives in subsequent phases or a 
decision to forego subsequent phases completely.
    Six alternatives are proposed to be addressed in the EIS: a No-
Build Alternative, a Transportation Systems Management Alternative, 
Light Rail Transit (LRT) operating on two alternative MOSs, and DMU 
operating on the same two MOSs. Any other reasonable alternative 
emerging from the scoping process will also be given consideration 
unless the earlier studies mentioned above have already provided 
justification for its elimination. Scoping activities will include 
public meetings and an agency scoping meeting during the months of 
April and May 2004.

DATES: Comment Due Date: Written comments on the scope of alternatives 
and impacts to be considered in the EIS must be received no later than 
May 17, 2003 and must be sent to HRT at the address indicated below. 
Scoping Meetings: HRT will conduct two identical public scoping 
meetings and an agency scoping meeting. The public scoping meetings 
will be held on April 27, 2004, from 4 to 7 p.m., at the City of 
Hampton Main Library, 4207 Victoria Boulevard, and on April 29th, 2004, 
from 4 to 7 p.m., at the City of Newport News City Center Conference 
Facilities, James Room, 700 Town Center Drive. The agency scoping 
meeting will be scheduled in consultation with representatives of the 
agencies most likely to have an interest or jurisdiction over some 
aspect of the project.

ADDRESSES: Written comments should be sent to Marie Arnt, Hampton Roads 
Transit, Community Relations Manager at 3400 Victoria Blvd., Hampton, 
Virginia 23669 or by e-mail to [email protected]. To be added to the 
mailing list contact Marie Arnt at 757-222-6000. Persons with special 
needs such as sign language interpreters should contact Marie Arnt at 
757-222-6000 at least 48 hours prior to the scheduled meeting times. 
The dates and addresses of the scoping meetings are given in the DATES 
section above. All locations are accessible to people with disabilities 
and are open to all members of the community.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To request a scoping information 
booklet or copies of previous project reports including the LPA Report 
please contact Marie Arnt at 757-222-6000 or visit the HRT web page at 
http://www.hrtransit.org. The Federal Transit Administration contact is 
Ms. Patricia Kampf at (215) 656-7100.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Scoping

    The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) and Hampton Roads Transit 
(HRT) invite all interested individuals, organizations, and federal, 
state, and local agencies to provide comments on the scope of the 
study. During the scoping process, comments should focus on defining 
the alternatives to be studied in the EIS, identifying specific social, 
economic, or environmental issues to be evaluated. Comments should also 
focus on study area transportation/transit needs and potential 
alternatives, which would satisfy these needs. Individual preference 
for an alternative should be communicated later, during the comment 
period for the draft EIS. A Scoping Information Booklet will be 
circulated to all federal, state, and local agencies having 
jurisdiction over any aspect of the project and to all interested 
parties currently on the Peninsula Corridor mailing list. The Scoping 
Information Booklet and the LPA Report will be available at the scoping 
meetings or in advance of the meetings by contacting Marie Arnt at HRT, 
as indicated above in ADDRESSES. Scoping comments may be made at the 
public scoping meetings listed above in the DATES section of this 
notice or in writing within 30-days of this notice as listed in the 
ADDRESSES section of this notice.
    The comments received during the public scoping meeting will be 
summarized and provided to the Project Steering Committee who will 
recommend alternatives to be carried forward in the EIS and the scope 
of the study. FTA and the cities of Newport News and Hampton will make 
the final decision on what alternatives are studied.

II. Purpose and Need

    The project is needed to address the projected increase in 
population and employment growth in the Peninsula Corridor. This 
population and employment growth, and current congested conditions on 
existing roadways will result in continued increased demand for 
transportation alternatives. Roadways in the corridor are projected to 
operate with moderate to severe congestion by 2025 and are currently 
limited in both capacity and right-of-way. Existing transit service 
operates on the streets with traffic congestion and does not provide 
improved travel time over other vehicular traffic.

III. Description of the Study Area

    The study area for the initial segment is a 22-mile corridor. This 
portion of the corridor generally parallels the existing CSX mainline 
on the Virginia Peninsula for 15.2 miles within the City of Newport 
News, Virginia and also includes a 6.8 mile corridor along the Hampton 
Roads Center Parkway from the Airport/Oyster Point area of Newport News 
to the Hampton Coliseum in the City of Hampton, Virginia.

IV. Alternatives

    The alternatives proposed for consideration include a No-Build 
Alternative, a Transportation Systems Management (TSM) Alternative, two 
Light Rail Transit (LRT) Alternatives and two Diesel Multiple Unit 
(DMU) Alternatives. A brief description of the alternatives is below:
    No-Build Alternative. This Alternative consists of highway and 
transit systems existing as of the year 2000, plus projects included in 
the Hampton Roads 2026 Regional Transportation Plan, adopted December 
17, 2003. This alternative serves as the baseline for the NEPA process 
and enables the comparison of the transportation, social, economic, and 
environmental impacts.
    Transportation Systems Management (TSM) Alternative. This 
Alternative consists of low cost transit improvements beyond those that 
are included in the 2026 Long Range Transportation Plan. The TSM 
Alternative attempts to address the project purpose and need without a 
major investment in a fixed guideway system.
    Light Rail Transit Alternative. This Alternative provides light 
rail transit service to the Peninsula region of Hampton Roads. Two 
alternatives for

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light rail are to be carried forward for detailed evaluation in the 
draft EIS as described below.
    MOS 3--Newport News City Hall to Ft. Eustis Boulevard. MOS 3 would 
be located totally within the City of Newport News, Virginia. The 
southern end of the MOS would be located at the City Hall Station at 
Washington Avenue and 25th Street in downtown Newport News and would 
extend to the Ft. Eustis Station at Ft. Eustis Boulevard and the CSX 
Railroad on the north. The total alignment length would be 15.2 miles.
    MOS 4B--Newport News City Hall to Hampton Coliseum. MOS 4B would be 
located within the Cities of Newport News and Hampton, Virginia. The 
southern end of the MOS would be located at the City Hall Station at 
Washington Avenue and 25th Street in downtown Newport News and would 
extend to the Middle Ground Road Station at Middle Ground Road and the 
CSX Railroad on the north. The MOS would then turn towards the Hampton 
Coliseum and would end at the Coliseum parking lot at Coliseum Station. 
The total alignment length would be 17.1 miles.
    Diesel Multiple Unit Alternatives. These alternatives would provide 
DMU service on the same MOS alignments described above for the Light 
Rail Alternative.

V. Probable Effects

    FTA and HRT will evaluate all social, economic, and environmental 
impacts of the No-Build, TSM, and MOS 3 and MOS 4B for light rail and 
diesel multiple unit rail technologies. Potential impacts could 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 environmental justice; air quality; noise and 
vibration; contaminated materials; ecosystems; water resources; Coastal 
Zone Management; energy; construction impacts; safety and security; 
finance; 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 avoid, minimize or mitigate any 
significant adverse impacts will be identified. The cumulative impacts 
of the proposed action and other reasonably foreseeable actions 
affecting the same resources as the proposed action will be considered.
    FTA and HRT invite comments on the scope of the EIS to ensure that 
the full range of issues and concerns of the public, interested 
parties, and federal, state, and local agencies are addressed. Comments 
should be directed to the parties listed in the ADDRESSES section above 
within the time frame set forth in the DATES section above.

VI. FTA Procedures

    In accordance with the FTA regulation on environmental impact 
regulations and related procedures (23 CFR part 771), the draft EIS 
will evaluate the social, economic, and environmental impacts of the 
proposed action and alternatives. Upon completion, the draft EIS will 
be available for public and agency review and comment. Public 
hearing(s) will be held within the study area. On the basis of the 
draft EIS and the public and agency comments received on it, a 
preferred alternative will be selected for further detailed analysis in 
the final EIS.

    Issued on: April 20, 2004.
Herman C. Shipman,
FTA Acting Regional Administrator.
[FR Doc. 04-9389 Filed 4-23-04; 8:45 am]
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