[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 223 (Tuesday, November 19, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 69524-69527]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-27583]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Transit Administration


Preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement for High 
Capacity Transit Improvements for the Indianapolis Northeast Corridor 
Now Known as (nka) Green Rapid Transit Line in the Indiana Counties of 
Marion and Hamilton

AGENCY: Federal Transit Administration, U.S. Department of 
Transportation.

ACTION: Supplemental notice of intent to prepare an Environmental 
Impact Statement.

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SUMMARY: The Federal Transit Administration (FTA), the Central Indiana 
Regional Transportation Authority (CIRTA), the Indianapolis 
Metropolitan Planning Organization (Indianapolis MPO) and Indianapolis 
Public Transportation Corporation (IndyGo) intend to prepare an 
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Northeast Corridor 
Project, nka Green Rapid Transit Line (Green Line) Project relating to 
proposed fixed guideway transit improvements in the Indiana counties of 
Marion and Hamilton. The study area is an approximately 23-mile long 
travel corridor extending from downtown Indianapolis to downtown 
Noblesville and includes the community of Fishers. Options to be 
considered include No-Build, Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) and Diesel Light 
Rail Transit (LRT). The EIS process provides opportunities for the 
public to comment on the scope of the EIS, including the project's 
purpose and need, the alternatives to be considered, and the impacts to 
be evaluated. The southern terminus of all alternatives would be 
adjacent to the transit center in downtown Indianapolis.
    An original Notice of Intent for the proposed Green Line transit 
improvement was published on March 9, 2010 and was followed by initial 
project scoping, public involvement and agency coordination. Project 
activities were suspended following the initial scoping activities to 
address funding issues and conduct additional planning related to 
development of the regional transit vision plan (referred to as ``Indy 
Connect''). As funding issues are being addressed and the regional 
transit plan has been completed, scoping activities for the Green Line 
have resumed.
    The purpose of this notice is to alert interested parties regarding 
the intent to prepare the EIS, to provide information on the nature of 
the proposed project and possible alternatives, to invite public 
participation in the EIS process, including comments on the scope of 
the EIS as proposed in this notice, to announce that a public scoping 
meeting will be conducted, and to identify participating agency 
contacts. This input will be used to assist decision makers in 
determining a locally preferred alternative (LPA) and preparing a Draft 
Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the Green Line. Upon 
selection of an LPA, the project sponsors will request permission from 
FTA to enter into Project Development per requirements of 49 USC 5309. 
The Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) and Record of Decision 
(ROD) will be issued after the project has entered Project Development.
    Dates, Times, and Locations: Comment Due Date: Written comments on 
the purpose and need for the proposed improvements, and the scope of 
alternatives and impacts to be considered should be sent to the 
Indianapolis MPO by December 19, 2013.
    A public scoping meeting to accept comments on the scope of the 
study will be held on December 5, 2013 from 6:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. 
in the Julia Carson Government Center located at 300 East Fall Creek 
Parkway North Drive, Indianapolis, Indiana 46205. The public scoping 
meeting will be informal and in an open house format. Interested 
persons may ask questions about the proposal and the FTA's 
environmental review process. The project's purpose and need and the 
initial set of alternatives proposed for study will be presented at the 
meetings. CIRTA, the Indianapolis MPO, IndyGo and project team members 
will be available to answer questions and receive comments. A writing 
station will be available to those who wish to submit written comments 
at the public scoping meeting. Project team members will be available 
to listen and make notes of residents' comments.
    The public scoping meeting location complies with the Americans 
with Disabilities Act. Persons needing special accommodations should 
contact Jeremy Moore, Project Manager, at (317) 327-5495 or 
[email protected] at least 48 hours prior to the meeting.
    An interagency scoping meeting for federal, state, regional and 
local resource and regulatory agencies will be

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held on December 5, 2013 from 2:30 p.m. until 4:00 p.m. in the HNTB 
Corporation offices located at 111 Monument Circle, Suite 1200, 
Indianapolis, Indiana 46204. The meeting will also be available via 
webcast. All appropriate agencies that may have an interest in this 
project, or have a potential interest in becoming a participating 
agency, will be notified of the meeting through separate direct 
correspondence.
    Submitting Comments on the Scope of the Study: Scoping materials 
will be available at the meetings and through the project's Web site at 
http://www.indyconnect.org. FTA, CIRTA, the Indianapolis MPO and IndyGo 
encourage broad participation in the EIS process. All interested 
agencies, organizations, communities, and members of the public are 
invited to participate in the scoping process by reviewing and 
commenting on the scope of the EIS.

ADDRESSES: Written comments on the scope of the EIS may be submitted to 
the attention of Jeremy Moore, Project Manager, Indianapolis 
Metropolitan Planning Organization, City County Building, Suite 1922, 
200 E. Washington Street, Indianapolis, Indiana 46204, Phone: (317) 
327-5495, Fax: (317) 327-5950, Email: [email protected].
    Additional Information: Contact Reginald Arkell, Federal Transit 
Administration, Region 5, 200 W. Adams Street, Suite 320, Chicago, 
Illinois 60606, Phone: 312-886-3704, Email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Scoping

    The purpose of the scoping process is to provide an opportunity for 
the public and agencies to comment on and provide early input to the 
Green Line DEIS process. On March 9, 2010, FTA published a Notice of 
Intent (NOI) in the Federal Register to initiate the Green Line 
Environmental Impact Statement process. As part of that effort, a 
Scoping Document was mailed to potential participating agencies in 
March 2010 and a resource agency scoping meeting was held in April 
2010. The original public scoping meetings for the project DEIS were 
held on March 17, 2010 at the Julia Carson Government Center in 
Indianapolis, and on March 24, 2010 at the Hamilton County Government 
Center in Noblesville. Comments were received from various agencies and 
incorporated into an Environmental Scoping Report which was submitted 
to participating agencies in November 2010.
    Project activities were suspended following the initial scoping 
activities in 2010 for two reasons. First, the DEIS cannot be approved 
unless the project is included in the fiscally constrained Long Range 
Transportation Plan. The fiscal constraint requirement cannot be met 
unless there is a reasonable expectation of an additional transit 
funding source. The City of Indianapolis and other local governments 
began advocating for legislation to allow the establishment of a 
dedicated local transit funding source in 2010. The Indiana House of 
Representatives passed the necessary enabling legislation for a local 
transit referendum in 2013. Transit funding proposals are still under 
review by the Indiana Senate. Given the significant progress since 
2010, it is reasonable to resume the Green Line DEIS development 
activities.
    The second significant reason to temporarily suspend activities was 
the development of the regional transit vision plan (Indy Connect). 
During the period 2010 to 2013, a sophisticated financial model was 
developed to support regional plan development, a balanced regional 
transit plan was defined based on realistic funding expectations, and 
an unprecedented public involvement program was defined and executed to 
promote public understanding of the plan. The context and timing of the 
Green Line Project have become better defined, and alternatives have 
been refined to better meet the needs of the corridor and the overall 
system.
    Due to the time that has lapsed, and recognizing the changed 
context and alternatives definition, the project team is re-initiating 
project scoping with resource agencies, including those that declined 
to participate in 2010. Each agency and the public are again being 
invited to participate in the project development process for the Green 
Line Project. This will provide the opportunity for meaningful 
participation as analyses are being updated to reflect changed 
conditions.
    The FTA, the Indianapolis MPO and CIRTA invite all interested 
individuals, organizations, businesses, and federal, state, and local 
agencies to participate in establishing the purpose and need, project 
alternatives, and methodologies of the environmental analysis approach 
for the EIS, as well as participate in an active public involvement 
program. During the scoping process, the public is invited to comment 
on (a) the purpose and need; (b) the alternatives to be addressed; (c) 
the transit technologies to be evaluated; (d) the alignments and 
station locations to be considered; (e) the environmental, social, and 
economic impacts to be analyzed; and (f) the evaluation approach to be 
used to select the LPA.
    NEPA ``scoping'' (40 CFR 1501.7) is intended to identify the 
significant issues associated with alternatives that will be examined 
in detail and to limit consideration of issues that are not truly 
significant. It is in the NEPA scoping process that potentially 
significant environmental impacts should be identified. Environmental 
benefits will also be highlighted.
    Once the scope of the environmental study is defined, an annotated 
outline of the draft EIS will be prepared and shared with interested 
agencies and the public. The outline will serve to: (1) Document the 
results of the scoping process; (2) contribute to the transparency of 
the process; and (3) provide a clear roadmap for concise development of 
the environmental document.
    Public outreach activities will continue with interested residents, 
stakeholders and groups throughout the EIS process. The Web site, 
http://www.indyconnect.org, will be updated periodically to reflect the 
status of the project. Additional opportunities for public 
participation will be announced through mailings, notices, social 
media, and press releases.

II. Description of Study Area and Project Need

    The Green Line Project Study Area includes the main travel 
corridors between downtown Indianapolis and the rapidly growing areas 
of Hamilton County, Indiana, including the communities of Fishers and 
Noblesville, as well as the intervening high-density residential and 
commercial areas of northeastern and central Marion County. This is 
referred to as the northeast corridor.
    As currently identified, the purpose of the Green Line Project is 
to improve mobility within the northeast corridor of Central Indiana 
through the development of improved transit options. Consistent with 
the purpose of the project, the EIS will address the need to: improve 
mobility, accessibility and travel options within the northeast 
corridor; support sustainable, long-term economic growth and 
livability; and support local transportation plans and policies.

III. Alternatives

    The proposed alternatives to be evaluated in the EIS will include 
the following:
     No-Build Alternative: The No-Build Alternative is defined 
as the existing transportation system and any committed transportation

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improvements. Committed transportation improvements include projects in 
the Indianapolis Transportation Improvement Program (TIP), which 
includes added travel lanes and interchange improvements on I-69 and I-
465. The No-Build alternative includes no changes to IndyGo bus service 
or other transit services. Consideration of the No-Build Alternative is 
required as part of the NEPA evaluation process.
     Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Alternatives: A two-lane dedicated 
busway with on-line stations and other related capital improvements 
would be constructed in the Hoosier Heritage Port Authority (HHPA) 
Railroad right of way between Noblesville and 10th Street in 
Indianapolis. Between 10th Street and the downtown transit center, BRT 
vehicles would operate on-street in mixed traffic or dedicated lanes 
via one of three basic alternative routes. The on-street routes utilize 
Fort Wayne or Massachusetts Avenue, and Pennsylvania and/or Delaware 
Street. Variations to these basic alignments would be considered near 
the downtown transit center for BRT vehicles operating in mixed 
traffic. All BRT alternatives would include enhanced stations with 
sheltered waiting areas, real-time next bus arrival information and 
traffic signal preemption technology. The vehicle would be a low-floor 
diesel-electric hybrid bus with enhanced on-board passenger amenities.
     Diesel Light Rail Transit (LRT) Alternative: The existing 
track structure of the HHPA rail line would be completely reconstructed 
between Noblesville and 10th Street in Indianapolis, and new track 
would be constructed in-street between 10th Street and the downtown 
transit center. At most locations, the rail guideway in downtown 
Indianapolis would be in a lane dedicated for transit use. As with BRT, 
the LRT vehicles would utilize Fort Wayne or Massachusetts Avenue, and 
Pennsylvania and/or Delaware Street to access the downtown transit 
center. LRT alternatives would include enhanced stations with sheltered 
waiting areas, real-time arrival information, low-floor vehicles with 
enhanced on-board passenger amenities, and fully gated quiet crossings 
at road crossings outside downtown Indianapolis. Service would be 
provided by diesel powered light rail vehicles also known as diesel 
multiple units or DMUs.
     Downtown Indianapolis Options: Two of the downtown 
alternative alignments utilize Fort Wayne Avenue after leaving the HHPA 
Corridor and turning to the west onto 10th Street. The first 
alternative follows Fort Wayne Avenue to Pennsylvania Street, where 
two-way transit traffic is maintained to Washington Street. At 
Washington Street, the line turns onto Virginia Avenue and ends just 
west of the downtown transit center. The second Fort Wayne alternative 
is the same until it reaches Delaware Street, where it splits and uses 
Pennsylvania and Delaware Streets for one-way operation to and from the 
downtown transit center.
    A third downtown alternative alignment is on Massachusetts Avenue 
south of 10th Street. In this option, the downtown transit center is 
accessed by means of two-way transit operations on Delaware Street.
    After leaving the HHPA Corridor on 10th Street, the LRT would use 
College Avenue to access Massachusetts Avenue. LRT would operate in 
dedicated lanes over the full length of the route. Center lanes on 
Massachusetts Avenue would require existing 90-degree parking to be 
converted to parallel parking. Curb lanes would be used on each side of 
Delaware Street. LRT would require a section of ``tail track'' south of 
the downtown transit center to reverse direction.
    If LRT is implemented on the Fort Wayne alignments, it is assumed 
that exclusive lanes would be provided throughout the route with the 
exception of a short segment of 10th Street where the street is narrow 
and eastbound traffic volumes are low. The transit lanes would be 
provided within existing curb lines and stations would be mostly in 
existing right of way. Implementing LRT would result in loss of travel 
and/or parking lanes throughout the downtown Indianapolis route.
    BRT options could operate in the same exclusive transit lanes that 
would be used by LRT, with similar impacts to parking and travel lanes, 
or BRT could operate in general purpose lanes with mixed traffic, 
taking advantage of the effective traffic signal coordination of the 
Pennsylvania/Delaware one-way pair. The path for mixed traffic 
operations could vary in the vicinity of the downtown transit center 
using Washington Street and Virginia Avenue to turn around. 
Additionally, mixed traffic BRT could access to Massachusetts Avenue 
via Carrolton Avenue. This option does not exist for LRT vehicles since 
they are unable to make the 90-degree turns necessary to use cross 
streets to access Pennsylvania Street.
    Based on public and agency input received during scoping, 
variations of the above alternatives would be considered for the Green 
Line Project.

IV. Potential Impacts for Analysis

    The scoping process will identify the environmental impact areas 
most relevant to the project that merit further exploration in the EIS. 
The potential impact areas include: land use, zoning, potential 
displacements, parkland, economic development, community disruptions, 
environmental justice, aesthetics, air quality, noise and vibration, 
wildlife, vegetation, threatened and endangered species, farmland, 
water quality, wetlands, waterways, floodplains, hazardous materials, 
and cultural, historic and archaeological resources.
    The EIS will take into account both positive and negative impacts, 
direct and indirect impacts, short-term and long-term impacts, and site 
specific and corridor wide impacts. Evaluation criteria will be 
consistent with all Federal, state, and local criteria, regulations and 
policies. The EIS will identify measures to avoid or mitigate 
significant adverse environmental impacts.
    To ensure that all significant issues related to this proposed 
action are identified and addressed, scoping comments and suggestions 
are invited from all interested parties.
    The public involvement program will include a full range of 
involvement activities. Activities will include outreach to local and 
regional officials and community and civic groups; a public scoping 
process to define the issues of concern among all parties interested in 
the project; organizing periodic meetings with various local agencies, 
organizations and committees; a public hearing on release of the DEIS; 
and development and distribution of project information via 
newsletters, Web site, and social media. Specific mechanisms for 
involvement will be detailed in the public involvement program.

V. Evaluation Criteria

    The Indianapolis MPO may seek New Starts funding for the proposed 
Green Line Project under 49 U.S.C. 5309 and will therefore be subject 
to New Starts regulations (49 CFR Part 611). MAP-21 (49 USC 5309(d)) 
requires that projects proposed for New Starts funding be evaluated 
based on project justification and local financial commitment criteria. 
Project justification comprises 50 percent of the overall rating and 
considers mobility improvements, environmental benefits, congestion 
relief, cost-effectiveness, economic development effects, and existing 
land

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use. The other 50 percent of the FTA New Starts rating reflects local 
financial commitment, which encompasses the proposed share of the 
project capital cost that would be funded through non-New Starts 
sources, the current financial condition of the transit system, the 
commitment of funds for the project and transit system, and the 
reasonableness of the project financial plan.
    With respect to the FTA project development process, one of the 
more important changes brought about by MAP-21 was the elimination of 
the requirement for a standalone Alternatives Analysis that would 
culminate in the selection of a locally preferred alternative. The FTA 
will instead rely on the NEPA process for alternatives evaluation. The 
change will reduce redundancy in the New Starts project development 
process and streamline the review and selection of a locally preferred 
alternative.

Marisol Simon,
Regional Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2013-27583 Filed 11-18-13; 8:45 am]
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