[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 7 (Friday, January 10, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1912-1914]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-00230]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Transit Administration


Notice of Scoping Meetings on Regional Planning Effort To Improve 
Public Transportation in the Central Wasatch Mountains in Salt Lake and 
Summit Counties, UT

AGENCY: Federal Transit Administration (FTA), DOT.

ACTION: Notification of Early Scoping Meeting.

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SUMMARY: The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) and the Utah Transit 
Authority (UTA) issue this early scoping notice to advise other 
agencies and the public that they intend to explore potential 
alternatives for improving public transportation service to and within 
the central Wasatch Mountains of Salt Lake County and Summit County, 
Utah. UTA is conducting this work through formal agreement and 
partnership with numerous state and local agencies, including Salt Lake 
County, Summit County, Wasatch Front Regional Council, Salt Lake City, 
Cottonwood Heights, Sandy City, Park City, Town of Alta, and others. 
This early scoping process is part of a regional planning effort to 
examine regional connectivity for the central Wasatch Mountains. This 
notice invites the public to help frame transportation improvements, 
while considering the inherent interdependence of watershed protection, 
wilderness protection, land-use planning, and economic opportunities in 
the central Wasatch Mountains. This process builds upon prior planning 
efforts contained in Salt Lake County's ``Wasatch Canyons Tomorrow'' 
study and ``Mountain Transportation Study'' completed in September 2010 
and November 2012, respectively.
    The early scoping process is intended to support a future National 
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) scoping process, as appropriate.

DATES: Two public scoping meetings and one agency scoping meeting, 
where agencies and the public can learn more about and comment on the 
proposal, will be held at the following times and locations:
     Public scoping meeting: Tuesday, February 4, 2014, from 
4:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at Park City High cafeteria, 1750 Kearns Blvd., 
Park City, UT
     Public scoping meeting: Wednesday, February 5, 2014, from 
4:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at Skyline High School cafeteria, 3251 East 3760 
South, Salt Lake City, UT
     Agency scoping meeting: Monday, February 3, 2014, from 
10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., Utah Transit Authority, 669 West 200 South, 
Salt Lake City, UT
    At the public and agency scoping meetings, Utah Transit Authority 
will provide information on the extent of the study area; 
transportation issues; community and environmental impacts and 
benefits. Materials will also be available beginning January 21, 2014 
on UTA's Web site at www.rideuta.com on the ``Wasatch Summit Program'' 
project tab. Scoping materials will also include project background 
information and the proposed approaches for moving forward. Written 
scoping comments are requested by March 7, 2014 and can be sent or 
emailed to the address below, submitted at a public meeting or sent via 
the comment form to www.rideuta.com.

ADDRESSES: Mary DeLoretto, Senior Program Manager, Utah Transit 
Authority, 669 West 200 South, Salt Lake City, UT 84101; phone: (801) 
741-8808; or emailed to [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jeffrey Jordan, FTA Environmental 
Specialist, 12300 West Dakota Avenue, Suite 310, Lakewood, CO 80228; 
phone: (720) 963-3307; email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Early Scoping

    The early scoping process provides a venue for evaluating the 
costs, benefits, and preliminary impact identification for a range of 
transportation alternatives designed to address mobility problems and 
other locally-identified objectives in the proposed study area. Early 
scoping for the project will be conducted in accordance with NEPA 
polices pursuant to the Council on Environmental Quality's regulations 
and guidance for implementing NEPA, which encourage federal agencies to 
initiate NEPA early in their planning process, per 40 CFR subsection 
1501.2 through 8. The scoping process may begin as soon as there is 
enough information to describe the proposed alternatives so that the 
public and relevant agencies can

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participate effectively. This process is useful when a proposed action 
involves a broadly defined corridor or study area with an array of 
modal and alignment alternatives. This early scoping notice solicits 
public comments on the planning analysis, including the purpose and 
need for the project, the range of alternatives, and the environmental, 
transportation and community impacts and benefits to be considered.

Utah Transit Authority, Park City Transit and the Regional 
Transportation System

    Existing conditions: UTA provides 30 minute bus service from the 
7200 South and 4500 South TRAX stations to the resorts in the 
Cottonwood Canyons and once daily bus service between the resorts and 
downtown Salt Lake City, the University of Utah, and West Valley. This 
service usually runs from mid-December to mid-April, with no transit 
service outside the ski season. The PC-SLC Connect, a public bus 
service connecting Park City and Salt Lake City, runs year long, four 
times a day Monday through Friday with no service on the weekends. 
There are currently no public transit options between Summit County and 
the Cottonwood Canyons.

Transportation Purpose of the Project

    UTA invites comments on the following preliminary statement of the 
project's purpose and need.
    The purpose of the project is to improve regional transportation 
connectivity and to facilitate safe, convenient, and reliable year-
round transportation to destinations within the central Wasatch 
Mountains from the population bases, recreational destinations, and the 
regional transit networks in the Salt Lake Valley and Park City/Summit 
County. The need for the project arises from:
     The need to meet the growing connectivity needs of the 
central Wasatch Mountains for the region's workers and recreationalists 
by increasing mobility, access and transportation capacity to and from 
activity centers in the region, as called for by the Utah Unified 
Transportation Plan, as well as other plans including related county 
and city comprehensive transportation plans.
     The need to serve increasing worker and recreational trips 
between Salt Lake City environs and Wasatch Mountain locations in Salt 
Lake and Summit Counties. There are diverse recreation opportunities in 
the central Wasatch Mountains in both Salt Lake and Summit Counties, 
including hiking, picnicking, camping, rock climbing, bird watching, 
mountain biking, road biking, fishing, skiing (resort, back country, 
cross-country), snowshoeing, and ice climbing. The demand for improving 
the transportation options to access these opportunities continues to 
grow as documented in the Utah Unified Transportation Plan.
     The need to support source water protection goals. The 
Central Wasatch Mountains, including Big Cottonwood Canyon, Little 
Cottonwood Canyon, and Parleys Canyon, are the primary sources of 
drinking water for more than 400,000 people in the Salt Lake Valley. 
These municipal watersheds are protected for water supply and water 
quality purposes pursuant to numerous federal, state, and local laws 
and plans.
     The need to support land use and forest management plan 
goals. The central Wasatch Mountains have competing environmental, 
economic, recreation, and stewardship goals that dictate future 
regional growth concentrations. The U.S. Forest Service completed a 
Revised Forest System plan for the Wasatch-Cache National Forest and 
Record of Decision in 2003, which outlines forest management direction 
for National Forest Lands in the Wasatch Range and canyons. The Forest 
Plan direction also addresses some future transportation capabilities.
     The need to improve air quality in the Salt Lake City 
Valley to maintain Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) standards. The 
Salt Lake Valley is prone to air quality level exceedences during 
various time of the year. Determining a way to reduce criteria air 
pollutant emissions through public transportation improvements and 
demand management is one goal of Utah Department of Environmental 
Quality's Clean Utah program to maintain or reduce emissions and thus 
improve air quality.
     The need to improve road safety conditions in the central 
Wasatch Mountains due to avalanche hazards, road conditions and 
emergency response. Due to seasonal weather conditions throughout the 
central Wasatch Mountains, avalanche hazards are high, and emergency 
response alternatives are limited.

Potential Alternatives

    Utah Transit Authority will explore alternative mode, alignment, 
and design configurations for the central Wasatch Mountains along with 
active traffic management principles.
    There are three main transportation corridors into the central 
Wasatch Mountains from the Salt Lake Valley: Big Cottonwood Canyon, 
Little Cottonwood Canyon, and Interstate 80 (Parley's Canyon). Several 
smaller sub-corridors, or potential minimum operable segments (MOS) 
with logical termini, were identified in the study area that either 
connect to one or more of the existing larger corridors. The sub-
corridors were identified based on professional evaluation, stakeholder 
input, and consistency with the Wasatch Front Regional Council Regional 
Transportation Plan and the Utah Unified Transportation Plan. Specific 
corridor alternatives that link the existing Wasatch Front regional 
transit system with the central Wasatch Mountains destinations in Salt 
Lake and Summit Counties will be developed during the early scoping 
process.
    Alternatives already identified for consideration include:
     The connection from downtown Salt Lake City to the base of 
Big Cottonwood Canyon
     the connection from downtown Salt Lake City to the base of 
Little Cottonwood Canyon
     the connection from downtown Salt Lake City to Park City 
in Summit County via Parley's Canyon
     the base of Big Cottonwood Canyon to the base of Little 
Cottonwood Canyon
     the base of Big Cottonwood Canyon to Brighton
     the base of Little Cottonwood Canyon to Alta
     Alta to Brighton; and
     Brighton to Park City

Transportation Modes

    Various transportation modes being considered include:
     Parking and Roadway Improvements
     Bus Service Improvements
     Bus Rapid Transit (BRT)
     Rail Systems
     Aerial Systems
     Active Traffic Management Principles
    UTA may also consider other alternatives that arise during the 
public comment period. The definition of these alternatives for 
analysis will reflect a range of high and low cost capital 
improvements. UTA will identify measures for evaluating the relative 
merits of alternatives, and technical methodologies for generating the 
information used to support such measures. These measures will 
typically include disciplines such as travel forecasting; capital, 
operations and maintenance costs; and corridor-level environmental and 
land use analyses.
    At the end of the early scoping process, a preferred corridor and 
mode may emerge for further evaluation in a NEPA environmental document 
(the classification of which is to be

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determined). If the preferred mode and corridor involve the potential 
for significant environmental impacts requiring an Environmental Impact 
Statement (EIS), and FTA determines that there is a potential for FTA 
funding, a Notice of Intent to Prepare an EIS will be published in the 
Federal Register and public and agency comment on the scope of the EIS 
will be invited and considered at that time.

    Issued on: January 2, 2014.
Linda M. Gehrke,
Regional Administrator, FTA Region 8.
[FR Doc. 2014-00230 Filed 1-9-14; 8:45 am]
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