[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 40 (Thursday, February 28, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 6862-6863]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-03479]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Transit Administration
Notice of Early Scoping for the Capital Metro Orange Line High
Capacity Transit Corridor in Austin, Texas
AGENCY: Federal Transit Administration (FTA), DOT.
ACTION: Notice of early scoping meeting.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) and the Capital
Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Capital Metro) of Austin, Texas
issue this early scoping notice to advise other agencies and the public
that they intend to conduct early scoping for the Orange Line High
Capacity Transit (HCT) Corridor. The Orange Line HCT Corridor is the
21-mile corridor used for Capital Metro's MetroRapid 801 from Tech
Ridge to Southpark Meadows. The entire 21-mile corridor is being
proposed for HCT dedicated pathways.
This notice invites public input to ongoing planning efforts for
the Orange Line HCT Corridor by commenting on the project's purpose and
need, the project study area, alternatives being considered, public
participation and outreach methods, relevant transportation and
community impacts and benefits being considered, potential
environmental impacts, and the projected capital and operating costs of
the project.
DATES: The public may learn more about the Orange Line HCT Corridor and
provide comments at an early scoping meeting scheduled for: Monday,
April 8, 2019, 3:00 to 7:00 p.m. Central Time at Austin Central
Library, 710 W Cesar Chavez St., Austin, TX 78701.
Capital Metro is also providing notice of this early scoping
meeting on Capital Metro's website (capmetro.org) and in the following
publications:
Austin American Statesman
Community Impact Newspaper
The Villager Newspaper
The LaPrensa Newspaper
ADDRESSES: Public comments will be accepted at the early scoping
meeting. In addition, comments may be sent electronically to:
[email protected]. Comments may be mailed to:
Capital Metro Project Connect Office, Orange Line HCT Corridor
Comments, 607 Congress Avenue, Austin, TX 78701. All comments are
requested by May 24, 2019.
The meeting location is accessible to persons with disabilities. If
translation, signing services, or other special accommodations are
needed, please contact Courtney Black at (512) 457-1244 via email at
capmetro.org">courtney.black@capmetro.org.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Terence Plaskon, FTA, phone: (817)
978-0573, email: [email protected] or Joe Clemens, AICP, Capital
Metro, phone: (512) 369-6515, email: capmetro.org">joe.clemens@capmetro.org.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Orange Line HCT Corridor is included in
Capital Metro's Project Connect Long-Term Vision Plan. Project Connect
developed specifically targeted solutions that address existing service
deficiencies and identified HCT investments that would add mobility
options for the Central Texas region. Early scoping for the Orange Line
HCT Corridor builds on previous Project Connect planning efforts and
will examine potential alternatives to provide HCT in the Central Texas
region.
The early scoping process is intended to support the formal
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) scoping process. In addition,
early scoping supports FTA planning requirements associated with the
[[Page 6863]]
Capital Investment Grant funding program. Capital Metro will comply
with all relevant FTA requirements related to planning and project
development to help analyze and screen alternatives in preparation for
the NEPA process.
Early Scoping
Early Scoping is an optional early step in the NEPA process that
precedes formal scoping, which begins when FTA publishes a notice of
intent to prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS). FTA
encourages the use of early scoping for major planning activities that
may receive FTA funding to start the NEPA process during earlier
project planning phases. Early scoping is intended to generate public
and agency review and comments on the scope of a planning effort within
a defined transportation corridor, which helps the agency to determine
which alignment variations should receive more focused development to
streamline the NEPA process. Early scoping can serve not only to
streamline the NEPA process, but also to firmly link transportation
planning and NEPA, ensuring that the public and interested agencies are
given the opportunity to review and provide comments on the results of
planning activities that can then be used to inform the NEPA process.
Project Connect Long-Term Vision Plan
Over the last 30 months, Capital Metro has been conducting the
Project Connect System Plan per general guidelines of the Federal
Planning and Environmental Linkages (PEL) process. Capital Metro
intends to formalize the PEL process with the initiation of early
scoping for the Orange Line HCT Corridor, so that the results of the
PEL may be considered during the formal NEPA environmental review
process.
Under this PEL process, Capital Metro will analyze alternatives
that could be considered in an EIS, if warranted. The alternatives
analysis will document the project's purpose and need, analyze a range
of reasonable, feasible, and prudent alternatives, and identify a
locally preferred alternative (LPA) in accordance with the Council on
Environmental Quality's and FTA's regulations and guidance for
implementing NEPA (40 CFR 1501.2 through 1501.8 and 23 CFR 771.111,
respectively), which encourages Federal agencies to initiate NEPA early
in their planning processes.
Early scoping allows the scoping process to begin as soon as there
is enough information to describe the proposal so that the public and
relevant agencies can participate effectively. This notice opens early
scoping and invites public and agency involvement with ongoing planning
activities and studies for the Orange Line HCT Corridor, including
review of the (a) purpose and need, (b) the proposed alternatives, and
(c) the potential environmental, transportation, and community impacts
and benefits to consider during the NEPA process.
Purpose and Need for the Proposed Project
Capital Metro invites comments on the following preliminary
statement of the project's purpose and need: The purpose of the project
is to build a north-south transit corridor that provides faster, more
reliable travel to, from, and within Central Austin and the surrounding
region. The purpose is in response to the following needs in the
corridor:
Growth affecting all travel modes and travel times;
limited ability to increase roadway width;
the need to provide better transit options linking
affordable housing and jobs;
the need to connect activity centers and manage future
growth with better transit;
create a central corridor for a better regional transit
system; and
ensure inter-operability between the Orange Line and
future corridors.
Potential Alternatives
During the early scoping process, all reasonable alternatives under
consideration will be evaluated in terms of their transportation
impacts, capital and operating costs, social, economic, and
environmental impacts, and technical consideration. Capital Metro will
continue to analyze alternative transit modes, alignment, and design
options for HCT in the Orange Line Corridor. Capital Metro will seek to
identify a broad range of alternatives, consistent with the project's
purpose and need. The alternatives will include a No Build Alternative,
as well as the following proposed alternatives:
Baseline Alternative (MetroRapid 801 with transit speed and
reliability improvements)
Dedicated Pathways Bus Rapid Transit (BRT)
Dedicated Pathways Light Rail Transit (LRT)
Dedicated Pathways Autonomous Rapid Transit (ART)
At the end of the early scoping process, FTA and Capital Metro
anticipate identifying a preferred mode and alignment as the LPA for
further evaluation during the formal NEPA process. If an EIS is
warranted, FTA will publish a Notice of Intent in the Federal Register
and the public and interested agencies will have the opportunity to
participate in a review and comment period on the scope of the EIS.
Robert C. Patrick,
Regional Administrator, FTA Region VI.
[FR Doc. 2019-03479 Filed 2-27-19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-57-P