Preparation of Environmental Impact Statement for Transportation Improvements within the Southeast Corridor between Nashville and Murfreesboro, Tennessee

[Federal Register: July 2, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 127)]
[Notices]               
[Page 40468-40470]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr02jy04-122]                         

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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Transit Administration

 
Preparation of Environmental Impact Statement for Transportation 
Improvements Within the Southeast Corridor Between Nashville and 
Murfreesboro, TN

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) is issuing this 
notice to advise interested agencies and the public that, in accordance 
with the National Environmental Policy Act, FTA and the Nashville Area 
Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) will prepare an Environmental 
Impact Statement (EIS) for proposed transportation improvements in the 
Southeast Corridor between downtown Nashville in Davidson County, 
Tennessee and Murfreesboro in Rutherford County, Tennessee.

DATES: Comment Due Date: Written comments on the scope of the EIS, 
including the alternatives and impacts to be considered, should be sent 
to the address listed under ADDRESSES below by August 14, 2004.
    Interagency Scoping Meeting: An interagency scoping meeting will be 
held on Wednesday, July 14, 2004, from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. at the 
Nashville Downtown Library, 615 Church Street, Conference Room 1, 
Nashville, Tennessee 37219. Representatives of agencies likely to have 
an interest in, or jurisdiction over any aspect of the project will be 
individually contacted and invited to the meeting.
    Public Scoping Meetings: Public scoping meetings will be held on: 
Monday, July 12, 2004, from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., at Smyrna Town Centre, 
100 Sam Ridley Parkway, Smyrna, Tennessee 37167; Tuesday, July 13, 
2004, from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Rutherford County Courthouse, Courthouse 
Square, Murfreesboro, Tennessee 37130; and Wednesday, July 14, 2004 
from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Nashville Downtown Library, 615 Church 
Street, Conference Room 1, Nashville, Tennessee 37219.
    All scoping meetings will be held in wheelchair-accessible 
locations. If additional assistance, such as signing for the hearing 
impaired, is needed, please notify Jim McAteer of the Nashville Area 
MPO as indicated below under ADDRESSES.

ADDRESSES: Written comments on the scope of the EIS, including the 
alternatives to be analyzed and the impacts to be considered, should be 
sent by August 14, 2004 to: Jim McAteer, Transit Planner, Nashville 
Area Metropolitan Planning Organization, 730 2nd Ave South, Nashville, 
TN 37201, Phone (615) 862-7204, Fax (615) 862-7209, e-mail 
mcateer@nashvillempo.org. Also contact Mr. McAteer to be placed on the 

project mailing list or to request a copy of the scoping information 
packet which is also on the Nashville MPO website at 
http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/leaving.cgi?from
=leavingFR.html&log=linklog&to=http://www.nashvillempo.org. 
The locations of the scoping meetings are given above under DATES.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Doug Frate, Federal Transit 
Administration, 61 Forsyth Street, SW., Suite 17T50, Atlanta, GA 30303. 
Phone: (404) 562-3514.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: FTA, the Federal lead agency, in cooperation 
with the Nashville Area MPO, the local

[[Page 40469]]

lead agency, is preparing an EIS for proposed transportation 
improvements in the corridor between downtown Nashville in Davidson 
County, Tennessee and Murfreesboro in Rutherford County, Tennessee, 
known as the Southeast Corridor. Issues and alternatives will be 
identified through a scoping process in accordance with the regulations 
implementing the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969, as 
amended.

I. Scoping

    The Nashville Area MPO and FTA invite interested individuals, 
organizations, and Federal, State, and local agencies to participate in 
scoping the EIS. Scoping participants are invited to comment on the 
alternatives to be addressed; the modes and technologies to be 
evaluated; the alignments and station locations to be considered; the 
environmental, social, and economic impacts to be analyzed; and the 
evaluation approach to be used to select a locally preferred 
alternative. Interested individuals, organizations, or agencies may 
propose the consideration of an additional, specific alternative or the 
study of a specific environmental effect associated with an 
alternative. Scoping comments should focus on the issues and 
alternatives for analysis, and not on preference for particular 
alternatives. (Individual preference for particular alternatives should 
be communicated during the comment period for the Draft EIS.) Comments 
may be made at the scoping meetings or in writing no later than August 
14, 2004, as described in DATES and ADDRESSES above. After the scoping 
process, the MPO will conduct a planning Alternatives Analysis to 
decide what transportation improvements in the Southeast Corridor 
should be incorporated into its regional transportation plan. The EIS 
will incorporate the planning Alternatives Analysis by reference and 
evaluate the surviving alternatives in detail.

II. Description of Study Area

    The study area, known as the Southeast Corridor, links the cities 
of Nashville in Davidson County and LaVergne, Smyrna and Murfreesboro 
in Rutherford County, all of which are within the MPO's area of 
responsibility for transportation planning. Nashville is the second 
largest city in Tennessee with a population of roughly 570,000. The 
central business district houses the Tennessee State Offices, music 
attractions, and the Tennessee Titans football team which brings 
visitors from across the state. Nashville draws approximately 132,000 
commuters from surrounding counties, about 25,000 of whom come from 
Rutherford County. Murfreesboro is the southernmost terminus of the 
study corridor and lies about 30 miles southeast of Nashville. It has a 
population of roughly 75,000 and is home to Middle Tennessee State 
University (MTSU), which has an enrollment of about 21,000, of whom 
3,500 live on the campus. Smyrna has a population of approximately 
25,600 and LaVergne has an approximate population of 18,700. The 
estimated population along the corridor is 260,050.
    The two primary north-south thoroughfares within the corridor are 
Murfreesboro Road, also known as U.S. 41/70S, and Interstate 24 (I-24). 
This corridor experiences significant levels of traffic congestion 
within the 30-mile segment of I-24 between Nashville and Murfreesboro, 
handling between 91,000 and 133,000 average daily annual trips. 
Murfreesboro Road has between 20,600 and 37,400 average annual daily 
trips. Some of the potential trip attractors/generators along the 
corridor include Nashville International Airport, and MTSU and major 
employers such as Dell Computer and regional shopping malls, commercial 
services, office parks, hospitals and the downtown core of Nashville. 
LaVergne and Smyrna form a major employment area known as ``Interchange 
City,'' which is home to a Nissan manufacturing plant, Bridgestone and 
other major industries.
    Few options exist in the corridor to provide alternatives to 
driving in heavily congested conditions. Improvements are needed to 
address traffic volumes that increase annually and the corresponding 
traffic congestion that is projected to occur. The planning 
Alternatives Analysis will examine alignments, technologies, station 
locations, cost, funding, ridership, economic development, land use, 
engineering feasibility, and environmental concerns. During this 
Alternatives Analysis process, the MPO will also evaluate options for 
transportation improvements in this corridor that do not involve 
significant capital investment.

III. Alternatives

    The alternatives initially proposed for consideration in the 
Southeast Corridor include:
    1. No Action Alternative: Based on projects included in the local 
transportation improvement plan (TIP) and financially-constrained long-
range transportation plan, with no new change to transportation 
services or facilities in the area beyond already committed projects.
    2. Transportation System Management Alternative: A low-cost 
alternative will be developed to include minor improvements to 
intersections, traffic signals, demand management and system management 
programs, bus services and facilities and other modifications to the 
transportation system that can be made without major investments in 
infrastructure or equipment.
    3. Build Alternatives: Three alternatives, combining various types 
of major investments to meet the travel needs of the corridor, will be 
developed. These ``build'' alternatives most likely will include the 
development of busway or bus rapid transit, light rail transit, and 
conventional commuter rail technology along various existing rights-of-
way in the corridor.
    Based on public and agency input received during scoping, 
variations of the above alternatives and other transportation-related 
improvement options, both transit and non-transit, will be considered 
for the Southeast Corridor.

IV. Potential Impacts for Analysis

    The FTA and MPO will consider all social, economic, and 
environmental impacts associated with the alternatives under 
consideration. Potential environmental issues to be addressed include: 
land use, historic and archaeological resources, traffic and parking, 
noise and vibration, environmental justice, floodplain encroachments, 
coordination with other transportation and economic development 
projects, and construction impacts. Other issues to be addressed 
include: natural areas, ecosystems, rare and endangered species, water 
resources, air quality, surface water and groundwater quality, 
contaminated sites, displacements and relocations, and parklands. The 
potential impacts will be evaluated for both the construction period 
and the long-term operations period of each alternative considered. In 
addition, the cumulative effects of the alternatives on major resources 
identified in the study area will be analyzed. Measures to avoid or 
mitigate any significant adverse impacts will be developed.

V. FTA Procedures

    In accordance with FTA policy, all Federal laws, regulations, and 
executive orders affecting project development, including but not 
limited to the regulations of the Council on Environmental Quality and 
FTA implementing NEPA (40 CFR parts 1500-1508, and 23 CFR part 771), 
the Clean Air Act, section 404 of the Clean

[[Page 40470]]

Water Act, Executive Order 12898 regarding environmental justice, the 
National Historic Preservation Act, the Endangered Species Act, and 
section 4(f) of the DOT Act, will be addressed to the maximum extent 
practicable during the NEPA process. In addition, the MPO may seek 
section 5309 New Starts funding for the project and will therefore be 
subject to the FTA New Starts regulation (49 CFR part 611). This New 
Starts regulation requires the submission of certain specified 
information to FTA to support a request to initiate preliminary 
engineering, which is normally done in conjunction with the NEPA 
process.
    After the scoping process, the MPO will conduct a planning 
Alternatives Analysis to decide what transportation improvements in the 
Southeast Corridor should be incorporated into its regional 
transportation plan. The planning Alternatives Analysis will examine 
alignments, technologies, station locations, cost, funding, ridership, 
economic development, land use, engineering feasibility, and 
environmental concerns. The Draft EIS will incorporate the planning 
Alternatives Analysis by reference and evaluate the surviving 
alternatives in detail. After its publication, the Draft EIS will be 
available for public and agency review and comment, and public hearings 
will be held on the Draft EIS. The Final EIS will consider comments 
received during the Draft EIS public review and will identify the 
preferred alternative. Additional opportunities for public involvement 
will be provided throughout all phases of project development.

    Issued on: June 28, 2004.
Hiram J. Walker,
Regional Administrator.
[FR Doc. 04-15054 Filed 7-1-04; 8:45 am]

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