Draft Environmental Impact Statement on the Proposed East-Southwest Corridor Study Project in Jacksonville, Duval County and Clay County, Florida

[Federal Register:  December 3, 2002  (Volume 67, Number 232)]
[Notices]               
[Page 72022-72024]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr03de02-143]                         


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION


Federal Transit Administration


 
Draft Environmental Impact Statement on the Proposed East-
Southwest Corridor Study Project in Jacksonville, Duval County and Clay 
County, FL


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


ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an alternatives analysis and draft 
environmental impact statement (AA/DEIS).


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SUMMARY: The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) as lead agency, the 
Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) and the Jacksonville 
Transportation Authority (JTA) intend to conduct an Alternatives 
Analysis and prepare a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (AA/DEIS) 
on a proposal by the JTA to study the implementation of transportation 
improvements within a corridor known as the Jacksonville East/Southwest 
Corridor. The East/Southwest Corridor is an approximate 35-mile radial 
corridor connecting the Town of Orange Park in northern Clay County to 
the Jacksonville beach communities, through downtown Jacksonville. The 
analysis is necessary to identify mobility options that address the 
high level of travel demand and traffic congestion within the East/
Southwest Corridor.
    Scoping will be accomplished through correspondence with interested 
persons, organizations, and Federal, State and local agencies, and 
three public scoping meetings.


DATES: Comment Due Date: Written comments on the scope of the 
alternatives and impacts to be considered should be submitted by 
January 2, 2003 to Mr. Kevin Feldt, Senior Transportation Planner, 
Jacksonville Transportation Authority. Written and verbal comments may 
also be made at the public scoping meetings to be held on December 11 
and December 12, 2002. See ADDRESSES below.


ADDRESSES: Written and verbal comments on the scope and related matters 
should be sent to Mr. Kevin


[[Page 72023]]


Feldt, Senior Transportation Planner, Jacksonville Transportation 
Authority, Post Office Drawer O, Jacksonville, Florida, 32203. 
Telephone: (904) 398-2216.
    Three public scoping meetings will be held at the following dates 
and locations:


Public Scoping Meeting No. 1


    Date: Wednesday, December 11, 2002.
    Time: 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.
    Location: J.E.B. Stuart Middle School, 4815 Westconnett Boulevard, 
Jacksonville, Florida 32210.


Public Scoping Meeting No. 2


    Date: Thursday, December 12, 2002.
    Time: 12 p.m. to 3 p.m.
    Location: Jacksonville Transportation Authority, 100 North Myrtle 
Avenue, Jacksonville, Florida 32203.


Public Scoping Meeting No. 3


    Date: Thursday, December 12, 2002.
    Time: 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.
    Location: FCCJ South Campus--Wilson Arts Center, 11901 Beach 
Boulevard, Jacksonville, Florida 32246.
    Persons with special needs should contact Ms. Winova Hart, Project 
Coordinator, Jacksonville Transportation Authority, Post Office Drawer 
O, Jacksonville, Florida, 32203. Telephone: (904) 398-3882.


FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Kevin Feldt, Senior Transportation 
Planner, Jacksonville Transportation Authority, Post Office Drawer O, 
Jacksonville, Florida, 32203. Telephone: (904) 398-2216. You may also 
contact Mr. Derek R. Scott, Community Planner, FTA, 61 Forsyth Street, 
SW., Suite 17T50, Atlanta, GA 30303. Telephone: (404) 562-3524.


SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: FTA, FDOT and JTA invite interested 
individuals, organizations, and Federal, State and local agencies to 
participate in defining the transportation improvement alternatives to 
be evaluated in the East/Southwest Corridor AA/DEIS Study and identify 
any significant social, economic, or environmental issues related to 
the alternatives. The scoping process will also include early agency 
coordination in accordance with Section 106, 36 CFR 800, the 
identification and evaluation of the concept and scope of the 
alternatives, and selection of a preferred design concept and scope of 
an alternative(s). Subsequently, alternatives that are consistent with 
the purpose of and the need for the proposed project will be addressed 
in the DEIS.


I. Scoping


    The transportation improvements are being defined in conjunction 
with preparation of an Alternatives Analysis/ Draft Environmental 
Impact Statement (AA/DEIS). The AA/DEIS will include a scoping process 
in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 
1969, as amended. An information packet describing the purpose of the 
AA/DEIS study, the corridor location, the proposed initial 
alternatives, and the impact areas to be evaluated, is being mailed to 
affected Federal, State, and local agencies. Others may request scoping 
materials by contacting Mr. Kevin Feldt, Senior Transportation Planner, 
Jacksonville Transportation Authority, Post Office Drawer O, 
Jacksonville, Florida, 32203. Telephone: (904) 398-2216.
    The JTA will hold public scoping meetings as described above. FTA, 
FDOT and JTA invite interested individuals, organizations, and public 
agencies to attend the scoping meetings and participate in establishing 
the study's purpose, alternatives to be studied, time frame of the 
study, and the approach to the analysis. The public and agencies are 
invited to comment on the alternatives to be addressed, the modes and 
technologies to be evaluated, the alignments and termination points to 
be considered, the environmental, social, and economic impacts to be 
analyzed, and the evaluation approach to be used.


II. Description of the Study Area and Transportation Needs


    The East/Southwest Corridor is an approximate 35-mile radial 
corridor connecting downtown Jacksonville with northern Clay County 
(Town of Orange Park), the Argyle/Naval Air Station (NAS), Ortega, 
Avondale, Riverside, Arlington, Mayport areas and the Jacksonville 
beach communities. The study area encompasses areas with the highest 
number of trips to downtown Jacksonville. The study area corridor will 
address 200 miles of congested roadways, representing approximately 40 
percent of the urban area's congestion. It also connects the two large 
Naval installation employment centers to areas with the highest 
concentrations of minority and zero-auto households in the region by 
connecting to the North-Southeast Corridor. Through these connections, 
the proposed improvements have the potential to improve mobility and 
provide access to job opportunities for transportation disadvantaged 
populations.
    In 1999, as a part of the federally required metropolitan 
transportation planning process, the JTA and the Florida Department of 
Transportation (FDOT), in cooperation with the First Coast Metropolitan 
Planning Organization (MPO), conducted a Transportation Alternatives 
Study (TAS) for the Jacksonville metropolitan area (Transportation 
Alternatives Study Corridors Evaluation Report, June 19, 2000). The TAS 
study area included all of Duval County and portions of northern Clay 
County and northern St. Johns County to the south.
    The TAS evaluated regional travel corridors and recommended 
sequencing of corridors to be carried forward into more detailed study. 
A significant public involvement program was implemented during the 
preparation of the TAS, including numerous stakeholder interviews, 
public meetings and community workshops. The resulting recommended 
corridors and sequence for study included two radial corridors (the 
North/Southeast and the East/Southwest) and two crosstown corridors 
(Westside and Beaches). The two radial corridors focus on travel to and 
through downtown Jacksonville, which is the primary travel shed in the 
region today and is projected to remain so into the year 2025.
    A public meeting was conducted on April 18, 2000 in Jacksonville to 
present the preliminary corridor recommendations and sequencing of 
future studies. Public comments on the recommendation were solicited 
from affected communities. In addition to the public hearing, the 
recommended corridors and sequencing were presented to the TAS Citizens 
Advisory Committee, the MPO Technical Coordinating Committee and 
Citizens Advisory Committee, the JTA Board of Directors, and the MPO 
Board of Directors.
    The TAS findings resulted in the first sequenced corridor, the 
North/Southeast corridor, advancing into the AA/DEIS phase. During the 
course of the North-Southeast AA/DEIS, a more thorough identification 
of corridor facilities was performed and potential social, economic and 
environmental impacts have been evaluated. Additionally, corridor 
transportation needs will be further analyzed, alternative 
transportation solutions will be identified and evaluated, and 
decisions will be made on a proposed locally preferred alternative 
(LPA). The North-Southeast AA/DEIS will be completed with the LPA 
adopted in Spring, 2003.
    It is expected that the ongoing scoping process, including the 
formal scoping meetings, stakeholder input, public


[[Page 72024]]


meetings and workshops, along with written comments, will result in the 
final set of alternatives to be studied in the East/Southwest Corridor 
DEIS. Potential variations on the alternatives, including both transit 
and non-transit alternatives, will be considered.


III. Alternatives


    A number of transportation alternatives will be evaluated and will 
include:
    (1) No-Build Alternative consisting of existing and planned/
programmed transportation improvements identified in the Jacksonville 
Urban Area Transportation Study (JUATS) 2025 Cost Feasible Long Range 
Transportation Plan (LRTP). This alternative provides the baseline for 
establishing the project's environmental impacts.
    (2) Transportation System Management/Traffic Demand Management 
(TSM/TDM) alternative. This alternative will include enhanced bus 
service and facilities in addition to other TSM/TDM projects. The TSM/
TDM alternative is defined as low cost, operational oriented 
improvements designed to address the identified transportation problems 
in the corridor. The TSM/TDM alternative provides the baseline criteria 
against which all of the ``build'' alternatives are evaluated.
    (3) Busway/Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) alternative.
    (4) Light Rail Transit (LRT) alternative.
    (5) Commuter Rail alternative.
    (6) Street and highway alternative.
    (7) Combinations of the above modes with various alignment 
alternatives, using facilities that include but are not limited to 
Arlington Expressway/Atlantic Boulevard (SR 10), Hart Expressway (Alt 
US 1)/Beach Boulevard (US 90), and J. Turner Boulevard (SR 202) in the 
East district, and Roosevelt Boulevard (US 17)/CSX Railroad, Blanding 
Boulevard (SR 21) and Interstate 295 in the Southwest district.
    (8) Other alternatives to be identified as a result of the scoping 
process.
    As part of the alternative analysis, capital, operating and 
maintenance costs and other financial impacts will be evaluated. After 
identification and screening of a set of initial alternatives, 
promising conceptual alternatives will be identified and will undergo 
an evaluation process to reduce them to a set of refined alternatives. 
A more detailed analysis of refined alternatives will be undertaken 
during the preparation of the AA/DEIS. The AA/DEIS will be presented to 
the public and agencies at a public hearing followed by the JTA Board 
action to select a proposed LPA. If a Build alternative is selected, 
JTA will then request the First Coast MPO Board to review and approve 
the LPA selection. After approval, the proposed improvements within the 
LPA would be adopted within the cost feasible Jacksonville 2025 LRTP.


IV. Probable Effects


    FTA, FDOT and JTA will evaluate, in the DEIS, all significant 
social, economic and environmental impacts of the refined alternatives. 
Issues and impacts to be considered during the study include potential 
changes to the physical environment (air quality, noise, vibration, 
water quality, aesthetics, ecological resources, navigable waterways, 
etc.); the social environment (land use, development, neighborhoods, 
etc.); parklands, cemeteries, and historic resources.
    Among the primary transportation issues to be evaluated in the DEIS 
are the expected increases in transit ridership, the expected increase 
in mobility for the transportation disadvantaged population, impacts to 
environmental justice groups of concern, and the proposed project's 
support for the region's air quality goals. Evaluation criteria will 
include consideration of the local goals and objectives established for 
the study, measures of effectiveness identified during the ongoing 
scoping process, and criteria established by FTA.


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 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments, section 404 of the Clean 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, following selection and adoption 
of the LPA, JTA may seek FTA Section 5309 New Starts funding for the 
LPA or related projects that may terminate within the project area and 
will therefore be subject to the FTA New Starts regulations (49 CFR 
part 611). This New Starts regulation requires submission of 
information specified by FTA to support a JTA request to initiate 
preliminary engineering. The alternatives analysis and subsequent 
preliminary engineering activities are to be executed in conjunction 
with the NEPA process.


    Issued on: November 26, 2002.
Jerry Franklin,
Regional Administrator, Federal Transit Administration, Atlanta, 
Georgia.
[FR Doc. 02-30524 Filed 12-2-02; 8:45 am]

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