Environmental Impact Statement for the Georgetown Branch Transitway and Trail, Montgomery County, MD

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Transit Administration

Environmental Impact Statement for the Georgetown Branch

Transitway and Trail, Montgomery County, MD

AGENCY: Federal Transit Administration, DOT.

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement

(EIS).

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SUMMARY: The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) and the Maryland Mass

Transit Administration (MTA) intend to undertake an Environmental

Impact Statement (EIS) in accordance with the National Environmental

Policy Act (NEPA). MTA will ensure that the EIS also satisfies the

requirements of the Maryland Environmental Policy Act (MEPA).

This effort will be performed in cooperation with the Montgomery

County Department of Transportation (MCDOT). Other key supporting

agencies include the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments

(MWCOG), the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA),

and the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission (M-

NCPPC).

The EIS will evaluate transportation improvements in the corridor

between the central business districts (CBDs) in Bethesda and Silver

Spring, Maryland. In particular, the focus will be on the former CSX

Railroad Georgetown Branch right-of-way (ROW) which has been purchased

by Montgomery County. Additionally, the corridor will connect the

Bethesda and Silver Spring Metrorail stations located in the respective

CBDs. In addition to a proposed transitway, which may be either a

busway or light rail transit in conjunction with a parallel hiker/biker

trail, the EIS will evaluate the No-Build and the Transportation System

Management (TSM) alternatives and any new alternatives generated

through the scoping process. Scoping will be accomplished through

correspondence with interested persons, organizations, and federal,

state, and local agencies, and through a public meeting. See

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION below for details.

DATES: Comment Due Date: Written comments on the scope of alternatives

and impacts to be considered should be sent to the MTA by October 26,

1994. See ADDRESSES below.

Scoping Meeting: The public scoping meeting will be held on

Wednesday, October 5, 1994, between 3 p.m. and 9 p.m. at the Armory

Place. See ADDRESSES below. People with special needs should contact

Lisa Colletti or Diane Melia at the MTA at the address below or by

calling (410) 333-3376 or (410) 333-3389. A TDD number is also

available: (410) 539-3497. The building is accessible to people with

disabilities. It is located within two (2) blocks of the Silver Spring

Metrorail station and is served by major Metrobus and Ride-On bus

routes.

The meeting will be held in an ``open-house'' format and project

representatives will be available to discuss the project throughout the

time period given. Informational displays and written materials will

also be available throughout the time period given. In addition to

written comments which may be made at the meeting or as described

below, a stenographer will be available at the meeting to record

comments.

ADDRESSES: Written comments on project scope should be sent to Mr.

Ernest Baisden, Project Manager, Maryland Mass Transit Administration,

300 West Lexington Street, Baltimore, MD 21201. The Scoping meeting

will be held at the following location: Armory Place, 925 Wayne Avenue,

Silver Spring, MD 20910.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. John T. Garrity, Jr.,

Transportation Program Specialist, Federal Transit, Administration,

Region III, (215) 656-6900.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Scoping

FTA and the MTA invite interested individuals, organizations, and

federal, state, and local agencies to participate in defining the

alternatives to be evaluated in the EIS and identifying any significant

social, economic, or environmental issues related to the alternatives.

Scoping comments may be made at the public scoping meeting or in

writing. See DATES and ADDRESSES sections above for locations and

times. During scoping, comments should focus on identifying specific

social, economic, or environmental impacts to be evaluated and

suggesting alternatives which are more cost effective or have less

environmental impact while achieving similar transit objectives.

Scoping materials will be available at the meeting or in advance of

the meeting by contacting Lisa Colletti or Diane Melia at the MTA as

indicated above.

II. Description of Study Area and Project Need

The study area and corridor is wholly within Montgomery County. It

is approximately 4\1/2\ miles long and connects the CBDs of Bethesda

and Silver Spring. The corridor also connects two heavily used Metro

stations and two major employment centers.

Existing transit service in the study area is provided by Ride-On

and Metrobus. Existing traffic is primarily carried by East-West

Highway (MD 410) with high traffic volumes and poor level-of-service at

many of the signalized intersections.

The proposed transitway is intended to provide a high quality

connection between the two branches of the Metro Red Line; to support

economic viability of the Bethesda and Silver Spring CBDs through

greater transit accessibility; contribute to higher transit modal

splits for work trips to the CBDs and employment centers; improve

cross-county movement by public transportation to help achieve regional

clean air goals; and improve travel time in the Bethesda-Silver Spring

corridor including improved access to the Bethesda and Silver Spring

Metrorail stations.

III. Alternatives

The alternatives proposed for evaluation include: No-Build which

involves no change to transportation services or facilities in the

corridor beyond those improvements currently programmed; the TSM

alternative which focuses on operational and low-cost capital

improvements to transit routes and services in the corridor; the light

rail transit (LRT) alternative which consists of providing light rail

service along the 4.4 mile right-of-way, primarily using single-track

with double-track passing sections, with a parallel hiker/biker trail;

and the busway alternative which consists of providing bus service

along the 4.4 mile right-of-way with a parallel hiker/biker trail. Five

stations are proposed for both the light rail transit and busway

alternatives: Bethesda, Connecticut Avenue, Lyttonsville, Spring

Street, and Silver Spring, with future stations to be studied for

operational feasibility.

IV. Probable Effects

FTA and MTA plan to evaluate in the EIS all significant social,

economic, and environmental impacts of the alternatives. Among the

primary issues are the expected increase in transit ridership, the

expected increase in mobility for the corridor's transit dependent, the

support of the region's air quality goals, the capital outlays needed

to construct the project, the cost of operating and maintaining the

facilities created by the project, and the financial impacts on the

funding agencies. Environmental and social impacts proposed for

analysis include land use and neighborhood impacts, traffic and parking

impacts near stations, health and safety impacts, impacts on wetland

and parkland areas, and noise and vibration impacts. Impacts on natural

areas, rare and endangered species, and air and water quality, will

also be covered. The impacts will be evaluated both for the

construction period and for the long term period of operations.

Measures to mitigate adverse impacts will be identified.

V. FTA Procedures

In accordance with federal transportation planning regulations (23

CFR Part 450), the draft EIS will be prepared in conjunction with a

major transportation investment study and document the results of that

study, including an evaluation of the social, economic, and

environmental impacts of the alternatives. Upon completion of the MIS/

DEIS, and on the basis of the comments received, the MTA Administrator

in concert with the Secretary of the Maryland Department of

Transportation (MDOT) and in consultation with Montgomery County,

MWCOG, and other affected agencies, will select a locally preferred

alternative. Then MTA, as lead agency, will seek to continue with

further preliminary engineering and preparation of the Final EIS.

Issued on: September 15, 1994.

Sheldon A. Kinbar,

Regional Administrator.

[FR Doc. 94-23299 Filed 9-20-94; 8:45 am]

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