Environmental Impact Statement on the Proposed Central Light Rail Transit Line Between North Seattle (Northgate) and SeaTac, WA

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Transit Administration

Environmental Impact Statement on the Proposed Central Light Rail

Transit Line Between North Seattle (Northgate) and SeaTac, WA

AGENCY: Federal Transit Administration, DOT.

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement.

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SUMMARY: The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) and the Central Puget

Sound Regional Transit Authority (RTA) intend to prepare an

Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) in accordance with the National

Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The RTA will also ensure that the EIS

satisfies the requirements of the Washington State Environmental Policy

Act (SEPA). The FTA will be the NEPA lead agency. The RTA will be the

SEPA lead agency. Corridor alternatives were evaluated in a SEPA plan-

level EIS (1993) and in a Major Investment Study (1997).

The EIS will evaluate the Central Light Rail Transit (LRT) Project

and alignment alternatives in the 23-mile long corridor between North

Seattle (Northgate) and SeaTac, Washington. The proposed Central LRT

Project is intended to provide light rail transit service between key

activity centers along the corridor, including the region's three

largest employment centers, many major institutions, dense residential

neighborhoods, and regional destinations, such as Sea-Tac International

Airport.

The study area also includes several sites for a proposed LRT

vehicle storage and maintenance facility. In addition, the EIS will

evaluate the no-build alternative and any new, reasonable alternatives

within the corridor generated through the scoping process.

Scoping will be accomplished through correspondence with interested

persons, organizations, and federal, state, regional, and local

agencies. Six public scoping meetings will be held, as well as one

inter-agency scoping meeting. See DATES below for details.

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

and impacts to be considered should be sent to the RTA by January 5,

1998. See ADDRESSES below. Oral comments should be made at one of the

six public scoping meetings scheduled below. Scoping Meetings: Public

scoping meetings will be held on the following days and locations:

Tuesday, December 9, 1997, from 4:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., Kane Hall,

Walker Ames Room, University of Washington Campus, Seattle, WA

Wednesday, December 10, 1997, from 4:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., Union

Station, 401 S. Jackson Street, Seattle, WA

Thursday, December 11, 1997, from 4:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., Rainier

Community Center, 4600 36th Avenue South, Seattle, WA

Saturday, December 13, 1997, from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon, Seattle

Central Community College, 1701 Broadway, Room 1110, Seattle, WA

Saturday, December 13, 1997, from 1:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., Foster

High School Commons, 4242 S. 144th Street, Tukwila, WA

Wednesday, December 17, 1997, from 4:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., Tyee High

School Auditorium, 4424 South 188th Street, SeaTac, WA

A scoping meeting for governmental agencies will be held on Monday,

December 8, 1997, between 1:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. at the RTA, 1100 2nd

Avenue, Suite 500, Seattle, WA 98101-3423. All the locations for the

scoping meetings are accessible to people with disabilities. People

with special needs should contact the RTA at the address below or by

calling (206) 684-6776. A TDD number is also available: (206) 684-1394.

Scoping meetings will be held in an ``open-house'' format. Project

representatives will be available to discuss the project throughout the

entire meeting. Informational displays and written materials will also

be available throughout the entire meeting. 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 oral comments.

ADDRESSES: Written comments on the project scope should be sent to:

Perry Weinberg, Environmental Compliance Manager, Regional Transit

Authority, 1100 Second Avenue, Suite 500, Seattle, WA 98101-3423; fax

number: (206) 689-3525.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. F. William Fort, Transportation

Program Specialist, Federal Transit Administration, Region X, 915

Second Avenue, Room 3142, Seattle, WA 98174; phone number: (206) 220-

4461.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Scoping

The FTA and the RTA invite interested individuals, organizations,

and federal, state, regional and local agencies to participate in

defining the alternatives within the corridor to be evaluated in the

EIS and identifying any significant, social, economic, or environmental

issues related to the alternatives. An Environmental Scoping

Information Report describing the project, the proposed alternatives,

the impact areas to be evaluated, the public involvement program and

the preliminary project schedule has been prepared. You may request a

copy of the report by contacting the person identified above in the

section FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT. Scoping comments may be made

orally at the public scoping meetings or in writing. See DATES above

for locations and times, and see the ADDRESSES section above for

written comments. During scoping, comments should focus on identifying

specific social, economic, or environmental impacts to be evaluated

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and suggesting alternatives that are more cost-effective or have fewer

environmental impacts while achieving similar transit objectives.

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

the meeting by contacting the RTA at (206) 684-6776. If you wish to be

placed on the mailing list to receive further information as the

project proceeds, please contact the following at the RTA: Ron Endlich,

LRT North Corridor Manager (206) 684-1634 or Jonathan Jackson, LRT

South Corridor Manager (206) 684-6773.

II. Description of Study Area and Project Need

The Central LRT Project study area is a north-south corridor,

approximately 23 miles long between the Northgate area in north Seattle

and SeaTac, Washington. The Central LRT Project will include a

partially grade-separated, double-track light rail line on new right-

of-way. Conventional LRT low-floor vehicles are expected to be used.

Service is expected to operate every 6 minutes in peak periods and

every 8 minutes in off-peak times, 18 to 20 hours a day, seven days a

week.

A total of 21 LRT stations are proposed to serve the major transit

markets of Northgate, the University District, Capitol Hill, First

Hill, downtown Seattle, Southeast Seattle, and the cities of Tukwila

and SeaTac. Light rail service will operate through downtown Seattle in

the existing transit tunnel. Bus transfer facilities will be provided

at each LRT station. Transfers to planned commuter rail service will

take place at several selected stations.

III. Alternatives

The alternatives proposed for evaluation include a variety of

alignment alternatives for different segments of the corridor. In

addition, various track profiles will be evaluated throughout the study

area. Profiles include tunnel, surface and aerial sections.

Beginning from the south, in the SeaTac segment two route alignment

alternatives will be evaluated. One route follows International Blvd.

(State Route 99) from S. 200th Street, north past Sea-Tac Airport to

the intersection with SR-518. The other alignment starts from the same

location at the south end of the City and follows 28th Street, using

Sea-Tac Airport property traveling north to connect with the SR-99

route.

In the Tukwila segment, two alternative alignments will be

evaluated. One alignment would use Pacific Highway South (State Route

99) between the SeaTac city limits and Boeing Access Road. The second

alignment would travel east from State Route 99 along State Route 518

and continue east past Southcenter Mall. The line would proceed north

along Interurban Avenue to I-5 at Boeing Access Road.

In the southeast Seattle (Rainier Valley) segment, two alignment

alternatives will be considered. One follows Martin Luther King, Jr.

Way from Henderson Street north to McClellan Street. The other follows

Rainier Avenue South between the same locations. Various combinations

of these alignments may also be considered.

Between South McClellan Street and the Downtown Seattle Transit

Tunnel, two general alignments will be evaluated. One alignment would

run north along Rainier Avenue past I-90, before heading west to

connect with the existing International District tunnel station. The

second alignment would explore the feasibility of tunneling under

Beacon Hill, beginning just west of the intersection of Rainier Avenue

and Martin Luther King, Jr. Way. The route would connect with the

existing E-3 busway at South Lander Street and would travel north to

the International District tunnel station.

From the north end of the Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel to the

University District, two alignments will be evaluated. One alignment is

a tunnel beginning under I-5 east of the existing Convention Place

tunnel station. The tunnel would loop south to serve First Hill, then

continue north under Broadway Avenue and 10th Avenue East. The tunnel

would continue under Portage Bay and 15th Avenue Northeast in the

University District. Another alignment would run north from the

Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel at the Westlake Station underground

through the Denny Regrade and the Seattle Center areas. The route would

continue northeast through south Lake Union and the Eastlake/Fairview

area, adjacent to I-5. The route would leave the tunnel north of SR-520

and would cross the Ship Canal on a new high-level bridge parallel to

the existing I-5 bridge. The route would continue east along Campus

Parkway and reenter a tunnel under the University District.

In the University District to Northgate segment, several

alternative alignments will be considered for the segment between

Ravenna Boulevard and N.E. 75th Street. These alternatives include

alignments along 8th Avenue N.E., Roosevelt Way, and 12th Avenue N.E.

The proposed Central LRT Project also includes construction of an

LRT vehicle storage and maintenance facility. Alternative locations for

the facility will be evaluated in the City of Tukwila, near Boeing

Access Road and East Marginal Way South, and in Southeast Seattle,

between Boeing Access Road and Henderson Street.

The No-Build alternative, which involves no change to

transportation services or facilities in the corridor beyond those

currently programmed, will also be evaluated in the EIS.

IV. Probable Effects/Potential Impacts for Analysis

The FTA and RTA plan to evaluate in the EIS all significant,

social, economic, and environmental impacts of the alternatives.

Environmental and social impacts proposed for analysis include land use

and neighborhood impacts, traffic and parking impacts near stations,

traffic circulation, visual impacts, health and safety impacts, impacts

on cultural and archaeological resources, impacts on wetland and

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

areas, rare and endangered species, and earth, 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.

Reasonable measures to mitigate adverse impacts will be identified.

V. FTA Procedures

The Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and the Preliminary

Engineering (PE) for the Central Light Rail Transit Project will be

conducted simultaneously. The locally preferred light rail transit mode

and its general alignment were selected previously on the basis of the

evaluation in the Major Investment Study (1997). The EIS/PE process

will assess the social, economic and environmental impacts of

alternative specific alignments, station locations and designs, and

maintenance facility locations and designs to minimize and mitigate

adverse impacts. A draft EIS will be published and made available for

public and agency review and comment, and public hearings will be held.

On the basis of the draft EIS and the comments received, the RTA will

refine the project design and complete preliminary engineering and the

final EIS.

Issued: November 12, 1997.

Helen M. Knoll,

Regional Administrator.

[FR Doc. 97-30212 Filed 11-17-97; 8:45 am]

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