Environmental Impact Statement for the Proposed Wilmington Transit Connector, Wilmington, DE

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Transit Administration

Environmental Impact Statement for the Proposed Wilmington

Transit Connector, Wilmington, DE

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), as Federal lead

agency, and the Delaware Transit Corporation (DTC), a division of the

Delaware Department of Transportation (DelDOT), as local lead agency,

in cooperation with the City of Wilmington (City) and the Wilmington

Area Planning Council (WILMAPCO), intend to prepare an Environmental

Impact Statement (EIS) on a proposed investment strategy to improve

mobility among major destinations within the City. The EIS will be

prepared in conformance with the National Environmental Policy Act

(NEPA). The corridor under study is approximately

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1.8 miles in length and 0.5 miles in width, and encompasses the major

activity centers making up Wilmington's downtown. The planning horizon

for the work will be 20 years with the year 2020 to be employed as the

`design year.'

1. The alternatives include: (1) A No Build Alternative: this

alternative involves no change to transportation services or facilities

in the Corridor beyond already committed projects; (2) Transportation

Systems Management (TSM) Alternatives: these alternatives would

optimize existing transportation facilities and operations with low-

cost investments to meet the travel demand. Components of this

alternative include selected pedestrian, roadway and bus service

enhancements; (3) two types of build alternatives--dedicated bus or

busway and fixed rail. Each build alternative will consider a range of

technologies, routes/alignments, and service levels. Preliminary

routes/alignments have been identified for consideration in each of

four areas of the corridor beginning at the north end of the corridor,

as follows:

Segment 1--4 alignments serving Rodney Square Transit hub in the north

section;

Segment 2--2 north-south alignments in the central section of the

corridor;

Segment 3--3 alignments serving the Amtrak station transit hub; and

Segment 4--3 alignments serving the cultural/entertainment district in

the south Riverfront area.

Other alternatives or revisions to the above alternatives that

arise through the scoping process will also be considered.

Scoping will be accomplished through correspondence and meetings

with interested persons, organizations, and Federal, State, and local

agencies. A public meeting will be held regarding this project on

Tuesday, June 29, 1999 from 4 to 7 p.m. in Wilmington, Delaware. See

ADDRESSES below. The project also will be included in the future

meetings, workshops, and focus groups of the `Wilmington Initiatives,'

an element of the Metropolitan Transportation Plan (MTP) for the

region, through which the public will have full and regular access to

project information and opportunity to comment on the findings as they

emerge. As part of the systems planning of the Wilmington Initiatives,

two public meetings have been held on April 14 and May 19 to discuss a

transit connector concept.

DATES:

Comment Due Date: Written comments on the alternatives to be

considered and comparative environmental impacts to be evaluated should

be postmarked by August 2, 1999 and sent to the Delaware Transit

Corporation or the Delaware Department of Transportation. See ADDRESSES

below.

Scoping Meeting: A public scoping meeting will be held on Tuesday,

June 29, 1999, from 4 to 7 p.m. at the Grand Opera House. See ADDRESSES

below. The meeting will be held in an ``open-house'' format, and

representatives of DTC/DelDOT, the City of Wilmington and WILMAPCO will

be available to discuss the proposed project. Informational displays

and written material will also be available. Provision to make written

and verbal comments on the materials will be provided. The building in

which the scoping meeting will be conducted is accessible to people

with disabilities, and provisions will be made for the hearing

impaired.

ADDRESSES: Written comments should be sent to:

Mr. Raymond C. Miller, Director, Delaware Transit Corporation (DTC),

655 Bay Road, Suite 4G, Dover, DE 19901

or

Terry Fulmer, Manager of Environmental Services, Delaware Department of

Transportation (DelDOT), P.O. Box 778, Dover, DE 19903

The scoping meeting will be held as follows: Tuesday, June 29,

1999, From 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., Grand Opera House, Lower Level

Function Room, 818 Market Street, Wilmington, Delaware 19801.

As mentioned above, there will also be provisions for written and

verbal comments at the public meeting. People with special needs should

contact: Doug Andrews, Delaware Transit Corporation (DTC), 400 S.

Madison Street, Wilmington, DE 19801, (302) 577-3278 x3451.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John T. Garrity, Federal Transit

Administration (FTA), Region III, 1760 Market Street, Suite 500,

Philadelphia, PA 19103-4124, (215) 656-7100.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Scoping

FTA and the DTC/DelDOT, along with the City and WILMAPCO, invite

interested individuals, organizations, and Federal, State, and local

agencies to participate in defining transportation alternatives to be

evaluated in the EIS and in identifying social, economic, or

environmental issues related to the alternatives. An information packet

describing the Wilmington Transit Connector, the study area, the

proposed alternatives, and the impact areas to be evaluated are being

mailed to affected Federal, State, and local agencies. Other interested

parties may request the scoping materials by contacting Mr. Raymond C.

Miller, Director of the Delaware Transit Corporation. See ADDRESSES

above.

During scoping, comments should focus on identifying social,

economic, or environmental impacts to be evaluated and suggesting

alternatives that meet identified mobility needs in a cost-effective

manner. However, scoping is not the appropriate time to indicate a

preference for a particular alternative. Comments on preferences should

be communicated after the scoping, during and immediately after the

development of Alternatives Analysis Draft EIS. If you wish to be

placed on the mailing list to receive further information as the

project develops, contact Mr. Raymond C. Miller, Director of the

Delaware Transit Corporation. See ADDRESSES above.

II. Description of Study Area and Project Need

The study area extends from 14th Street in the north to Walnut

Street on the east, along the Christina River in the southwest, to the

Conrail rail tracks to the south, I-95 on the west, to 2nd Street east

to Washington Street, joining 14th Street. The corridor is

approximately 1.8 miles long and 0.5 miles wide. The corridor

encompasses the major activity centers making up Wilmington's downtown

and the developing riverfront entertainment district:

1. Substantial Office Core: Currently there are 8 million square

feet of single-tenant and 4.2 million of square feet of multi-unit

tenant office space in downtown Wilmington.

2. Downtown Retail Areas: Downtown Wilmington contains

approximately 200,000 square feet of retail space.

3. Cultural Facilities: Cultural facilities include the Grand Opera

House, the Dupont Playhouse, the Delaware Theatre Company, the Delaware

Historical Society, Opera Delaware, the Christina Cultural Arts Center

and the First USA Riverfront Arts Center. Wilmington's cultural

attractions generate at least half a million visitors per year today.

4. Higher Education Facilities: Seven educational institutions with

a current enrollment of 4,000 students are located in the corridor.

5. Hotels: Five hotels, with close to 850 rooms, generate

approximately 230,000 guests per year today.

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This area is the transportation hub of the region and is traversed

by intercity rail, bus and highway networks extending up and down the

northeast corridor of the United States. The corridor accounts for

approximately 20% of the State of Delaware employment and 64% of the

City's workforce.

The need for the project arises from three considerations:

distances between major activity centers, constrained access to several

of these activity centers, and planned economic development that is

constrained by transportation access. First, Wilmington's corporate

offices, retail, educational, cultural and entertainment centers are

dispersed along most of the corridor. A major travel market for a

transit service is the office employment in this corridor. However,

employment sites are spread out over a length of about one mile

(Christina Gateway Complex between 2nd and 4th Streets at Walnut and

the Rodney Square/Delaware Avenue area (north of 9th Street).

Supportive land uses of retail and entertainment are generally

separated from these concentrations by more than the typical one to

three block distance that workers will walk at lunch time or after

work. Considering current and projected (year 2006) employment

approximately 1,700 trips per day would be generated for reliable

transit service in this corridor. Other identified markets for transit

in this corridor include: riverfront attractions and jobs (1,850

potential trips), commuting to and from train station (300 trips) and

trips to and from educational facilities (100 trips).

Second, access to the rapidly developing entertainment, cultural,

and retail centers on the riverfront is constrained by the northeast

corridor viaduct, I-95, and the river. Patrons arriving at the train

station in the middle of the corridor have limited options for getting

to the new Exhibition center or retail due to these barriers and their

effect on street configuration and connection. While the Downtown

Circuit bus connects these two locations, the route is circuitous and

subject to traffic delays. Use of an abandoned rail corridor, now owned

by the state presents one of the few options for increased capacity and

reliability of transit service.

Finally, the study corridor contains the City's major office,

retail, hotel, transportation, cultural and educational facilities, and

more is coming. Office facilities include several corporate

headquarters and Federal and State office complexes. Entertainment/

retail facilities have expanded along the riverfront and more is on the

drawing boards. Hotels include the Hotel DuPont, a national historic

landmark and national chains such as Wyndham, Marriott and Sheraton. A

new hotel and residential apartments were announced in early 1999. A

``Shipyard Shops'' retail complex opened on the riverfront in May 1999.

A rejuvenated retail area on southern Market Street called ``Ship's

Tavern District'' breaks ground in May 1999. The study corridor also

includes a judicial complex currently under construction at Fourth and

King Streets. The Wilmington train station, with AMTRAK and regional

rail facilities, serves as a major transit hub in the middle of the

corridor; with Rodney Square, the transit hub in the northern segment.

A major challenge of this study is how to efficiently serve these

facilities and limit traffic and parking impacts. A high quality

transit service in this corridor would allow implementation of a park-

once policy, so that internally generated traffic and land devoted to

parking would be minimized.

Also at issue is the need to link workers to the new jobs. To

accomplish this will require better transit service between the train

station and riverfront developments and between in-town neighborhoods

and the new employment centers in the corridor.

III. Alternatives

Among the alternatives that the Alternatives Analysis and DEIS will

evaluate are:

1. No Build Alternative: this alternative involves no change to

transportation services or facilities in the Corridor beyond projects

already committed for construction in the regional transportation

improvement program and state capital improvement program.

2. Transportation Systems Management (TSM) Alternatives: these

alternatives would optimize existing transportation facilities and

operations with low-cost investments to meet the travel demand and

improve safety. Components of this alternative will include selected

pedestrian, roadway and bus service enhancements.

3. Fixed Guideway Alternatives: fixed guideway alternatives will

include dedicated busway and rail alternatives, employing a combination

of existing streets and former rail right-of-way. A range of specific

alignments will be considered.

It is expected that the public scoping process and written comments

will be a major source of additional candidate alternatives for

consideration in the study. The types of transportation alternatives

suggested in prior studies for consideration in this corridor includes

Transportation Systems Management (TSM) options such as changes in

transit routes, fares, and equipment, parking enforcement, and traffic

operational changes. Major capital improvements considered have

included both rubber-tire trolley and rail transit alternatives.

The alternatives to be evaluated in the EIS will be based on an

element of the Metropolitan Transportation Plan (MTP) for the region,

known as the Wilmington Initiatives. The transit element of the

Initiatives is defined by six analyses:

Rummel, Klepper & Kahl Consulting Engineers, Parsons

Brinkerhoff, and Richard H. Pratt, Consultant, Inc. Regional Rail Study

Phase III: Transit Opportunities Along Rail Corridors Within Northern

New Castle County ``Initial Feasibility Assessment: 6 Corridors''.

Delaware Department of Transportation, 1996.

Johnson, Mirmiran & Thompson. Downtown Wilmington

Transportation Study: Draft Technical Report, Downtown Circulation

Study. 1997.

TransManagement, Inc. Downtown Wilmington Land Use and

Development Capacity Assessment. 1997.

SG Associates, Inc. Wilmington Transportation Studies

Transit Shuttle Feasibility Analysis. 1998.

SG Associates, Inc. Wilmington Transportation Studies

Transit Downtown Free Fare Zone Feasibility Analysis. 1998

Kimley-Horne and Associates, Inc. Wilmington 2000

Streetcar Conceptual Study. 1998.

These analyzes may be reviewed at the Delaware Transit Corporation,

400 Madison Street, Wilmington; WILMAPCO, 850 Library Avenue, Suite

100, Newark, the Wilmington Institute Public Library at 10th & Market

Streets, Wilmington [or obtained from Doug Andrews, Delaware Transit

Corporation]. See ADDRESSES above.

IV. Factors To Be Evaluated

FTA and the DTC/DelDOT, along with the City and WILMAPCO, will

evaluate the social, economic, and environmental impacts of the

alternatives under consideration. Among the primary transportation

issues to be evaluated are the expected increase in transit ridership,

including recreational and work trips and the expected increased need

for mobility for the transit dependent population. The support of the

region's air quality goals, economic benefits, satisfying overall

transportation needs of the corridor, capital outlays needed to

construct the project, cost of operating and

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maintaining the facilities created by the project, and the financial

impacts on the funding agencies will all be considered. Potentially

affected environmental and social resources to be evaluated include,

land use and neighborhood impacts, residential and business

displacements and relocations, impacts on historic properties and

districts, traffic and parking impacts near stations and along the

alignments, economic development potential, visual impacts, impacts on

cultural resources, and impacts on parklands. Impacts on archaeological

resources, air quality, water quality, wetlands and noise will also be

considered. New information will be gathered and detailed studies on

these subjects will be conducted as necessary. Existing findings about

the presence of sites containing hazardous materials will be summarized

and utilized; additional studies will be done as necessary. The

environmental impacts will be evaluated both for the construction

period and for the long-term period of operation. Measures to mitigate

adverse impacts will be considered.

V. FTA Procedures

In accordance with the regulations and guidance established by the

Council on Environmental Quality, as well as with 23 CFR 450 and 23 CFR

771 of the FTA/Federal Highway Administration planning and

environmental regulations and policies, an Alternatives Analysis/Draft

EIS (DEIS) will include an evaluation of the social, economic, and

environmental impacts of the alternatives and will review alternatives

on the basis of conceptual design. The EIS will also comply with the

requirements of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 (CAAA) and with

the Executive Order 12898 on Environmental Justice. After its

preparation, the Alternatives Analysis/DEIS will be available for

public and agency review and comment and a public hearing will be held.

On the basis of the Alternatives Analysis/DEIS, and the comments

received, the City will select a locally preferred alternative for a

major investment strategy.

The locally preferred alternative will then be reaffirmed by the

MPO for inclusion into the Metropolitan Transportation Plan and the

Transportation Improvement Program (TIP). Following this action, the

DTC / DelDOT will request FTA authorization to initiate preliminary

engineering and to proceed with needed additional environmental studies

prior to issuance of a Final EIS.

Issued on: June 11, 1999.

Sheldon A. Kinbar,

Regional Administrator, Federal Transit Administration, Region III.

[FR Doc. 99-15321 Filed 6-15-99; 8:45 am]

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