Environmental Impact Statement: Transportation Improvements Within the Riverview Corridor Study Area in the City of Saint Paul, Minnesota

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Transit Administration

Environmental Impact Statement: Transportation Improvements

Within the Riverview Corridor Study Area in the City of Saint Paul,

Minnesota

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) is issuing this

notice to advise interested agencies and the public that FTA and Ramsey

County Regional Railroad Authority (RCRRA) intend to study and evaluate

alternative transportation system changes in the Riverview Corridor

study area in the City of Saint Paul, Minnesota, in an Environmental

Impact Statement.

DATES: Public scoping interviews with key community stakeholders were

held in November and December, 1998, and January and February, 1999, to

receive information on the scope, alternatives and transportation

problems in the corridor. Interagency and public scoping and

information meetings will be held on March 25, 1999, from 10 a.m. to

12:00 p.m., and from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., respectively. The

locations of both meetings are wheelchair-accessible. Sign language

interpreters for the hearing impaired can be arranged with advance

notice of seven business days. Please contact the RCRRA office (651-

266-2762) for further information and for directions to the meeting

locations.

Scoping Interviews with 60 stakeholders were held as follows:

November 1998:

November 24-25, 1998

December 1998:

December 7-8, 1998

December 21-22, 1998

January 1999:

January 4-28, 1999

February 1999:

February 8-12, 1999

Interagency Scoping Meeting will be held at the following location:

Thursday, March 25, 1999, from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., West Seventh

Community Center, Gymnasium, 265 Oneida Street, St. Paul, MN 55102.

Public Scoping Meeting will be held at the following location:

Thursday, March 25, 1999, from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., West Seventh

Street Recreation Center, Gymnasium, 265 Oneida Street, St. Paul, MN

55102.

ADDRESSES: Written comments on the scope of analysis and impacts to be

considered should be sent by April 24, 1999 to: Ms. Kathryn

DeSpiegelaere, Director, Ramsey County Regional Railroad Authority,

Suite 665 RCGC West, 50 West Kellogg Boulevard, Saint Paul, MN 55102.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Paul Fish, Director, Planning &

Program Development, FTA Region 5, 200 West Adams Street, Suite 2410,

Chicago, IL 60606, Telephone: (312) 353-2789.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: RCRRA, in consultation with the Metropolitan

Council and the Minnesota Department of Transportation, has decided to

conduct a Major Investment Study (MIS) to assist local decision-making,

even though the separate MIS requirement was eliminated by the

Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21) legislation.

The transportation improvements are being defined in the MIS for the

study area. The MIS includes the NEPA scoping process, the

identification and evaluation of multi-modal transportation facility

and/or service alternatives, and, if appropriate the selection of a

preferred design concept and scope in the study area. Subsequently,

alternative transportation facility alignments and designs that are

consistent with the selected concept and scope may be addressed in an

EIS for the study area. It is important to note that a final decision

to prepare an EIS has not been made at this time. This decision will be

made at the end of the Major Investment Study and will depend upon the

nature of the selected concept and its expected impacts.

I. Scoping

The public scoping process was initiated by the Ramsey County

Regional Railroad Authority on November 24, 1998, based upon

approximately 60 interviews with individuals representing the local

residential communities, businesses and other interests within the

study area. This process was continued through February 1999.

Additional meetings have been scheduled to ensure that all interested

parties in the corridor and the

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adjacent community are provided an opportunity to participate in the

process of determining the scope of the study.

Two scoping meetings will be held at different hours on the same

day to facilitate attendance by interested agencies and the general

public. An interagency scoping meeting will be held on March 25, 1999,

from 10:00 am to 12:00 p.m. at the West Seventh Community Center, and a

general public scoping meeting will be held on March 25 from 5:00 p.m.

to 8:00 p.m. at the same location. FTA and RCRRA invite all interested

individuals, organizations, and federal, state, and local public

agencies to participate in the scoping process defining the

alternatives to be evaluated in the MIS and identifying any significant

social, economic or environmental issues related to the alternatives.

FTA and RCRRA invite interested individuals, organizations, and

public agencies to participate in the scoping process by attending the

scoping meetings and participating in establishing the purpose,

alternatives, time frame, and analysis approach, as well as an active

public involvement program. The public is invited to comment on the

public involvement approach, 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 issues

related to the alternatives, and the evaluation approach to be used to

select a locally preferred alternative.

People with special needs should call Kathy DeSpiegelaere at 651-

266-2762. The buildings for the scoping meetings are accessible to

people with disabilities.

To ensure that a full range of issues is addressed and all

significant issues are identified, comments and suggestions are invited

from all interested parties. Comments or questions should be directed

to Ms. Kathryn DeSpiegelaere at the address provided above.

II. Description of Study Areas and Project Need

The study area being analyzed for this MIS is the Riverview

Corridor, which generally follows the Mississippi River between the

eastern edge of the Saint Paul downtown area, the Fort Snelling site,

the Minneapolis Saint Paul International Airport, and the Mall of

America. The corridor includes two major roadways, West 7th Street and

Shepard Road, which traverse the study area running parallel with the

Mississippi River floodplain, and a railroad alignment located between

the roads.

The Riverview Corridor study area can be described as a long,

narrow corridor aligned in a southwesterly to northeasterly direction.

The study area limits are generally the Mississippi River on the south,

West 7th Street on the north, Arcade Street at 7th Street on the

northeast, and the Minneapolis Saint Paul International Airport and

Mall of America on the southwest. The Riverview Corridor study area

covers approximately 20 square miles in the City of Saint Paul, the

City of Minneapolis, and the City of Bloomington. Potential alignments

for crossing the Mississippi River and connecting with the airport and

Mall of America are located in the cities of Minneapolis and

Bloomington and on federal lands where Fort Snelling and the adjacent

Minneapolis Saint Paul International Airport are located.

There are several issues that have been identified in the Riverview

Corridor study area that relate to transportation. These include

mobility limitations, redevelopment activity within the study area,

projected growth of residential population, changing demographics in

the local population that would correlate with an increased proportion

of transit captive residents, projected growth of employment, lack of

east-west connections along the corridor, lack of an efficient

connection from the Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport to the

Saint Paul Central Business District (CBD), congestion (especially

along I-35E and State Highway 5), and pedestrian and vehicular safety.

III. Alternatives

It is expected that the public scoping process and written comments

will be a major source of candidate alternatives for consideration in

the study. The types of transportation alternatives suggested in a

prior study for consideration in the Riverview Major Investment Study

include: No-Build, Transportation Demand Management (TDM),

Transportation Systems Management (TSM), Busway Alternatives, and Light

Rail Transit Alternatives.

1. No-Build Alternative--Existing and planned transit services and

programmed new transportation facilities to the year 2020.

2. Transportation Demand Management (TDM)--Strategies to reduce

automobile usage such as carpooling programs, parking fee increases and

employer-based programs.

3. TSM Alternative--Low cost improvements, such as enhanced bus

service, or signal coordination or ramp metering to enhance the

capacity of the existing roadway system.

4. Busway Alternative--Exclusive lanes for buses to move transit

riders more quickly.

5. Light Rail Transit Alternative--Light rail transit service that

would connect the Saint Paul CBD with the Minneapolis-Saint Paul

International Airport and Mall of America, and eventually link to other

proposed busway and/or light rail lines as part of an integrated

regional transit system.

The previous study of the Riverview Corridor also concluded that

the following alignments should be examined for transportation

improvements in the study area: West Seventh Street Busway; Canadian

Pacific Railroad Corridor Busway; Canadian Pacific Railroad Corridor

Light Rail Transit; and West Seventh Street Light Rail Transit. Based

on public input received during scoping and subsequent technical

analyses, variations of the above alternatives and other

transportation-related improvement options will be considered for the

study area.

IV. Probable Effects/Potential Impacts for Analysis

Issues and impacts to be considered during the study analyses

include potential changes to: the physical environment (air quality,

noise, water quality, aesthetics, etc.); the social and manmade

environment (land use, development, neighborhoods, etc.); vehicular

circulation, parking and in-street operation of buses and rail;

parklands and historic resources; transportation system performance;

capital, operating and maintenance costs; available financial

resources; and positive or negative financial impact on the region.

Evaluation criteria will include consideration of the local goals

and objectives established for the study area, measures of

effectiveness identified during scoping, criteria established by FTA

for ``New Start'' transit projects, consistent with the applicable

Federal, State of Minnesota, and local standards, criteria,

regulations, and policies. Mitigation measures will be explored for any

adverse impacts that are identified as part of the analyses.

V. Procedures

In accordance with the regulations and guidance established by CEQ,

as well as with 23 CFR 450 and 23 CFR 771 of the FHWA/FTA planning and

environmental regulations and policies, the MIS and possible Draft EIS

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

environmental impacts

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of the alternatives. The MIS 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 publication, the MIS

and DEIS will be available for public and agency review and comment. If

a DEIS is prepared, a public hearing will be held. On the basis of the

MIS and DEIS, and the comments received, RCRRA and the MPO 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 Transportation Policy Plan for the Twin Cities

Metropolitan Area (regional transportation plan) and the Transportation

Improvement Program (TIP). The MIS shall lead to specification of the

project's mode, the design concept and scope in sufficient detail to

meet the requirements of the US Environmental Protection Agency's

transportation conformity regulations [40 CFR 93 and 23 CFR

450.322(b)(8)]. RCRRA and the MPO will then seek approval from FTA to

continue with Preliminary Engineering and the preparation of the Final

EIS.

Issued on: March 8, 1999.

Joel P. Ettinger,

Regional Administrator, Federal Transit Administration, Chicago,

Illinois.

[FR Doc. 99-6152 Filed 3-11-99; 8:45 am]

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