[Federal Register: September 7, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 172)]
[Notices]
[Page 54176-54177]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr07se04-95]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Highway Administration
Environmental Impact Statement: Riverside County, CA
AGENCY: Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), DOT.
ACTION: Notice of intent.
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SUMMARY: The FHWA is issuing this notice to advise the public of its
intent to prepare a Draft Environmental Impact Statement for a proposed
realignment of State Route 79, from Domenigoni Parkway to Gilman
Springs Road, in the cities of Hemet and San Jacinto, the community of
Winchester and unincorporated Riverside, County, California.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tay Dam, Senior Project Development
Engineer, Federal highway Administration, 888 South Figueroa, Suite
1850, Los Angeles, California, 90017. Telephone: (213) 202-3954. E-
mail: tay.dam@fhwa.dot.gov (and) Hideo Sugita, Deputy Executive
Director, Riverside County Transportation Commission, P.O. Box 12008,
Riverside, California 92502-2208. Telephone: (951) 787-7141. E-mail:
hsugita@rctc.org.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The FHWA, in cooperation with the California
Department of Transportation, District 8, and the Riverside County
Transportation Commission, will prepare an Environmental Impact
Statement (EIS) to realign State Route (SR) 79 1.2 miles south of
Domenigoni Parkway to Gilman Sprints Road. The proposed realignment
corridor to be evaluated is located east of the existing SR 79, through
the community of Winchester, and west of the existing route as it
passes through Hemet and San Jacinto.
A range of alignment alternatives will be analyzed in the EIS/EIR.
Alignment alternatives in the western, central and eastern portions of
the project area were identified through an alternatives analysis
process described in detail in the Project Criteria and Alternatives
Selection for Preliminary Agreement, dated June 22, 2004. These
alignment alternatives will be analyzed. The western alignment begins
at the southern project limit along Winchester Road, approximately 1.2
miles south of Domenigoni Parkway. It continues north, crossing
Domenigoni Parkway and Salt Creek Channel, 0.5 mile east of Winchester
Road. The alignment then turns east and parallels Florida Avenue on the
south before turning north, paralleling and then crossing the San Diego
Canal near Esplanade Avenue. North of Esplanade Avenue, the western
alignment continues in a northeast direction and splits into two (2)
potential alignments, one following Odell Avenue and one paralleling
the Casa Loma Canal, before reconnecting immediately south of the
intersection of Sanderson Avenue and North Ramona Boulevard. The
western alignment then continues north on Sanderson Avenue and crosses
Ramona Expressway to the San Jacinto River.
The central alignment begins at the southern project limit along
Winchester Road and continues in a northeast direction crossing
Domenigoni Parkway and continuing east, paralleling Salt Creek Channel.
It then travels north, east of the San Diego Canal. North of Devonshire
Avenue, the central alignment will occur on top of Warren Road, west of
Tres Cerritos Hills to Seventh Street. The alignment then heads
northeast to parallel the Casa Loma Canal to Sanderson Avenue. Then the
central alignment continues north, east of Sanderson Avenue, crosses
Ramona Expressway to the northern project limit immediately south of
San Jacinto River. The eastern alignment begins at the southern project
limit along Winchester Road and continues north, turning northeast
after crossing the Salt Creek Channel. The alignment continues
northeast paralleling the railroad tracks until Sanderson Avenue.
Northeast of the Hemet-Ryan Airport, the eastern alignment turns north
in the vicinity of Sanderson Avenue. The alignment continues north
along Sanderson Avenue and crosses Ramona Expressway to the San Jacinto
River.
The above-described alignment alternatives will be further refined
through efforts conducted under the National Environmental Policy Act
(NEPA)/Section 404 of the Clean Water Act Memorandum of Understanding
integrating the two processes, incorporating comments from the public
scoping process, as well as analysis in technical studies. In addition
to the build alternatives, a no-build alternative also will be analyzed
in the EIS as required by NEPA. Letters describing the proposed action
and soliciting comments will be sent to appropriate Federal, State and
local agencies, and to private organizations and citizens who
previously have expressed, or are
[[Page 54177]]
known to have, an interest in this project. A scoping meeting will be
held for this project in Hemet on Wednesday, September 29, 2004, at the
James Simpson Memorial Center, 305 East Devonshire Avenue, beginning at
6:30 p.m. and in San Jacinto on Wednesday, October 6, 2004, at the San
Jacinto Unified School District conference room, 2045 San Jacinto
Avenue, beginning at 6:30 p.m. Project documents and information are
available for review on the project Web site located at: http://www.sr79project.info.
The Web site contains project information and
will be updated as the project progresses.
To ensure that the full range of issues and alternatives related to
this proposed action are addressed and all significant issues are
identified, comments and suggestions are invited from interested
parties. Comments or questions concerning this proposed action and the
Draft EIS should be directed to the FHWA, at the address provided
above.
(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Program Number 20.205,
Highway Planning and Construction. The regulations implementing
Executive Order 12372 regarding intergovernmental consultation on
Federal programs and activities apply to this program)
Issued on: August 31, 2004.
Maiser Khaled,
Director, Project Development & Environment, Federal Highway
Administration, Sacramento, California.
[FR Doc. 04-20214 Filed 9-3-04; 8:45 am]
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