[Federal Register: October 31, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 210)]
[Notices]
[Page 61706-61708]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr31oc07-148]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Transit Administration
Early Scoping Notice for an Alternatives Analysis of Proposed
Transit Improvements in the Eastside Extension Phase II Transit
Corridor of Los Angeles, CA
AGENCY: Federal Transit Administration, DOT.
ACTION: Early Scoping Notice.
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SUMMARY: The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) and the Los Angeles
County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LACMTA) issue this early
scoping notice to advise other agencies and the public that they intend
to explore, in the context of the Council on Environmental Quality's
early scoping process, alternative means of improving transit capacity
and service in the Eastside Extension Phase II Transit Corridor of Los
Angeles, California. The early scoping process is part of a planning
Alternatives Analysis (AA) required by Title 49 United States Code
(U.S.C.) Sec. 5309, that will lead to the selection of the proposed
action and alternatives that will be subject to the appropriate
environmental process. Early scoping meetings have been planned and are
announced below.
The Eastside Extensive Phase II Transit Corridor is east-west
oriented and includes all or portions of the cities of Montebello, Pico
Rivera, Monterey Park, Industry, Downey, Whittier, Commerce, Rosemead,
South El Monte, South San Gabriel, Sante Fe Springs, Bell as well as
unincorporated portions of the County of Los Angeles. The study area
generally extends from Union Station in downtown Los Angeles, north to
the Interstate 10 freeway, east to approximately three miles east of
the State Route 605, and south to Interstate 5 freeway. The
Alternatives Analysis will study the extension of high capacity transit
service from the Metro Gold Line Eastside Extension to approximately 3
miles east of the State Route 605.
The conclusion of the planning Alternatives Analysis is expected to
be the selection of a Locally Preferred Alternative (LPA) by the LACMTA
and the Southern California Association of Governments, which is the
official metropolitan planning organization for Los Angeles. The LPA
will then be the ``proposed action'' that is subject to an appropriate
environmental review under the National Environmental Policy Act
(NEPA). If the selected LPA would have significant impacts, an
environmental impact statement (EIS), combined with a California
environmental impact report (EIR) would be initiated with a Notice of
Intent in the Federal Register and distribution of a Notice of
Preparation (NOP) required under the California Environmental Quality
Act (CEQA). Public and agency scoping of the EIS/EIR would be conducted
at that time. In particular, the purpose and need for the project, the
range of alternatives to be considered in the EIS/EIR, the
environmental and community impacts to be evaluated, and the
methodologies to be used, would be subject to public and interagency
review and comment, in accordance with 23 U.S.C. 139 and CEQA.
DATES: Written comments on the scope of the planning Alternatives
Analysis, including the alternatives to be considered, should be sent
to LACMTA at the address below by November 30, 2007. See ADDRESS below
for the address to which written public comments may be sent. Early
scoping meetings to accept public comments on the scope of the planning
Alternatives Analysis will be held on the following dates:
Thursday, November 8, 2007, from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Palm Park, 5703 Palm Avenue, Whittier, CA 90601.
Saturday, November 10, 2007, from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. Senior
Center at City Park, 115 South Taylor Avenue, Montebello, CA 90640.
Wednesday, November 14, 2007, from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Potrero Heights Elementary School, 8026 East Hill Drive, Rosemead, CA
91770.
Thursday, November 15, 2007, from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
North Park Middle School/Cafeteria, 4450 Durfee Avenue, Pico Rivera, CA
90660.
The draft purpose and need for the project and the initial set of
alternatives proposed for study will be presented at these meetings.
The buildings and facilities used for the scoping meetings are
accessible to persons with disabilities. Any individual who requires
special assistance, such as a sign language interpreter, to participate
in a scoping meeting should contact Mr. David Monks, LACMTA at 213 922-
7456 or Monksd@metro.net.
Scoping materials will be available at the meetings and are also
available on the LACMTA Web site at http://www.metro.net/eastside. Hard
copies of the scoping materials are available from Mr. David Monks,
LACMTA at 213 922-7456 or Monksd@metro.net.
An interagency scoping meeting will be held on Thursday, November
8, 2007, from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. at LACMTA, One Gateway Plaza, 3rd
Floor Board Overflow Room, Los Angeles, CA 90012. Representatives of
Native American tribal governments and of all Federal, State, and local
agencies that may have an interest in any aspect of the project will be
invited by phone, letter, or e-mail.
ADDRESSES: Written comments on this Early Scoping Notice should be sent
to Ms. Kimberly Yu, Project Manager, Los Angeles County Metropolitan
Transportation Authority, One Gateway Plaza, Los Angeles, CA 90012,
phone 213-922-7910, e-mail yuki@metro.net. The locations of the early
scoping meetings are given above under DATES.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Ray Tellis, Team Leader, Los
Angeles Metropolitan Office, Federal Transit Administration, 888 South
Figueroa Street, Suite 1850, Los Angeles, CA 90017, phone 213-202-3950,
e-mail ray.tellis@dot.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Early Scoping
The FTA and LACMTA invite all interested individuals and
organizations, public agencies, and Native American tribes to comment
on the scope of the planning Alternatives Analysis, including the
purpose and need for transit improvements in the corridor, the
alternatives transit modes and alignments to be considered, and the
types of impacts to be evaluated. Comments at this time should focus on
the purpose and need for transit improvements in the corridor;
[[Page 61707]]
alternatives that may be less costly or have less environmental impacts
while achieving similar transportation objectives; and the
identification of any significant social, economic, or environmental
issues that should be considered in developing the alternatives.
Purpose and Need for Action
The project purpose is to improve public transit service and
mobility in the Eastside Extension Phase II Transit Corridor. The
project would provide the study area an improved fixed-guideway east-
west transit service from the Metro Gold Line Eastside Extension
currently under construction, to cities further east of the City of Los
Angeles. Possible eastern extensions from the Metro Gold Line would
generally continue east parallel to or along State Route 60, Beverly
Boulevard, Olympic Boulevard or Whittier Boulevard. The overall goal of
the proposed project is to improve mobility in the Eastside Extension
Phase II Transit Corridor by extending the benefits of the existing
Metro Gold Line and bus investments beyond the current terminus.
Mobility problems and potential improvements for this corridor have
been well documented in many studies that are available from Metro's
Record's Management Department including numerous Metro Red Line
planning studies, Eastside Transit Corridor Studies: Re-Evaluation
Major Investment Study (2000), Southern California Association of
Governments (SCAG) planning studies, the Metro Rapid Demonstration
Project (2000), and in the Southern California Association of
Governments Regional Transportation Plan (2004). Additional
considerations supporting the project's need include:
The concentration of activity centers and destinations in
the Eastside Extension Phase II Transit Corridor;
Increasing traffic congestion on the highway network
throughout the Eastside Extension Phase II Transit Corridor, which has
led to public and political support for a high-capacity transit
alternative to the automobile;
The County General Plan of the County of Los Angeles which
is transit-supportive;
The existing concentration of transit supportive land uses
in the Eastside Extension Phase II Transit Corridor;
The high population and employment densities in the
Eastside Extension Phase II Transit Corridor;
Local redevelopment plans that are highly support of, and
dependent on, high capacity transit services in the Eastside Extension
Phase II Transit Corridor;
The existing high ridership levels on bus lines in the
Eastside Extension Phase II Transit Corridor;
Significant transit dependent population in the Eastside
Extension Phase II Transit Corridor;
Forecasts of significant future population and employment
growth in the Eastside Extension Phase II Corridor;
Existing and future travel demand patterns that
demonstrate a strong and growing demand for high-capacity transit in
the Eastside Extension Phase II Corridor;
Emerging travel patterns associated with a job-rich study
area that has led to significant westbound congestion during the
morning rush hours and corresponding eastbound congestion during the
evening rush hours; and
Local policy directed toward travel demand management and
transit solutions rather than the expansion of the street and highway
network.
Alternatives
The Eastside Extension Phase II Corridor Study proposes to extend
transit from the Metro Gold Line Eastside Extension to cities east of
Los Angeles. Historically two routes have been previously considered
for this extension; to the City of Whittier via Atlantic and Whittier
Boulevards and the City of Whittier via Beverly Boulevard, Paramount
Boulevard and Whittier Boulevard.
Light rail transit, the transit mode that is currently used in the
Metro Gold Line, is being considered. It normally follows an at-grade
configuration although underground and aerial configurations may also
be considered in some locations. Other transit modes, including Bus
Rapid Transit (BRT), high speed trolley and any other reliable, cost-
effective forms of fixed guideway transit may also be considered.
Proposed station sites (along two alternative alignments) include
Beverly/Atlantic, Beverly/Gerhart, Beverly/Garfield, Beverly/Wilcox,
Beverly/Montebello, Beverly/4th, Whittier/Gerhart, Whittier/Garfield,
Whittier/Wilcox, Whittier/Montebello, Whittier/Rosemead, Whittier/
Passons, Whittier/Norwalk, Whittier/Arizona, Whittier/Atlantic, and
Beverly/Arizona.
Future No-Build Alternative--The study will consider the
transportation and environmental effects if no new major transit
investments beyond those that have already been planned are implemented
in this corridor. This alternative will include the highway and transit
projects in the current Metro Long Range Transportation Plan and the
2030 Southern California Association of Governments Regional
Transportation Plan. For purposes of the planning Alternatives
Analysis, the major fixed guideway investments under study for the
Exposition Transit Corridor Phase 2 and Crenshaw Transit Corridor
projects would not be included in the Future No-Build Alternative. The
completion of the Metro Rapid Bus Program would be included as well as
possible additional feeder bus networks to serve the region's major
activity centers.
Transportation System Management Alternative (TSM)--The study will
consider the effects of modest improvements in the highway and transit
systems beyond those in the Future No-Build Alternative. The TSM
Alternative would evaluate low-cost enhancements to the Future No-Build
Alternative and would emphasize transportation system upgrades, such as
intersection improvements, minor road widening, traffic engineering
actions, bus route restructuring, shortened bus headways, expanded use
of articulated buses, reserved bus lanes, expanded park-and-ride
facilities, express and limited-stop service, signalization
improvements, and timed-transfer operations.
In addition to the alternatives described above, other reasonable
alternatives identified through the early scoping process will be
considered for potential inclusion in the planning Alternatives
Analysis. Alternative modes, vertical or horizontal alignments, or
station locations may emerge from the early scoping process.
FTA Procedures
Early scoping is an optional element of the National Environmental
Policy Act (NEPA) process that is particularly useful in situations
where, as here, a proposed action (the locally preferred alternative)
has not been identified and alternative modes and major alignment
variations are under consideration in a broadly-defined corridor. While
NEPA scoping normally follows issuance of a notice of intent, which
describes the proposed action, it ``may be initiated earlier, as long
as there is appropriate public notice and enough information available
on the proposal so that the public and relevant agencies can
participate effectively.'' See the Council on Environmental Quality's
''``Forty Most Asked Questions Concerning CEQ's National Environmental
Policy Act Regulations,'' 46FR 18026, 18030 (1981). In this case, the
available information is more than adequate to permit the public and
relevant agencies to participate effectively in early scoping and the
planning Alternatives Analysis.
[[Page 61708]]
LACMTA may seek New Starts funding for the proposed project under
49 U.S.C. 5309 and will, therefore, be subject to New Starts regulation
(49 Code of Federal Regulations [CFR] Part 611). The New Starts
regulation requires a planning Alternatives Analysis that leads to the
selection of a Locally Preferred Alternative by LACMTA and the
inclusion of the locally preferred alternative in the long-range
transportation plan adopted by the Southern California Association of
Governments. The planning Alternatives Analysis will examine
alignments, technologies, station locations, costs, funding, ridership,
economic development, land use, engineering feasibility, and
environmental factors in the corridor. The New Starts regulation also
requires the submission of certain project-justification information in
support of a request to initiate preliminary engineering. After the
identification of a proposed action at the conclusion of the planning
Alternatives Analysis, if preparation of an environmental impact
statement is warranted, a Notice of Intent (NOI) will be published in
the Federal Register and the scoping of the EIS/EIR will be continued
by soliciting and considering comments on the results of the planning
Alternatives Analysis, the purpose and need for the proposed action,
the range of alternatives to be considered in the EIS/EIR, and the
potentially significant environmental and community impacts to be
evaluated in the EIS/EIR.
Concurrent will publication of the NOI pursuant to NEPA, an NOP
will be distributed pursuant to CEQA. In conjunction with this final
scoping of the EIS/EIR and consistent with provisions of 23 U.S.C. 139
and CEQA, invitations will be extended to other Federal and non-Federal
agencies that may have an interest in this matter to be participating
agencies. A plan for coordinating public and agency participation in
the environmental review process and for commenting on the issues under
consideration at various milestones of the process will be prepared and
posted on the LACMTA Web site at http://www.metro.net/eastsidephase2.
Issued on: October 25, 2007.
Leslie T. Rogers,
Regional Administrator, Region IX, Federal Transit Administration.
[FR Doc. 07-5406 Filed 10-30-07; 8:45 am]
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