[Federal Register: September 1, 2009 (Volume 74, Number 168)]
[Notices]
[Page 45273-45275]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr01se09-118]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Transit Administration
Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for Proposed
Transit Improvements to the Yellow Line, Cook County, IL
AGENCY: Federal Transit Administration (FTA), Department of
Transportation.
ACTION: Notice of Intent to Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement.
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SUMMARY: The FTA, as the Federal lead agency, and the Chicago Transit
Authority (CTA) intend to prepare an environmental impact statement
(EIS) for the Yellow Line Extension Project in Cook County, Illinois.
CTA operates the rapid transit system in Chicago, Cook County,
Illinois. The proposed project, described more completely within, would
extend the Yellow Line, a heavy rail transit line, to connect the
Dempster Street Station to Old Orchard Road. The purpose of this Notice
of Intent is to alert interested parties regarding the intent to
prepare the EIS, to provide information on the nature of the proposed
project and possible alternatives and to invite public participation in
the EIS process.
DATES: Written comments on the scope of the EIS, including the
project's purpose and need, the alternatives to be considered, the
impacts to be evaluated, and the methodologies to be used in the
evaluations should be sent to CTA on or before October 27, 2009. See
ADDRESSES below for the address to which written public comments may be
sent. A public scoping meeting to accept comments on the scope of the
EIS will be held on the following date:
Wednesday, September 23, 2009; 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.; at the
Oakton Community Center, 4701 Oakton Street, Skokie, IL 60076.
The buildings 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 the
scoping meeting should contact Mr. Darud Akbar, Government and
Community Relations Officer, at 312-681-2708 or
dakbar@transitchicago.com, five days prior to the meeting.
Scoping materials describing the project purpose and need and the
alternatives proposed for analysis will be available at the meetings
and on the CTA Web site http://www.transitchicago.com/YellowEIS. Paper
copies of the scoping materials may also be obtained from Mr. Darud
Akbar, Government and Community Relations Officer, at 312-681-2708 or
dakbar@transitchicago.com. An interagency scoping meeting will be held
on Thursday, September 24 at 8 a.m. at CTA Headquarters, in Conference
Room 2C, 567 W. Lake Street, Chicago, IL 60661. Representatives of
Native American tribal governments and of all Federal, State, regional
and local agencies that may have an interest in any aspect of the
project will be invited to be participating or cooperating agencies, as
appropriate.
ADDRESSES: Comments will be accepted at the public scoping meetings or
they may be sent to Mr. Jeffrey Busby, General Manager, Strategic
Planning, Chicago Transit Authority, P.O. Box 7602, Chicago, IL 60680-
7602, or via e-mail at YellowExtension@transitchicago.com.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. David Werner, Community Planner,
Federal Transit Administration, Region V, 200 West Adams Street, Suite
320, Chicago, IL 60606, phone 312-353-3879, e-mail
david.werner@dot.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Scoping
The FTA and CTA invite all interested individuals and
organizations, public agencies, and Native American Tribes to comment
on the scope of the EIS, including the project's purpose and need, the
alternatives to be studied, the impacts to be evaluated, and the
evaluation methods to be used. Comments should address (1) Alternatives
that may better achieve the project's need and purposes at less cost or
with fewer adverse impacts, and (2) any significant environmental
impacts relating to the alternatives.
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) ``scoping'' (40 CFR
1501.7) has specific and fairly limited objectives, one of which is to
identify the significant issues associated with alternatives that will
be examined in detail in the document, while simultaneously limiting
consideration and development of issues that are not truly significant.
It is in the NEPA scoping process that potentially significant
environmental impacts--those that give rise to the need to prepare an
environmental impact statement--should be identified; impacts that are
deemed not to be significant need not be developed extensively in the
context of the impact statement, thereby keeping the statement focused
on impacts of consequence. Transit projects may also generate
environmental benefits; these should be highlighted as well--the impact
statement process should draw attention to positive impacts, not just
negative impacts.
Once the scope of the environmental study, including significant
environmental issues to be addressed, is settled, an annotated outline
of the document will be prepared and shared with interested agencies
and the public. The outline serves at least three worthy purposes,
including (1) Documenting the results of the scoping process; (2)
contributing to the transparency of the process; and (3) providing a
clear roadmap for concise development of the environmental document.
[[Page 45274]]
Purpose and Need for the Project
The purpose of the Yellow Line Extension project is to improve
transit accessibility and provide mobility options by better utilizing
existing transportation infrastructure capacity. The investment would
also support the Village of Skokie's land use plans.
The need for the project is based on the following considerations:
There is a significant reverse commute to the project area that is not
well served by the current Yellow Line terminal location; travelers on
the existing system must make multiple transfers to reach activity and
employment centers in the project area; and transit alternatives will
allow a portion of study area trips to avoid continued growth in
project area arterial street and expressway congestion. In addition,
proposed extensions of the CTA Yellow Line from its current terminus at
Dempster Street are part of the Chicago region's long range
transportation plan developed by the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for
Planning (CMAP).
Project Location and Environmental Setting
The proposed heavy rail transit (HRT) project area lies about 12
miles north of the Chicago Central Area (commonly referred to as the
``Loop''). The limits of the project area are Dempster Street on the
south and Old Orchard Road on the north. The project area is bounded by
Interstate 94 (Edens Expressway) on the west and lies within the
Village of Skokie. The project area is highly developed, with
significant residential (primarily single family), institutional
facilities (government offices and schools), transportation and
commercial (retail and office) developments.
The locally preferred alternative (LPA) for the proposed Yellow
Line Extension project was approved by the Chicago Transit Board for
further study in the EIS on August 12, 2009. The proposed Yellow Line
Extension would extend the heavy rail transit line from Dempster Street
Station, the current terminus of the Yellow Line, north along the Union
Pacific Railroad (UPRR) right-of-way from Dempster Street to the
vicinity of Old Orchard Road. The extension would include 1.6 new route
miles of rapid transit added to the existing Yellow Line,
reconfiguration of the existing Dempster Street Station, and a new
station in the vicinity of Old Orchard Road with bus access and parking
facilities.
Alternatives
The Yellow Line Extension Final Alternatives Analysis Report (2009)
prepared by CTA identified three alternatives for further consideration
in the EIS. The three alternatives include: A No Build Alternative,
Transportation System Management (TSM) Alternative, and the Fixed
Guideway Alternative (the LPA).
No Build Alternative: The No Build Alternative is defined as the
existing transportation system, plus any committed transportation
improvements. Committed transportation improvements include projects
that are already in the CMAP financially constrained Transportation
Improvement Program (TIP). The Yellow Line project area has a number of
projects included in the FY 2007--2012 TIP.
There are three intersection improvements along Skokie Boulevard in
the TIP including the intersections of Dempster Street, Golf Road and
Old Orchard Road. Road improvements in the TIP that would most affect
the Yellow Line extension project area are the widening of Old Orchard
Road from Harms Road to Skokie Boulevard and the expansion of the
northbound Edens off-ramp lanes. In addition to a variety of
resurfacing projects, Dempster Street is scheduled to be reconstructed
and widened to Central Road.
Bus transit service under the No Build Alternative would be focused
on the preservation of existing services and projects. Although outside
the project area, a significant transit improvement included in the No
Build Alternative is the construction of a Yellow Line station at
Oakton Street to serve the Skokie downtown and surrounding
developments. All elements of the No Build Alternative are included in
each of the other alternatives.
Transportation System Management (TSM) Alternative: A TSM
Alternative is proposed because it is required as part of the New
Starts evaluative process; in this case, it does not meet the purposes
of and need for the proposed project. The TSM Alternative is Bus Rapid
Transit (BRT) that would operate on a 1.7 mile alignment between the
Yellow Line Dempster Street Station and Westfield Shoppingtown Old
Orchard Mall via Dempster Street, Niles Center Road, Skokie Boulevard,
Golf Road, and Lavergne Avenue. Proposed BRT service would operate in
mixed traffic with traffic signal priority on the Dempster Street,
Niles Center Road, Skokie Boulevard, and Golf Road portion of the
route.
The TSM Alternative would not include any intermediate stops. There
would be no exclusive lanes along any portion of the route. The
terminal stop would be at the existing bus transfer station located on
the east side of Old Orchard Mall. A new park and ride facility would
be constructed near the proposed terminal stop at Old Orchard Road. The
TSM alternative assumes that all bus routes in the study area will
continue current operations.
Fixed Guideway Alternative/LPA: The proposed LPA would proceed
northbound on a single track alignment within the UPRR right-of-way
from Dempster Street to the area north of Golf Road. Beginning north of
Golf Road, the alignment curves east, paralleling the east side of the
Edens Expressway on an elevated profile to the proposed terminal
location on the south side of Old Orchard Road. The elevated profile
eliminates grade crossings between Dempster Street and Old Orchard
Road.
The LPA would include a new station at Dempster Street to
accommodate longer length trains and support bi-directional ridership
demands. The elevated alignment would place the new station centered
above Dempster Street providing enhanced station accessibility from the
north and south parking areas without requiring pedestrians to cross
Dempster Street. Bus transfer, taxi, entrance and parking areas at the
Dempster Station would be reconfigured for the new elevated station.
The terminal station would be located east of the expressway and in
the northwest portion of the Niles North High School (NNHS) property.
The transit station and associated facilities would displace up to 230
parking spaces currently in the NNHS lot to the north of the campus.
These spaces would be replaced by a multi-story parking structure with
dedicated school parking (to replace all displaced parking spaces) and
dedicated commuter parking.
The LPA is 1.6 miles long and would not include any intermediate
stops. CTA and Pace bus services would be rerouted to pass through an
off-street facility on the east side of the rapid transit station and
continue to the existing bus transfer station at Old Orchard Mall.
No existing residences, businesses, or park/recreational areas
would have to be acquired to accommodate the HRT single-track extension
between Dempster Street and Golf Road. Some right-of-way would need to
be acquired from the Illinois Department of Transportation along the
Edens Expressway and land would need to be acquired from the NNHS
property.
Possible Effects
The purpose of this EIS process is to study, in a public setting,
the effects of the proposed project and its alternatives on the quality
of the human
[[Page 45275]]
environment. Areas of investigation for transit projects generally
include, but are not limited to: Land use, development potential, land
acquisition and displacements, historic resources, visual and aesthetic
qualities, air quality, noise and vibration, energy use, safety and
security, and ecosystems, including threatened and endangered species;
investigation may reveal that the proposed project will not affect or
affect substantially many of those areas. Measures to avoid, minimize,
or mitigate any significant adverse impacts will be identified.
FTA Procedures
The regulations implementing NEPA, as well as provisions of the
Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A
Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU), call for public involvement in the EIS
process. Section 6002 of SAFETEA-LU requires that FTA and CTA do the
following: (1) Extend an invitation to other Federal and non-Federal
agencies and Native American tribes that may have an interest in the
proposed project to become ``participating agencies;'' (2) provide an
opportunity for involvement by participating agencies and the public to
help define the purpose and need for a proposed project, as well as the
range of alternatives for consideration in the EIS; and (3) establish a
plan for coordinating public and agency participation in, and comment
on, the environmental review process. An invitation to become a
participating or cooperating agency, with scoping materials appended,
will be extended to other Federal and non-Federal agencies and Native
American tribes that may have an interest in the proposed project. It
is possible that FTA and CTA will not be able to identify all Federal
and non-Federal agencies and Native American tribes that may have such
an interest. Any Federal or non-Federal agency or Native American tribe
interested in the proposed project that does not receive an invitation
to become a participating agency should notify at the earliest
opportunity the Project Manager identified above under ADDRESSES.
A comprehensive public involvement program and a Coordination Plan
for public and interagency involvement will be developed for the
project and posted on CTA's Web site http://www.transitchicago.com/
YellowEIS. The public involvement program includes a full range of
activities including maintaining the project webpage on the CTA Web
site and outreach to local officials, community and civic groups, and
the public. Specific activities or events for involvement will be
detailed in the project's public participation plan.
The Paperwork Reduction Act seeks, in part, to minimize the cost to
the taxpayer of the creation, collection, maintenance, use,
dissemination, and disposition of information. Consistent with this
goal and with principles of economy and efficiency in government, it is
FTA policy to limit insofar as possible distribution of complete
printed sets of environmental documents. Accordingly, unless a specific
request for a complete printed set of environmental documents is
received (preferably in advance of printing), FTA and its grantees will
distribute only the executive summary of the environmental document
together with a Compact Disc of the complete environmental document. A
complete printed set of the environmental document is available for
review at the grantee's offices and elsewhere; an electronic copy of
the complete environmental document is also available on the grantee's
Web page.
CTA may seek New Starts funding for the proposed project under 49
United States Code 5309 and will, therefore, be subject to New Starts
regulations (49 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) part 611). The New
Starts regulations also require the submission of certain project-
justification information to support a request to initiate preliminary
engineering. This information is normally developed in conjunction with
the NEPA process. Pertinent New Starts evaluation criteria will be
included in the EIS.
The EIS will be prepared in accordance with NEPA and its
implementing regulations issued by the Council on Environmental Quality
(40 CFR parts 1500-1508) and with the FTA/Federal Highway
Administration regulations ``Environmental Impact and Related
Procedures'' (23 CFR part 771).
Issued on August 24, 2009.
Marisol R. Simon,
Regional Administrator, Federal Transit Administration, Region V.
[FR Doc. E9-20964 Filed 8-31-09; 8:45 am]
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