Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 190 / Friday, September 29, 2000 / Notices 58599

that parallel I–77. Land uses in the

study corridor are characterized by

higher density office and commercial

development at the southernmost

portion of the corridor located in the

center city; the central portion of the

corridor has a mixture of uses including

low density residential and commercial,

light industrial and manufacturing uses;

and the northernmost portion of the

corridor has a semi-rural character of

low density development and

undeveloped tracts of land.

Interstate 77 is currently a four-lane

controlled access freeway within the

study area and has an average daily

traffic (ADT) volume of 78,000 vehicles

per day (vpd) in the segment north of

Interstate 85. This facility experiences

severe congestion and delays

particularly during peak travel times

and is considered to be one of the major

transportation problems facing this

rapidly growing region. Currently, I–77

is rated as having very poor mobility

(level of service F in many sections

during peak periods). The future traffic

volumes for the year 2020 are projected

to increase to 188,000 ADT for the

segment between I–85 and I–485; and

136,000 ADT for the segment between I–

485 and NC 73, an increase of 74% to

240% in daily traffic for this facility.

The North Carolina Department of

Transportation (NCDOT) has

programmed the reconstruction of I–77

as an eight-lane facility from I–85 to I–

485 to begin in the year 2003; the

reconstruction of I–77 from I–485 to NC

73 as a six-lane facility begins in 2006.

However, even with these roadway

improvements, a substantial portion of

this facility will still experience severe

peak period congestion.

Future growth projections for the

region estimate a population increase of

57 percent and a 47 percent increase in

employment by the year 2025.

Incorporated towns within the North

Corridor study area are among the

fastest-growing communities in the

state.

The Charlotte Metropolitan Area has

exceed the Environmental Protection

Agency’s 1-hour and 8-hour standard for

ozone each of the past three years.

These violations will likely result in the

County being designated as a nonattainment area for ozone, which will be

officially stated by US EPA early next

year. The primary contributor of air

pollutants in the region is mobile

emissions.

III. Alternatives

The alternatives proposed for

evaluation include: (1) No-Build, which

involves no change to transportation

service or facilities in the corridor

beyond already committed projects; (2)

a Transportation System Management

alternative, which consists of low to

medium cost improvements to the

operations of the local bus service, the

Charlotte Area Transit System, in

addition to the currently planned transit

improvements in the corridor; and (3)

multiple ‘‘Build’’ alternatives including

bus rapid transit (BRT) facilities along

the I–77 corridor and various modes of

rail service including commuter rail and

light rail transit (LRT) generally

following the existing Norfolk Southern

railroad right-of-way and/or major

arterials within the study corridor. The

‘‘Build’’ alternatives may include

alternative land use scenarios to

evaluate the potential for focusing

development around transit stations.

Additional reasonable alternatives

suggested through the scoping process

may also be considered.

IV. Probable Effects

FTA and the City of Charlotte will

identify potentially significant social,

economic, and environmental impacts

associated with the alternatives

considered in the MIS. The primary

environmental issues to be considered

include potential impacts to air quality,

noise and vibration, historical and

archaeological resources, visual quality,

wetlands, natural areas, rare and

endangered species, water quality and

potential contamination sites. The

primary social and economic impacts

proposed for analysis in the MIS

include potential changes in land use

and future developments, neighborhood

and community resource impacts,

relocations and displacement impacts,

and traffic impacts throughout the

project corridor. In addition, both

beneficial and adverse impacts to

minority and low-income groups will be

evaluated. The impacts will be

evaluated both for the construction

period and for the long-term period of

operation. Potential measures to

mitigate any significant adverse impacts

will be identified.

V. FTA Procedures

In accordance with the federal

transportation planning regulations (23

CFR Part 450), the MIS will be prepared

to include an evaluation of the social,

economic, environmental impacts and

benefits of the alternatives. The MIS

will consider the public and agency

comments received. At the conclusion

of the MIS, the Metropolitan Transit

Commission will select the preferred

mode and general alignment alternative

for the North Corridor (the LPA). Once

the LPA has been included in the

Mecklenburg-Union Metropolitan

Planning Organization’s adopted longrange transportation plan, this project

and associated alignment, design, and

other options will be further studied in

the Preliminary Engineering/

Environmental Impact Statement (PE/

EIS) phase of project development.

Opportunities for agency and public

involvement will be provided

throughout the MIS and PE/EIS phases.

Dated: September 22, 2000.

Jerry Franklin,

FTA Regional Administrator.

[FR Doc. 00–24860 Filed 9–28–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4910–57–M

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Transit Administration

Environmental Impact Statement for

Transportation Improvements Within

the Northeast (University) Corridor,

Charlotte, NC

AGENCY: Federal Transit Administration,

DOT.

ACTION: Notice of Intent to prepare an

Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).

SUMMARY: The Federal Transit

Administration (FTA), the Federal lead

agency, and the City of Charlotte, the

local lead agency, intend to prepare an

environmental impact statement (EIS) in

accordance with the National

Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) for

transportation improvements within the

proposed Northeast Corridor in

Mecklenburg County, North Carolina.

The study corridor of approximately 14

miles extends from Uptown Charlotte

(the center city) in Mecklenburg County

to the Concord Mills area near the

Mecklenburg-Cabarrus County line.

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg region is

developing an integrated land use and

supportive transit plan. Building on the

2025 Integrated Transit/Land Use Plan

for Charlotte-Mecklenburg, four corridor

Major Investment Studies (MISs) are

being prepared for the North, Northeast

(University), Southeast (Independence),

and West (Airport) corridors. A

previously-prepared MIS for the South

Corridor resulted in a light rail transit

project for that corridor.

The EIS will be prepared following

completion of a MIS for the Northeast

Corridor. The Northeast Corridor MIS

will evaluate the land use, mobility, and

environmental benefits, costs and

impacts of various land use and

transportation alternatives. The MIS

will evaluate the following alternatives:

A No-Build alternative; a Transportation

System Management alternative

consisting of low to medium cost

58600 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 190 / Friday, September 29, 2000 / Notices

improvements to the facilities and

operation of local bus services

(Charlotte Area Transit System) in

addition to currently planned transit

improvements in the study corridor; and

multiple ‘‘Build’’ alternatives including

bus rapid transit, various types of rail

transit facilities, and combinations of

these types of transit services, as well as

alternative land use scenarios. (See

Section III. Alternatives for additional

information).

The sequence of events for the

planning and development for this

project include the following major

milestones:

Scoping Process—early opportunity

for public input to the study scope

including alternatives and issues to be

evaluated.

Major Investment Study (MIS)—

evaluation of proposed improvement

alternatives, early consideration of

environmental factors, concluding with

the selection of a Locally Preferred

Alternative (LPA).

Preliminary Engineering/

Environmental Impact Statement (PE/

EIS)—detailed definition of the LPA,

evaluation of design options, assessment

of potential impacts, development of

mitigation measures, preparation and

circulation of the Draft EIS, public

meetings, and completion of a Final EIS.

Scoping will be accomplished

through correspondence with interested

persons, organizations, and federal,

state, and local agencies, and through

public and agency meetings.

DATES: Comment Due Date: Written

comments on the scope of alternatives

and impacts to be considered should be

sent to Kelly R. Goforth, Project

Manager, Charlotte Area Transit System,

by October 16, 2000. See ADDRESSES

below. Scoping Meetings: Public

scoping meetings will be held on:

Tuesday, September 26, 2000, 6:30 pm–

9:00 pm: Mallard Creek Presbyterian

Church, 1600 Mallard Creek Church

Rd, Charlotte, NC 28262

Wednesday, September 27, 2000, 6:30

pm–9:00 pm: Charlotte-Mecklenburg

Government Center, 600 East Fourth

St, Charlotte, NC 28202 (Joint meeting

with all corridors—Center City focus)

Thursday, September 28, 2000, 6:30

pm–9:00 pm: Sugaw Creek Recreation

Center, 939 West Sugar Creek Road,

Charlotte, NC 28213 (Joint meeting

with North corridor)

Scoping materials will be available at

the meeting or in advance of the

meeting by contacting CATS. See

ADDRESSES below.

An agency scoping meeting will be

held on Wednesday, September 27,

2000, 10 am to 1 pm, CharlotteMecklenburg Government Center. See

ADDRESSES below.

Scoping is being conducted for three

other related corridors—North,

Southeast (Independence), and West

(Airport)—in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg

region at approximately the same time

with separate public scoping meetings,

as published in separate Notices of

Intent. The agency scoping meeting for

the Northeast Corridor will be held in

conjunction with the three other

corridors to address inter-related issues

and coordination.

ADDRESSES: Written comments on the

scope of alternatives and impacts to be

studied should be sent to Kelly R.

Goforth, Project Manager, Charlotte Area

Transit System, 600 East Fourth Street,

Charlotte, NC 28202–2858. Public

scoping meetings will be held at the

following locations: Mallard Creek

Presbyterian Church, 1600 Mallard

Creek Church Rd, Charlotte, NC 28262;

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Government

Center, 600 E. Fourth St, Charlotte, NC

28202; Sugaw Creek Recreation Center,

939 West Sugar Creek Road, Charlotte,

NC 28213. See DATES above. An agency

scoping meeting will be held at the

Charlotte Mecklenburg Government

Center, 600 East Fourth St., Charlotte,

NC 28202. See DATES above.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms.

Myra Immings, Federal Transit

Administration, Region IV, 61 Forsyth

Street SW, Suite 17T50, Atlanta, GA

30303; Telephone (404) 562–3508.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Scoping

The FTA and the City of Charlotte

invite interested individuals,

organizations, and federal, state and

local agencies to participate in defining

the alternative transit modes and

alignments to be evaluated and

identifying any significant social,

economic, or environmental issues

related to the alternatives. Primary

issues to be considered include the

changes in land uses and future

development as they relate to alternative

transit systems. Specific suggestions

related to additional alternatives to be

examined and issues to be addressed are

welcome and will be considered in the

final scope of the project. Scoping

comments may be made at the scoping

meetings or in writing no later than

October 16, 2000. (see DATES and

ADDRESSES above). During scoping,

comments should focus on identifying

specific social, economic, or

environmental impacts to be evaluated,

and suggesting alternatives that are less

costly or less environmentally damaging

which achieve similar transit objectives.

Comments should focus on the issues

and alternatives for analysis, and not on

a preference for a particular alternative.

An information packet, referred to as

the Scoping Booklet, will be circulated

to all Federal, State, and local agencies

with jurisdiction in the project area.

Scoping materials will be available at

the meeting or in advance of the

meeting by contacting the Charlotte

Area Transit System as indicated above.

If you wish to be placed on the mailing

list to receive further information as the

project continues contact Kelly Goforth

at the Charlotte Area Transit System

(see ADDRESSES above).

II. Description of Corridor and Project

Need

The Northeast Corridor project is a

direct outgrowth of prior transit

planning activities for the region. The

2025 Integrated Transit/Land Use Plan

for Charlotte-Mecklenburg, developed in

1998, identified key centers of economic

activity and the five major

transportation corridors in the Charlotte

region. The 2025 Plan calls for

concentrating development along these

corridors and proposes a rapid transit

system as a means to support land use

initiatives to attain this vision in order

to sustain economic growth and protect

citizens’ quality of life. The 2025 Plan

identified the Northeast Corridor as a

high-priority transit corridor based on

current and future mobility needs, cost

feasibility and potential ridership.

The proposed project corridor extends

approximately 14 miles from Uptown

Charlotte (the center city) in

Mecklenburg County to the Concord

Mills area near the Mecklenburg—

Cabarrus County line. The project study

corridor generally follows the Interstate

85 (I–85) corridor which runs in a

northeasterly direction from the center

city of Charlotte and encompasses major

arterials that parallel I–85 including US

29 and NC 49. Land uses in the study

corridor are characterized by higher

density office and commercial

development at the southernmost

portion of the corridor located in the

center city; the central portion of the

corridor has a mixture of uses including

commercial, light industrial,

warehousing, and manufacturing uses

with some scattered low-density

residential; and the northeastern portion

of the corridor has a mixture of lowdensity commercial, institutional/

business park, and residential

developments, with pockets of mediumdensity residential. Major destinations

in the corridor include the University of

North Carolina at Charlotte, the

University Research Park, and

Blockbuster Pavilion.

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 190 / Friday, September 29, 2000 / Notices 58601

Interstate 85 is currently a four-lane

controlled-access freeway north of the

US–29/49 Connector with an average

daily traffic (ADT) volume of 60,000

vehicles per day (vpd). From the US–29/

49 Connector into the Center City of

Charlotte, I–85 is an eight-lane facility

with an ADT of 102,000 vpd. This

facility experiences severe congestion

and delays particularly during the peak

travel times and is considered one of the

major transportation problems facing

the northeast part of the Charlotte region

and Cabarrus County. Currently, I–85 is

rated as having very poor mobility (level

of service F in many sections during

peak periods). Future traffic volumes are

projected to increase by nearly 200% by

the year 2020, with the segment of I–85

between I–485 and Speedway Boulevard

having a projected ADT of 140,000 vpd.

The North Carolina Department of

Transportation (NCDOT) has

programmed the section of I–85 between

the US–29/49 and Speedway Boulevard

to be widened to an eight-lane facility,

scheduled to begin construction in

2004. Widening alternatives are

currently being evaluated for the section

between Speedway Boulevard and US–

601 in the City of Concord. However,

even with these roadway improvements,

a substantial portion of this corridor

will still experience peak period

congestion.

Future growth projections for the

region estimate a population increase of

57 percent and a 47 percent increase in

employment by the year 2025. The

Charlotte Metropolitan Area has

exceeded the Environmental Protection

Agency’s 1-hour and 8-hour standard for

ozone each of the past three years.

These violations will likely result in the

County being designated as a nonattainment area for ozone, which will be

officially stated by US EPA early next

year. The primary contributor of air

pollutants in the region is mobile

emissions.

III. Alternatives

The alternatives proposed for

evaluation include: (1) No-Build, which

involves no change to transportation

service or facilities in the corridor

beyond already committed projects; (2)

a Transportation System Management

alternative, which consists of low to

medium cost improvements to the

operations of the local bus service, the

Charlotte Area Transit System, in

addition to the currently planned transit

improvements in the corridor; and (3)

multiple ‘‘Build’’ alternatives including

bus rapid transit (BRT) facilities along

the I–85 corridor and other major

roadways in this vicinity, and various

modes of rail service including

commuter rail and light rail transit

(LRT) generally following the existing

Norfolk Southern railroad right-of-way

and/or major arterials within the study

corridor. The ‘‘Build’’ alternatives may

include alternative land use scenarios to

evaluate the potential for focusing

development around transit stations.

Additional reasonable alternatives

suggested through the scoping process

may also be considered.

IV. Probable Effects

FTA and the City of Charlotte will

identify potentially significant social,

economic, and environmental impacts

associated with the alternatives

considered in the MIS. The primary

environmental issues to be considered

include potential impacts to air quality,

noise and vibration, historical and

archaeological resources, visual quality,

wetlands, natural areas, rare and

endangered species, water quality and

potential contamination sites. The

primary social and economic impacts

proposed for analysis in the MIS

include potential changes in land use

and future developments, neighborhood

and community resource impacts,

relocations and displacement impacts,

and traffic impacts throughout the

project corridor. In addition, both

beneficial and adverse impacts to

minority and low-income groups will be

evaluated. The impacts will be

evaluated both for the construction

period and for the long-term period of

operation. Potential measures to

mitigate any significant adverse impacts

will be identified.

V. FTA Procedures

In accordance with the federal

transportation planning regulations (23

CFR part 450), the MIS will be prepared

to include an evaluation of the social,

economic, environmental impacts and

benefits of the alternatives. The MIS

will consider the public and agency

comments received. At the conclusion

of the MIS, the Metropolitan Transit

Commission will select the preferred

mode and general alignment alternative

for the Northeast Corridor (the LPA).

Once the LPA has been included in the

Mecklenburg-Union Metropolitan

Planning Organization’s adopted longrange transportation plan, this project

and associated alignment, design, and

other options will be further studied in

the Preliminary Engineering/

Environmental Impact Statement (PE/

EIS) phase of project development.

Opportunities for agency and public

involvement will be provided

throughout the MIS and PE/EIS phases.

Dated: September 22, 2000.

Jerry Franklin,

FTA Regional Administrator.

[FR Doc. 00–24861 Filed 9–28–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4910–57–P

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Transit Administration

Environmental Impact Statement for

Transportation Improvements Within

the Southeast Corridor, Charlotte, NC

AGENCY: Federal Transit Administration,

DOT.

ACTION: Notice of Intent to prepare an

Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).

SUMMARY: The Federal Transit

Administration (FTA), the Federal lead

agency, and the City of Charlotte, the

local lead agency, intend to prepare an

environmental impact statement (EIS) in

accordance with the National

Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) for

transportation improvements within the

proposed Southeast Corridor in

Mecklenburg County, North Carolina.

The study corridor of approximately

13.5 miles extends from Uptown

Charlotte (the center city) in

Mecklenburg County to the border with

Union County to the south.

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg region is

developing an integrated land use and

supportive transit plan. Building on the

2025 Integrated Transit/Land Use Plan

for Charlotte-Mecklenburg, four corridor

Major Investment Studies (MISs) are

being prepared for the North, Northeast

(University), Southeast (Independence),

and West (Airport) corridors. A

previously-prepared MIS for the South

Corridor resulted in a light rail transit

project for that corridor.

The EIS will be prepared following

completion of a MIS for the Southeast

Corridor. The Southeast Corridor MIS

will evaluate the land use, mobility, and

environmental benefits, costs and

impacts of various land use and

transportation alternatives. The MIS

will evaluate the following alternatives:

a No-Build alternative; a Transportation

System Management alternative

consisting of low to medium cost

improvements to the facilities and

operation of local bus services

(Charlotte Area Transit System) in

addition to currently planned transit

improvements in the study corridor; and

multiple ‘‘Build’’ alternatives including

bus rapid transit, various types of rail

transit facilities, and combinations of

these types of transit services, as well as

alternative land use scenarios. (See