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Preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement on Transit Improvements in the North-South Corridor of Kansas City, MO

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[Federal Register: January 30, 2008 (Volume 73, Number 20)]
[Notices]
[Page 5625-5627]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr30ja08-135]

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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Transit Administration

Preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement on Transit
Improvements in the North-South Corridor of Kansas City, MO

AGENCY: Federal Transit Administration, Department of Transportation.
ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement
(EIS).

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SUMMARY: The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) and the Kansas City
Area Transportation Authority (KCATA) intend to prepare an
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) in accordance with the National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) to assess the environmental and
community impacts of transit improvements proposed by KCATA and the
City of Kansas City, Missouri in a 12-mile North/South travel corridor
in the Kansas City metropolitan area. Because KCATA may decide to seek
FTA New Starts funding for transit improvements in the corridor, this
work will also satisfy the FTA requirement for an Alternatives Analysis
through the development of a combined Alternatives Analysis/Draft
Environmental Impact Statement (AA/DEIS).
    Possible transit improvements in the corridor are intended to
improve access to the major employment center located in the central
portion of the region, especially for that segment of the population
that does not have access to the auto-oriented transportation system.
Additionally, new transit facilities would support sustainable
development patterns in the corridor. Alternatives proposed to be
considered for accomplishing these purposes include (1) The Future No-
Build Alternative, (2) a Transportation System Management (TSM)
alternative that includes improvements to bus services, and (3) various
fixed-guideway transit alternatives, including the light rail transit
(LRT) line developed by the Citizens' Light Rail Task Force.
    Scoping of the EIS will be accomplished through meetings and
correspondence with interested individuals, organizations, Federal,
State, and local governmental agencies, and Native American tribes.

DATES: Comment Due Date: Written comments on the scope of the EIS,
including the purpose and need for action and the alternatives and
impacts to be considered should be sent to Dick Jarrold of KCATA by
March 17, 2008. See ADDRESSES below for his address.
    Public Scoping Meetings: A Public scoping meeting will be held at
the Mohart Community Center at 3200 Wayne, Kansas City, Missouri 64109
on Wednesday, February 27, 2008 from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Presentations
summarizing the project and the Scoping process will be held at 5:30
p.m. and 7:30 p.m. The scoping meeting site is accessible to mobility-
impaired individuals. If you wish to participate and need an
interpreter, materials in alternate formats, or other accommodations,
please contact Dick Jarrold at KCATA, (816) 346-0200 or 
djarrold@kcata.org. Please do so at least 48 hours prior to the meeting
so that the proper arrangements can be made.
    Interagency Coordination: An interagency scoping meeting will be
held at 1 p.m. on Wednesday, February 27, 2008 at the KCATA administration
building, 1200 East 18th Street, Kansas City, Missouri 64108.

ADDRESSES: Send written comments on the EIS scope to Dick Jarrold,
KCATA Project Manager, 1200 E. 18th St., Kansas City, MO 64108.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Joan Roeseler, Federal Transit
Administration, Region VII at (816) 329-3920 or by e-mail at 
joan.roeseler@dot.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Scoping

    The FTA and KCATA invite all interested individuals, organizations,
businesses, and Federal, state, and local agencies to comment on the
scope of the EIS, including the project's purpose and need, the
alternative transit actions to be considered, and the impacts to be
evaluated. During the scoping process, comments should focus on the
purpose and need for a project, identifying specific transportation
problems to be evaluated, or on proposing transportation alternatives
that may be less costly, more effective, and have fewer environmental
impacts while improving mobility in the corridor. Scoping information
is available in hardcopy by request from Dick Jarrold as indicated
above under DATES and on the project Web site at 
http://www.kcata.org/lightrail.htm. Exit Disclaimer
    During the scoping process, KCATA and FTA will extend an invitation to

[[Page 5626]]

other Federal and non-Federal agencies and Native American tribes that
may have an interest in the proposed project to become ``participating
agencies'' in accordance with Section 6002 of the Safe, Accountable,
Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users
(SAFETEA-LU). Scoping materials will accompany the invitation to become
a participating agency or, if appropriate, a cooperating agency. KCATA
and FTA may not be able to identify all Federal and non-Federal
agencies and Native American tribes that may have an interest in the
project. 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 prior to February 20, 2008 should
notify Dick Jarrold of KCATA at (816) 346-0200 or djarrold@kcata.org.
    During the scoping process, KCATA will develop, in accordance with
Section 6002 of SAFETEA-LU, a coordination plan that identifies
milestones and details the lead agencies' expectations for review and
comment by the participating agencies at those milestones. The
coordination plan will also detail how the public outreach activities
with interested parties or groups will continue throughout the duration
of work on the EIS. The coordination plan will be posted on the project
Web site, http://www.kcata.org/lightrail.htm, Exit Disclaimer which will be
updated periodically to reflect the status of the project and to provide
additional project-related materials. Additional opportunities for
public participation will also be announced through mailings, notices,
and press releases and on the Web site. Those individuals wishing to be
placed on the project mailing list may do so by contacting Manya
Tackett at (816) 346-0200 or ManyaT@kcata.org.

II. Description of the Study Area and Project's Purpose and Need

    The study area extends from approximately the intersection of I-29
with North Oak Trafficway and US-169 in the northern portion of Kansas
City, Missouri south through the City of North Kansas City, across the
Missouri River and into downtown Kansas City, Missouri and continuing
south to the Country Club Plaza and Prospect Avenue areas in Kansas
City, Missouri. The corridor is in the center of the metropolitan
region and includes Kansas City's most concentrated employment and
residential areas and many of the region's significant institutional
and cultural attractions, including the North Kansas City business
district, downtown Central Business District, Crown Center, Country
Club Plaza, Penn Valley Park, and Union Station. Existing transit
service in the portion of the corridor south of the Missouri River
includes both regular bus routes and the MAX bus rapid transit (BRT)
line. North of the Missouri River, only limited bus service is
available and there are limited transit connections across the river.
    Mobility is restricted due to the multiple employment and activity
concentrations spread throughout the corridor, limited mobility
connections over the Missouri River, and difficulty connecting lower
income areas on the east side of Kansas City with the disbursed
employment centers in the corridor. The primary purpose of an
investment in transit in the North/South Corridor is to provide
improved transit connections between the disbursed employment and
activity centers, connect residential concentrations particularly low
income centers on the east side to these centers, improve mobility and
connections between the north and south parts of Kansas City that are
separated by the Missouri River, promote desirable development along a
fixed guideway in the center of the region and preserve the city
center's economic competitiveness with fringe areas.
    The growing mobility challenges, coupled with limited opportunity
for highway capacity expansion, make an investment in expanding
existing transit service and extending transit into new markets
throughout the corridor a potentially promising solution.
    The Study Area includes a substantial amount of the city's low
income and minority areas. As employment and activity centers disperse,
lower income residents without ready access to automobiles have reduced
access to employment opportunities. A high capacity transit investment
would enhance access to, and retain employment opportunities in the
study area.
    In addition to the employment concentrations, a transit investment
in the North/South corridor offers a unique opportunity to provide
seamless access to some of the city's premier cultural attractions in
the corridor, including River Market, Crown Center, Union Station,
Country Club Plaza and the University of Missouri-Kansas City. A high
capacity, user friendly transit system would be attractive to visitors
and increase accessibility to cultural and recreation centers to a
wider range of patrons.

III. Alternatives

    In November 2006, the voters of Kansas City approved a ballot
initiative that provided a funding mechanism and specified in detail a
light rail line in Kansas City. In November 2007, the City Council of
Kansas City, Missouri, repealed that ballot initiative and committed
the City to continued work with KCATA to consider transit alternatives,
including rail options, and identify reasonable transit improvements
for the corridor.
    Phase I of this work included a technical review of the November
2006 initiative and the early identification and screening of
conceptual alternatives; it has been completed. Phase II is the
preparation of an AA/DEIS that will evaluate the Future No Build,
Transportation System Management (TSM), and Build alternatives
described herein, and any additional reasonable alternatives that
emerge from the scoping process.
    The Future No Build Alternative will include existing
transportation facilities and services and committed and funded
transportation services, facilities, and system management
improvements. These are included in the metropolitan transportation
plan of the Mid-America Regional Council (MARC).
    The Transportation System Management (TSM) Alternative will include
operational and low-cost capital investments to the existing transit
services in the corridor that go beyond the Future No Build in
attempting to address the purpose and need for transit improvements in
the corridor. The TSM alternative will include consideration of both
improvements in regular bus service and extensions of the MAX BRT service.
    The Build Alternatives will consist of street-running rail
alternatives, including but not limited to the Citizens' Task Force
November 2007 recommendation of a 12-mile light rail or streetcar line
starting north of the Missouri River and extending south of the river
to the Country Club Plaza area with an eastward line to Prospect
Avenue. Additional reasonable alternatives emerging from the scoping
process, if any, will also be considered. An information packet
including the Citizens' Task Force recommendations and an initial
purpose and need statement are available from KCATA and are posted on
the project Web site.

IV. Potential Impacts for Analysis

    The EIS will evaluate the impacts of all reasonable alternatives
emerging from the scoping process. The project team anticipates that
issues of particular

[[Page 5627]]

focus will include land use and economic development impacts and
benefits, transit, parking and traffic operations impacts, service to
environmental justice populations, cultural resource impacts and
impacts associated with a potentially new Missouri River crossing.
    The EIS will take into account both short-term construction-related
impacts and long-term impacts associated with operation of the transit
system. The EIS will identify measures to avoid or mitigate adverse
environmental and community impacts.
    To ensure that all significant issues related to this proposed
action are identified and addressed, comments and suggestions are
invited from all interested parties on the impact areas to be studied
and the methodologies. Comments and questions should be directed to
KCATA as noted in the ADDRESSES section above.

V. FTA Procedures

    KCATA is seeking FTA financial assistance provided by 49 United
States Code (U.S.C.) Sec.  5309 to construct the proposed project and
will, therefore, be subject to the regulation at 49 Code of Federal
Regulations (CFR) part 611 related to such New Starts projects. The New
Starts regulation requires that an Alternatives Analysis be conducted
to support a local decision on the preferred alternative that is then
incorporated into the official metropolitan transportation plan adopted
by MARC. KCATA and FTA propose to perform the Alternatives Analysis
(AA) and preparation of the draft EIS together and produce an AA/DEIS
document. The AA/DEIS will be distributed for public and agency review
and a public hearing will be held. KCATA and MARC will select a locally
preferred alternative based on the AA/DEIS and the public and agency
comments received. Following selection of the locally preferred
alternative and its adoption by MARC into the transportation plan,
KCATA will seek FTA approval to initiate preliminary engineering (PE)
of that alternative. The NEPA review will be completed during PE with
publication of the final EIS.
    The EIS will be prepared in accordance with the NEPA 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). In accordance with 23 CFR 771.105(a) and 771.133, KCATA and
FTA will comply with all Federal environmental laws, regulations, and
executive orders applicable to the proposed project to the maximum
extent possible during the environmental review process. These
requirements include, but are not limited to, the environmental and
public hearing provisions of Federal transit laws (49 U.S.C. 5323(b)
and 5324(b)); the project-level air quality conformity regulation of
the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) (40 CFR part 93); the
section 404(b)(1) guidelines of EPA (40 CFR part 230); the regulation
implementing section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (36
CFR part 800); the regulation implementing section 7 of the Endangered
Species Act (50 CFR part 402); section 4(f) of the Department of
Transportation Act (23 CFR 771.135); and Executive Orders 12898 on
environmental justice, 11988 on floodplain management, and 11990 on
protection of wetlands.

Mokhtee Ahmad,
Regional Administrator.
[FR Doc. E8-1510 Filed 1-29-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-57-P

 
 

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