[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 167 (Wednesday, August 28, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 53187-53189]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-20996]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Transit Administration
Early Scoping Notification for the Alternatives Analysis of the
GA 400 Transit Initiative in Fulton County, Georgia
AGENCY: Federal Transit Administration (FTA), United States Department
of Transportation (USDOT).
ACTION: Notice of early scoping meeting.
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SUMMARY: The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) and the Metropolitan
Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) issue this early scoping notice
to advise other agencies and the public that they intend to explore
potential alternatives for providing high-capacity transit in the GA
400 corridor in north Fulton County, GA from Dunwoody to Alpharetta
that would improve transit linkages and coverage to communities within
this corridor and would enhance mobility and accessibility to and
within the corridor by providing a more robust transit network that
offers an alternative to automobile travel. This notice invites the
public and agency officials to help support the ongoing alternatives
analysis and system planning effort by commenting on the project's
purpose and need, the project study area, the alternatives being
considered, the transportation problems that are being addressed by the
alternatives analysis study, public participation and outreach methods,
the relevant transportation and community impacts and benefits being
considered, known environmental issues raised by public and agency
coordination to date, and the projected capital and operating costs of
this project.
The early scoping process is intended to support the alternatives
analysis and a future National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) scoping
process and will help streamline the future development of an
environmental impact statement (EIS), if warranted. In addition, it
supports FTA planning requirements associated with the New Starts
(``Section 5309'') funding program for certain kinds of major capital
investments. While recent legislation has led to changes in the New
Starts process, MARTA will comply with all relevant FTA requirements
relating to planning and project development to help analyze and screen
alternatives in preparation for the NEPA process.
Public meetings are described immediately below. A more detailed
discussion of the project and this early scoping process is included in
sections that follow.
DATES: An early scoping meeting where the public and interested
agencies can learn more about and comment on the scope of the
alternatives analysis will be held on September 26, 2013, at 6:30 p.m.
to 8:30 p.m. The location of this meeting is indicated under ADDRESSES
below.
At the early scoping meeting, MARTA will provide information on the
alternatives analysis progress along with opportunities for written
comments. Written or electronic scoping comments are requested by
October 28, 2013, and can be sent or emailed to the MARTA project
manager at the address below. Comments may also be offered at the early
scoping meeting.
ADDRESSES: Written or electronic comments should be sent to Ms. Janide
Sidifal, Project Manager, MARTA, 2424 Piedmont Road NE., Atlanta GA
30324-3330 or by email to [email protected]. If submitting an
electronic comment, please type ``Connect 400 Early Scoping Comment for
MARTA'' in the subject line of the email. MARTA maintains a Facebook
page for the Connect 400 project and will notify Facebook followers, in
conjunction with publication of this notice, to submit comments to the
aforementioned email address as well. The address for the early scoping
meeting is as follows:
Alpharetta City Hall, 2 Main Street, Alpharetta, GA 30009.
The meeting location is accessible to persons with disabilities. If
translation, signing services, or other special accommodations are
needed, please contact the Project Manager, Ms. Janide Sidifall at
[email protected] or 404-848-5828; or the Senior Director of
Transit System Planning, Mr. Don Williams at [email protected] or
404-848-4422 at least one week before the scoping meeting.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Keith Melton, Community Planner,
FTA Region IV, 230 Peachtree Street NW., Suite 800, Atlanta, GA 30303
or email: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Early Scoping
Early scoping is an optional early step in the NEPA process that
precedes NEPA scoping, which normally begins when the FTA and the grant
applicant publish a notice of intent to prepare an EIS. FTA encourages
the use of early scoping for major planning activities and studies that
may receive other FTA funding as a way to start the NEPA process during
earlier project planning phases. Early scoping is intended to generate
public and agency review and
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comments on the scope of a planning effort within a defined
transportation corridor, which helps the agency to determine which
particular alignment variations, should receive more focused study and
development to streamline the NEPA process. Early scoping can serve not
only to streamline the NEPA process, but also to firmly link
transportation planning and NEPA; making sure that the public and
interested agencies are given the opportunity to review and provide
comments on the results of planning activities and studies that can
then be used to inform the NEPA process. Early scoping for the GA 400
Transit Initiative is being conducted in support of NEPA requirements
and in accordance with the Council on Environmental Quality's (CEQ) and
FTA's regulations and guidance for implementing NEPA (40 CFR 1501.2
through 1501.8 and through 23 CFR 771.111), which encourage federal
agencies to initiate NEPA early in their planning processes. Early
scoping allows the scoping process to begin as soon as there is enough
information to describe the proposal so that the public and relevant
agencies can participate effectively. This is particularly useful in
situations when a proposed action involves a broadly defined corridor
with an array of transit investment alternatives. This early scoping
notice invites public and agency involvement with the ongoing
supplementary planning activities and studies for the GA 400 Transit
Initiative, including review of the (a) Purpose and need, (b) the
proposed alternatives, and (c) the potential environmental,
transportation, and community impacts and benefits to consider during
the NEPA process.
The GA 400 Transit Initiative and the Regional Transit System
The GA 400 Corridor Alternatives Analysis (AA) was initiated by
MARTA in late 2011 to identify potential and feasible transit modal
alternatives in the GA 400 corridor to address travel demands. The GA
400 corridor is the transportation spine of northern Fulton County, one
of the fastest growing sub-regions in the metro-Atlanta region. The GA
400 Corridor AA addresses the travel market in a study area generally
extending north along GA 400 from I-285 in Dunwoody to the Fulton/
Forsyth County line north of Alpharetta, a distance of approximately 15
miles. The corridor is home to many employment centers, including
Perimeter Center in the southern portion of the corridor, one of the
largest employment centers for the region. Transit service to and
within the study area is provided primarily by MARTA heavy rail and
bus. The Georgia Regional Transportation Authority (GRTA) also operates
two bus routes that connect the southern portion of the GA 400 corridor
with express bus service at peak hours from the north and southeast
from outside the GA 400 corridor. Rail service extends from Downtown
Atlanta to the major retail and employment centers, including the
Medical Center and Perimeter Center in Dunwoody and Sandy Springs in
the southern portion of the corridor. MARTA Bus service primarily
functions as feeder service to MARTA heavy rail stations from areas to
the north, including Roswell, Alpharetta and Milton. A number of the
bus routes and the MARTA heavy rail stations service park-and-ride
facilities.
Purpose and Need for the Proposed Project
MARTA invites comments on the following preliminary statement of
the project's purpose and need.
The purpose of the project is to provide reliable, convenient,
efficient, and sustainable transit service in the GA 400 corridor by:
Providing high capacity transit (bus and/or rail) through
the GA 400 corridor study area;
Improving transit linkages and coverage to communities
within the study area; and
Enhancing mobility and accessibility to and within the
study area by providing a more robust transit network that offers an
alternative to automobile travel.
The need for this project arises from the following:
Travel demand--Increased travel demand and traffic
congestion;
Transit mobility--There is inadequate transit connectivity
within the northern Fulton study area and between the study area and
DeKalb, Gwinnett, and Cobb Counties and central Atlanta. In addition,
east-west transit connectivity is inadequate. The limited routes across
the Chattahoochee River reflect the inadequate transit connectivity;
Transit travel times--Transit travel times are not
competitive with auto travel times due to the lack of express service;
this is true for north-south trips within the study area and for trips
with origins and destinations outside the study area. Transit and auto
travel times cannot be compared for east-west trips as there is no
east-west transit service;
Economic development--Traffic congestion caused by
insufficient transportation system capacity affects both personal
travel and goods movement, which constrains economic development
opportunities; and
Air quality--The continued growth of vehicular travel will
negatively affect air quality in the study area and the region.
Potential Alternatives
MARTA is exploring alternative transit mode, alignment, and design
options for high capacity transit service in the GA 400 corridor using
a three-step evaluation process. The three-step evaluation process
includes a Fatal Flaw Analysis, Screen 1 and Screen 2 and is generally
characterized by the application of an increasingly detailed and
comprehensive set of performance measures to a decreasing number of
alternatives. Each step in the evaluation process focuses the analysis
on progressively fewer alternatives with higher levels of scrutiny. In
addition, the Build Alternatives are compared not only to each other
but also to the No-Build Alternative, which provides the benchmark for
establishing the travel benefits, environmental impacts of the
alternatives and the cost-effectiveness of the alternatives. The GA 400
Corridor Transit Initiative is currently in Screen 2. After
consideration of the findings of the first and second steps in the
evaluation process, MARTA has identified an alignment that would
provide approximately 11.9 miles of transit service along the GA 400
corridor within existing right-of-way from the existing North Springs
MARTA station to Windward Parkway. This alignment is referred to as the
GA 400-1A Build Alternative. Bus rapid transit (BRT), heavy rail
transit (HRT), and light rail transit (LRT) are the three transit modes
or technologies being considered for this corridor. The three modes
each have the same general alignment, following GA 400 from North
Springs MARTA station to Windward Parkway. The LRT and the BRT
alternatives have six stations from south to north: Northridge, Holcomb
Bridge, Mansell Road, North Point Mall, Old Milton and Windward
Parkway. The HRT alternative is similar, but it does not include a
station at Old Milton. The outcome of Screen 2 will be the
recommendation of the preferred alternative. MARTA may also consider
other alternatives that arise during the early scoping comment period.
FTA Procedures
At the end of the alternatives analysis process, FTA and MARTA
anticipate identifying a preferred mode and corridor for further
evaluation during the NEPA process. The classification of the NEPA
documentation will be determined by the FTA at the end of the
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alternatives analysis. If the preferred mode and alignment involve the
potential for significant environmental impacts an EIS may be required.
If an EIS is required, a Notice of Intent to Prepare an EIS will be
published in the Federal Register by FTA and the public and interested
agencies will have the opportunity to participate in a review and
comment period on the scope of the EIS.
Issued on: August 23, 2013.
Yvette G. Taylor,
Regional Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2013-20996 Filed 8-27-13; 8:45 am]
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