[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 49 (Wednesday, March 15, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13923-13924]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-05065]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Transit Administration


Notice To Rescind Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental 
Impact Statement for the Gateway Corridor Project From Saint Paul to 
Woodbury in Ramsey and Washington Counties, Minnesota

AGENCY: Federal Transit Administration (FTA), Department of 
Transportation (DOT).

ACTION: Rescind Notice of Intent (NOI) to prepare an Environmental 
Impact Statement (EIS).

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SUMMARY: The FTA, in cooperation with the Washington County Regional 
Railroad Authority (WCRRA) and the Metropolitan Council, is issuing 
this notice to advise the public that the NOI to prepare an EIS for the 
proposed Gateway Corridor project from Saint Paul to Woodbury in Ramsey 
and Washington Counties, Minnesota, is being rescinded.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Reggie Arkell, Community Planner, 
Federal Transit Administration, Region V, 200 West Adams Street, Suite 
320, Chicago, IL 60606, phone 312-886-3704, email 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The FTA, as the lead federal agency, in 
cooperation with WCRRA and the Metropolitan Council, published a NOI in 
the Federal Register on February 12, 2014 (79 FR 8530-8532) to prepare 
an EIS for the proposed Gateway Corridor project. The Gateway Corridor 
project is a planned transitway approximately nine miles in length 
located in Ramsey and Washington Counties in the eastern part of the 
Twin Cities Metropolitan Area, Minnesota. The project is located in a 
corridor generally parallel to

[[Page 13924]]

Interstate 94 (I-94). The purpose is to provide improved public 
transportation between downtown Saint Paul with its east side 
neighborhoods and the suburban cities of Maplewood, Landfall, Oakdale, 
and Woodbury. Since the NOI was published, through the environmental 
review and locally preferred alternative decision-making process, the 
potential project length has been reduced by approximately three miles 
and the transit technologies under evaluation have been reduced from 
light rail transit, bus rapid transit (BRT), and managed lanes to only 
BRT. Both these changes have minimized the potential impact of the 
proposed action. FTA, WCRRA, and the Metropolitan Council anticipate 
that an environmental assessment (EA), leading to a Finding of No 
Significant Impact (FONSI), would be the appropriate class of action 
under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) for this project. 
Therefore, the FTA has decided to rescind the NOI for the EIS.
    Comments and questions concerning the proposed actions should be 
directed to FTA at the address provided above.

Marisol R. Sim[oacute]n,
Regional Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2017-05065 Filed 3-14-17; 8:45 am]
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