[Federal Register: October 31, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 210)]
[Notices]
[Page 61703-61706]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr31oc07-147]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Transit Administration
Early Scoping Notice for an Alternatives Analysis of Proposed
Transit Improvements in the Regional Connector Transit Corridor of Los
Angeles, CA
AGENCY: Federal Transit Administration, DOT.
ACTION: Early Scoping Notice.
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SUMMARY: The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) and the Los Angeles
County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LACMTA) issue this early
scoping notice to advise other agencies and the public that they intend
to explore, in the context of the Council on Environmental Quality's
early scoping process, alternative means of improving transit capacity
and service in and through the central core of Los Angeles, California.
The early scoping process is part of a planning
[[Page 61704]]
Alternatives Analysis (AA) required by 49 United States Code (U.S.C.)
5309 that will lead to the selection of the alternatives that will be
subject to the appropriate environmental process. Early scoping
meetings have been planned and are announced below.
The proposed Regional Connector would provide a link connecting
several light rail service lines in operation or in construction (i.e.,
the Metro Gold Line to Pasadena, the Metro Gold Line Eastside
Extension, the Metro Blue Line, and the Metro Expo Line). This
connection would broaden and improve the region's public transit,
mobility, and accessibility. The project study area within which
various alternatives will be considered for the Regional Connector is
situated in downtown Los Angeles, generally encompassing the area
between the 101 Freeway on the north, 9th Street/Los Angeles Street and
7th Street on south, the 110 Freeway on the west, and Alameda Street on
the east.
After selection of the alternatives by the LACMTA Board, the
alternatives will then be the subject of the appropriate environmental
review under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the
California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). If the alternatives have
significant impacts, an environmental impact statement (EIS), combined
with a California environmental impact report (EIR) would be initiated
with a Notice of Intent (NOI) in the Federal Register and distribution
of a Notice of Preparation (NOP) required under CEQA and final public
and agency scoping of the EIS/EIR. In particular, the purpose and need
for the project, the range of alternatives to be considered in the EIS/
EIR, the environmental and community impacts to be evaluated, and the
methodologies to be used, would be subject to public and interagency
review and comment, in accordance with 23 U.S.C. 139 and CEQA.
DATES: Written comments on the scope of the planning Alternatives
Analysis, including the alternatives to be considered and the impacts
to be assessed, should be sent to LACMTA at the address below by
November 21, 2007. See ADDRESSES below for the address to which written
public comments may be sent. Early scoping meetings to accept public
comments on the scope of the Alternatives Analysis will be held on the
following dates:
Tuesday, November 6, 2007, from 11:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.
Central Library, Meeting Room A, 630 W. 5th St., Los Angeles, CA 90071.
Wednesday, November 7, 2007, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Japanese American National Museum, 369 East First Street, Los Angeles,
CA 90012.
The draft purpose and need for the project and the initial set of
alternatives proposed for study will be presented at these meetings.
The buildings and facilities 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 a scoping meeting should contact Ms. Susan Gilmore, LACMTA at 213-
922-7287 or Gilmores@metro.net.
Scoping materials will be available at the meetings and are also
available on the LACMTA Web site at http://www.metro.net. Hard copies
of the scoping materials are available from Ms. Susan Gilmore, LACMTA
at 213-922-7287 or Gilmores@metro.net.
An interagency scoping meeting will be held on Tuesday, October 30,
2007, from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. at LACMTA, One Gateway Plaza, 3rd Floor,
Board Overflow Room, Los Angeles, CA 90012. Representatives of Native
American tribal governments and of all Federal, State, and local
agencies that may have an interest in any aspect of the project will be
invited by phone letter, or e-mail.
It should be noted that, in addition to the early scoping meetings
described herein, the agency and scoping meetings required under NEPA
and CEQA to identify the nature and scope of environmental issues that
should be addressed in the EIS/EIR will be held following issuance of
the NOI and NOP. The dates and locations for the EIR/EIS scoping
meetings will be announced at that time and will be included in the NOI
and NOP, which will be distributed in the same manner as this Early
Scoping Notice.
ADDRESSES: Written comments on this Early Scoping Notice should be sent
to Ms. Dolores Roybal Saltarelli, AICP, Project Manager, Los Angeles
County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, One Gateway Plaza, Los
Angeles, CA 90012, phone 213-922-3024, e-mail roybald@metro.net. The
locations of the early scoping meetings are given above under DATES.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Ray Tellis, Team Leader, Los
Angeles Metropolitan Office, Federal Transit Administration, 888 South
Figueroa Street, Suite 1850, Los Angeles, CA 90017, phone 213-202-3950,
e-mail ray.tellis@dot.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Early Scoping
The FTA and LACMTA invite all interested individuals and
organizations, public agencies, and Native American tribes to comment
on the scope of alternatives formulation, including the purpose and
need for transit improvements in the corridor, the alternatives to be
considered, and the types of impacts to be further evaluated in the
planning Alternatives Analysis. Comments at this time should focus on
the purpose and need for transit improvements in the corridor;
alternatives that may be less costly or have less environmental impacts
while achieving similar transportation objectives; and the
identification of any significant social, economic, or environmental
issues that should be considered in defining a range of alternatives.
Purpose and Need for the Project
The purpose of this project is to improve the region's public
transit service and mobility. The project would provide a link
connecting the light rail service of the Metro Gold Line to Pasadena,
the Metro Gold Line Eastside Extension, the Metro Blue Line and the
Metro Expo Line. This link will serve communities across the region,
allowing greater accessibility while serving a resurgent downtown Los
Angeles. There is a need for transportation improvements within this
study area. Originally planned as a northern extension of the Metro
Blue Line to Pasadena, the project was deferred due to limited
resources. Initial studies were developed and completed in 1994 and are
available from LACMTA at One Gateway Plaza, Records Management, Los
Angeles, CA 90012. At that time, only the Metro Blue Line and a short
segment of the Metro Red Line Subway were in construction or in
operation in downtown Los Angeles. By 2007, the Metro rail system had
grown substantially, with lines in operation or under construction
extending over 60 miles from downtown Los Angeles. The Metro Red Line
from 7th Street Metro Center to Union Station currently serves as an
interim connection between the Metro Gold Line and Metro Blue Line.
With continued expansion and success of the Metro fixed guide-way
system, considerations supporting the project's needs are as follows:
Metro's increased ridership due to an expanding system
will create capacity issues on the Metro Red Line Segment between the
Metro Gold Line and the Metro Blue Line.
Improved travel times through the downtown core will
attract more riders on the transit system throughout the region.
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The City of Los Angeles has developed a ``Centers
Concept'' Land Use Policy which is transit based.
There is existing, significant, dense, private and public
developments within the study area that are regional activity centers
and destinations including City Hall, Disney Hall, Caltrans
Headquarters, MOCA, Federal Courts, County Courts, etc..
Downtown Los Angeles is in the midst of a resurgence that
includes the development of dense residential developments in the form
of mid-high rise buildings, new entertainment districts including LA
Live and the Grand Avenue Plan, and conversion of older underutilized
areas into new commercial and residential uses, all in construction
within the study area.
Local planning guidelines and policies are supportive of
sustainable public transportation that provides for a walkable, livable
City of Los Angeles.
The City of Los Angeles will experience a significant
overall increase in population and job growth over the next 20 years.
Increased congestion through downtown Los Angeles on the
highway network has created support for improved high-capacity transit
alternatives.
Continued expansion of the transit system is creating a
demand for increased capacity.
Improved connectivity of a transit system has significant
positive impacts on ridership.
Improved connectivity of the transit system will improve
operations.
Comments on the preliminary purpose and need statements for the
proposed project are requested from the public and participating
agencies. Comments will be given full consideration.
Alternatives
A broad range of alternatives are being considered in the AA
process, including various transit technologies, corridor alignments,
configurations and operations, station types and locations, and
Transportation Systems Management (TSM) improvements. In addition to
these various types of actions, the implications of taking no action
(i.e., the ``no build'' alternative) will be considered in the
analysis. The following summarizes the general types of alternatives to
be considered in the analysis, understanding that a broad variety of
possible alternatives, and combinations thereof, will be initially
identified and then undergo evaluation to define the alternatives for
advancement to the environmental process. Further description of this
process is provided below under FTA Procedures.
Alternative Technologies could include proven transportation
systems based such as light rail, bus rapid transit, people movers, or
monorail.
Alignment Alternatives include fixed guide-way, street running at-
grade systems, aerial and underground configurations, center or side of
street operations, and at-grade, off street alignments. Running north
to south, alignments could include the use of some combination of
Alameda Street, Los Angeles St., Central Avenue, San Pedro St., Main
St., Spring St., Broadway, Hill St., Olive St., Grand Avenue, Hope St.,
Flower St., Figueroa St. Running east to west, alignments could include
some combination of Aliso St., Temple St., 1st St., 2nd St., 3rd St.,
4th St., 5th St., 6th St., and 7th St. Station Alternatives include
variations in the number, interval distance, location, design including
whether above ground or below ground and whether stand-alone or
integrated as part of another use, and operational characteristics.
No Build Alternative includes only ``committed'' improvements--in
the current Metro Long Range Transportation Plan and the 2030 Southern
California Association of Governments Regional Transportation Plan--
together with minor transit service expansions and/or adjustments that
reflect a continuation of existing service policies. For purposes of
the Alternatives Analysis, the major fixed guideway investments under
study for the Exposition Transit Corridor Phase 2 and Crenshaw Transit
Corridor projects would not be included in the Future No-Build
Alternative. The completion of the Metro Rapid Bus Program would be
included as well as possible additional feeder bus networks to serve
the region's major activity centers.
Transportation System Management (TSM) Alternative enhances the No
Build Alternative and emphasizes transportation system upgrades such as
intersection improvements, minor road widening, traffic engineering
actions, bus route restructuring, shortened bus headways, expanded use
of articulated buses, reserved bus lanes, contra-flow lanes for buses
and High Occupancy Vehicles (HOVs) on freeways, special bus ramps on
freeways, expanded park/ride facilities, express and limited-stop
service, signalization improvements, and timed-transfer operations.
In addition to the alternatives described above, other alternatives
identified through the early scoping process will be considered for
potential inclusion in the Alternatives Analysis. Alternative modes,
vertical or horizontal alignments, or station locations may emerge from
the early scoping process.
FTA Procedures
Early scoping is an optional element of the National Environmental
Policy Act (NEPA) process that is particularly useful in situations
where, as here, a proposed action (the locally preferred alternative)
has not been identified and alternative modes and major alignment
variations are under consideration in a broadly-defined corridor. While
NEPA scoping normally follows issuance of a notice of intent, which
describes the proposed action, it ``may be initiated earlier, as long
as there is appropriate public notice and enough information available
on the proposal so that the public and relevant agencies can
participate effectively.'' See the Council on Environmental Quality's
``Forty Most Asked Questions Concerning CEQ's National Environmental
Policy Act Regulations,'' 46 FR 18026, 18030 (1981). In this case, the
available information is more than adequate to permit the public and
relevant agencies to participate effectively in early scoping and the
planning Alternatives Analysis.
LACMTA may seek New Starts funding for the proposed project under
49 U.S.C. Sec. 5309 and will, therefore, be subject to New Starts
regulation (49 Code of Federal Regulations [CFR] part 611). The New
Starts regulation requires a planning Alternatives Analysis that leads
to the selection of a Locally Preferred Alternative by LACMTA and the
inclusion of the locally preferred alternative in the long-range
transportation plan adopted by the Southern California Association of
Governments. The planning Alternatives Analysis will examine
alignments, technologies, station locations, costs, funding, ridership,
economic development, land use, engineering feasibility, and
environmental factors in the corridor. The New Starts regulation also
requires the submission of certain project-justification information in
support of a request to initiate preliminary engineering, and this
information is normally developed during the Alternatives Analysis.
After a reduction of alternatives identified in the AA process, if
preparation of an environmental impact statement is warranted, an NOI
will be published in the Federal Register and the scoping of the EIS/
EIR will be completed by soliciting and considering comments on the
purpose and need for the proposed action, the range of alternatives to
be considered in the EIS/EIR, and the
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potentially significant environmental and community impacts to be
evaluated in the EIS/EIR. Concurrent with publication of the NOI
pursuant to NEPA, an NOP will be distributed pursuant to CEQA. In
conjunction with this final scoping of the EIS/EIR and consistent with
provisions of 23 U.S.C. 139 and CEQA, invitations will be extended to
other Federal and non-Federal agencies that may have an interest in
this matter to be participating agencies.
A plan for coordinating public and agency participation in the
environmental review process and for commenting on the issues under
consideration at various milestones of the process will be prepared and
posted on the LACMTA Web site at http://www.metro.net/regionalconnector
.
Issued on: October 25, 2007.
Leslie T. Rogers,
Regional Administrator, Region IX, Federal Transit Administration.
[FR Doc. E7-21424 Filed 10-30-07; 8:45 am]
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