[Federal Register: December 30, 1999 (Volume 64, Number 250)] [Notices] [Page 73599] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr30de99-159] ----------------------------------------------------------------------- DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Federal Highway Administration First Tier Environmental Impact Statement: Jackson, Lafayette, Saline, Pettis, Cooper, Boone, Callaway, Montgomery, Warren, Lincoln, and St. Charles Counties, Missouri AGENCY: Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), DOT. ACTION: Notice of intent. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY: The FHWA is issuing this notice to advise the public that a First Tier environmental impact statement (EIS) will be prepared for proposed improvements to Interstate 70 in Jackson, Lafayette, Saline, Pettis, Cooper, Boone, Callaway, Montgomery, Warren, Lincoln, and St. Charles Counties, Missouri. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Donald Neumann, Programs Engineer, FHWA Division Office, 209 Adams Street, Jefferson City, MO 65101, Telephone: (573) 636-7104 or Mr. Bob Sfreddo, Director of Project Development, Missouri Department of Transportation, P.O. Box 270, Jefferson City, MO 65102, Telephone: (573) 751-4586. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The FHWA, in cooperation with the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT), will prepare a First Tier EIS for a proposal to investigate improvements to Interstate 70 through Missouri, from the interchange with Interstate 470 in Independence, Missouri (Exit 15) to the interchange in Lake St. Louis, Missouri (Exit 214). The first tier EIS will involve the examination of transportation strategies for improvements to Interstate 70 for 199 miles access the state of Missouri. The study area will be about five (5) miles on each side of existing Interstate 70 across Missouri. Strategies under consideration include: (1) Taking no action, (2) transportation system management, (3) other modes of transportation, (4) upgrading and improving the existing Interstate 70, (5) constructing a new limited-access highway on new or partially-new location, and (6) a combination of the above strategies. The First Tier EIS will be completed to a Record of Decision indicating a strategy and a broad corridor up to a mile wide for improvements to Interstate 70 across Missouri. The first tier EIS also will indicate an approach for subsequent NEPA work in the Second Tier(s) within the selected corridor. It will indicate specific projects having independent utility and logical termini for the Second Tier effort to progress to subsequent detailed design and construction of manageable projects in the future. The Second Tier will involve the detailed NEPA study for specific alignments within the broad corridor previously selected in the First Tier EIS. The proposed First Tier EIS is the result of MoDOT's identification of Interstate 70 across Missouri for improvement as part of the future long range transportation plan. Given the current and projected traffic volumes, and the dated design of existing Interstate 70 (some portions dating from as early as 1956 as the first construction in the United States on the interstate highway system), improvements to the Interstate 70 corridor are considered critical to provide for a safe, efficient, and economical transportation network that will meet traffic demands in the state and for national travelers. The proposed improvements are also intended to be environmentally sound. System improvements will be examined based on the purposes of reducing traffic congestion, addressing roadway deficiencies, improving safety, reducing traffic congestion, and enhancing system linkage. A scoping process has been initiated that involves all appropriate federal and state agencies. This will continue throughout the study as an ongoing process. An intensive public information effort will be initiated in January 2000 to include those agencies, local agencies, and private organizations and citizens who have previously expressed, or are known to have, interest in this proposal. This effort also will inform the public living in the study area and those who travel on Interstate 70 from across the nation with the interest of capturing their comments for and about the study. Public informational meetings will be held across the study area to engage the regional community in the decision making process and to obtain public comment. In addition, public hearings will be held to present the findings of the First Tier Draft EIS (DEIS). Public notice will be given concerning the time and place of informational meetings and public hearings. The First Tier DEIS will be available for public and agency review and comment prior to the public hearings. To ensure the full range of issues related to this proposed action are addressed and all significant issues are identified, comments and suggestions are invited from all interested parties. Comments or questions concerning this proposed action and the First Tier EIS should be directed to the FHWA or MoDOT at the addresses previously provided. (Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Program Number 20.205, Highway Planning and Construction. The regulations implementing Executive Order 12372 regarding intergovernmental consultation on Federal programs and activities apply to this program.) Issued on: December 16, 1999. Donald L. Neumann, Programs Engineer, Jefferson City. [FR Doc. 99-33925 Filed 12-29-99; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 4910-22-M