Agenda - 10-22-1991 - Laserfiche WebLink

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INTRODUCTION The North Carolina Department of Transportation ( NCDOT) is initiating an engineering and environmental study of a new circumferential highway facility through portions of northern and eastern Durham. The study will include alternative corridor evaluations, preliminary engineering, traffic analysis, environmental evaluations, and the production of a State Environmental Impact Statement. The purpose of this workshop is to initiate the project's public involvement program, to provide information concerning the environmental study process, to receive input from the public and interested agencies concerning the project, and to introduce the members of the study team. Representatives of NCDOT and the engineering firm of H. W. Lochner, Inc. are present to answer questions and discuss the project. 13 This is the first of three citizens informational workshops that will be held during the study process. You are encouraged to view the slide presentation, examine the project maps and displays, discuss the project with members of the study team, and complete the enclosed project questionnaire and comment sheet. The map in the center of this brochure identifies the general location of the study area for this project. The new highway would extend from I -85 near the Orange /Durham county line to U.S. Route 70 between Mineral Springs Road and the Durham/Wake county line. The study area includes northwest, north, northeast, and east sections of the Durham urban area. The approximate length of this study window is twenty miles. PROJECT OVERVIEW The NCDOT study will identify and evaluate several alternate corridors for the proposed roadway. Evaluation factors will include engineering, environmental, social, and economic impacts of the proposed action. The engineering portion of the study will focus on developing a series of safe and efficient build alternates based on the past, current, and future travel demands in the study window. Other alternatives to be evaluated in the study include the "No- Build" or "Do-Nothing" Alternative, the Improve Existing Facilities Alternative, the Mass Transit Alternative, and the Transportation Systems Management Alternative. The major environmental impacts to be investigated in this study include Air Quality, .Floodplains, Noise, Protected Plant and Animal Species, Water Resources, and Wetlands. The environmental. study will produce Draft and Final Environmental Impact Statements. Detailed environmental evaluations of the alternates will be presented in these reports along with comments and correspondence received from local, state, and federal agencies as well as the public throughout the study process. Social issues that will be analyzed include potential alterations to existing neighborhoods, community facilities, and recreational areas. An estimate of relocated residences, businesses, and non - profit organizations will be determined for each alternate. The effects of the project on the elderiN, handicapped, transit -dependent, and minorities µill also be addressed. The study will identify and assess impacts on architecturally and archaeologically important cultural and historic resources. The economic impacts on the local or regional economy such as the. effects of the project on development and employment opportunities will be examined. Impacts of the proposed action, on established business districts and highway- re;a::d businesses are also included in the study.