19970093 Ver 1_More Info Received_20080918

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Axiom Environmental, Inc:R'tc,
6317 Bayswater Trail, Raleigh, North Carolina 27612 919-270-9306
September 12, 2008
David Wainwright
N C Division of Water Quality
1650 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, NC 27604-2260
RE North Carolina Global TransPark Rail Access Project Update for September 2008
Dear David,
The North Carolina Department of Transportation, Rail Division (Rail Division) is interested in
keeping you apprised as to the planning progress for a new rail access to the North Carolina
Global TransPark To this end, the Rail Division has requested that I provide you with the
attached Project Update dated September 2008
If you have any questions or comments concerning the attached information, please feel free to
call or write to me (ssmith ,axiomenvironmental or or Marc Hamel with the Rail Division
Marc's contact information follows
Marc L Hamel, Rail Environmental Planning Engineer
N C Department of Transportation Rail Division
1553 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, NC 27699-1553
919-733-7245, extension 270
mhamel ,ncdot gov
Thank you for your attention to this project
Yours truly,
AXIOM ENVIRONMENT L, INC
Alexander P (Sandy) Smith
Senior Project Manager
Axiom Environmental, Inc
NCGTP Rail Access Update
September 12, 2008
Cc Tracey Wheeler, USACE
David Lekson, USACE
William Wescott, USACE
Scott McLendon, USACE
Chris Militscher, USEPA
Kathy Matthews, USEPA
Gary Jordan, USFWS
David Wainwright, NCDWQ
Travis Wilson, NCWRC
Renee Gledhill-Earley, NCDCR
Marc Hamel, NCDOT Rail Division
GTPR-'ACMSS NC Department of Transportation Rail Division
North Carolina Global Transpark Rail Access
September 10, 2008
PROJECT UPDATE - September 2008
Much work has occurred on the GTP Rail Access project in the past two months I wanted to
provide an update to our project stakeholders concerning where we are currently in the
development process and the next steps Below is a summary of the Environmental
Assessment and Railroad Design elements of the project
Environmental Assessment
Early coordination has been extensive in order to involve all resource and regulatory
agencies, and interested parties, at the beginning stages of the project This coordination
has included
• A July 31 st Kick-Off meeting held at the GTP in late July with invitations extended to
agencies, City, County, and NCDOT Division,
• Advance meeting with NCDOT Cultural Resources Unit to determine historic architecture
evaluation needs A historic architectural survey is now underway to ensure that
potential constraints are identified and avoided early,
• Early coordination with NCDOT Public Involvement Unit to schedule a public workshop
on an extremely fast-track,
• Meeting with the Army Corps of Engineers in Washington, NC in August to discuss the
document and permit approach for the overall project This meeting and its follow-up
coordination are ensuring that our approach to permitting is the most efficient regarding
the overall schedule
Detailed environmental evaluation of railroad alignment alternatives is being conducted in the
project study corridor which extends due south from GTP and is generally bounded on the
west by US 258 and Hillcrest Rd to the east Alignment alternatives outside the current
study corridor have been evaluated and dropped from further consideration These include
an alternative following the Crescent Rd westerly extension of C F Harvey Parkway to US
70, an alternative extending east from GTP to the CSX railroad line northeast of Kinston, and
an alternative crossing the northeast end of the airport runway to access the northwest side
of GTP These alternatives would have added length to the rail corridor, increased natural
resource impacts, required multiple home and business relocations, and in the case of the
Crescent Rd alternative, would have delayed the construction and increased the cost of the
highway project An expanded narrative of these alternatives will be included in the
Environmental Assessment document
Natural Resources work is underway within the study corridor A Jurisdictional
Determination (JD) meeting with the Army Corps of Engineers was held first week of
September to determine the natural resource boundaries Rail alignments will be designed
to avoid or minimize impacts to all natural resources In addition to the early coordination
initiated with the Corps on this project, the Corps scheduled a JD field team in quick
response and with double the typical manpower This action greatly facilitated the fast track
schedule
An informal Public Workshop is scheduled for 5-7 PM September 11 at the North Carolina
Global TransPark Center, Room 148 located at 3800 Highway 58 North in Kinston Over
2,000 newsletters were mailed to citizens and agencies two weeks in advance of the
workshop Conceptual rail alignment alternatives have been prepared and will be presented
at the workshop to obtain public input early in the protect development process
The Environmental Document is being written concurrently with other environmental
evaluation tasks so that it can be finalized quickly once critical path items are finished
Based on the public comment period following the workshop, the advanced progress of the
natural resources work, and the quick response by the NCDOT Human Environment Unit on
the Historic Architecture Survey, the document should be substantially complete in
September Completion of the environmental documentation process is expected in
February 2009
Railroad Design
Railroad design is currently in the preliminary engineering phase Coordination with
interested parties has been extensive in order to obtain design input This coordination has
included input from
• NCGTP on track alignment within GTP and adjoining properties,
• Norfolk Southern Railway on railroad design standards and proposed rail operations,
• NCDOT Division 2 on highway interface issues,
• NCDOT Division of Aviation and NCGTP on issues related to railroad alignments in
proximity to aviation facilities and operations,
• Spirit Aerosystems and their site designer Haskell on rail operation needs on-site
including rail car staging
Input from the environmental evaluation is critical in this phase of engineering Final natural
and cultural resource delineation, public involvement, and other environmental factors are
key inputs in determining optimum alignments for the rail corridor
Next Steps
As alternative alignments are optimized to minimize impacts, detailed field survey and soils
investigation will begin this month within the study corridor Final design of an optimum rail
alignment is expected to begin in November Right-of-way acquisition is expected to begin in
March 2009
The protect team will continue to coordinate closely with all protect stakeholders as we
develop this critical protect for Eastern North Carolina If you have any questions, please
feel free to call me at 919-715-7894
Thank you very much for your assistance and continued coordination with our project team
Jason T Orthner, P E ' -' `'
GTP Rail Access' Protect Manager - - , I
Engineering Manager-Rail Design & Construction, NCDOT Rail Division
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