20131282_Meeting Minutes_20100129

C
ON
STATE Oh NORTH CAROLINA
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
BEVERLEY EAVES PERDUE
GOVERNOR
January 29, 2010
MEMORANDUM TO:
FROM:
SUBJECT:
File
EUGENE A. CONTI, JR.
SECRETARY
Kristine A. O'Connor. P.B.
Project Planning Engineer =_-
Project Development and Environmental Analysis Branch
Minutes of Concurrence Point 4A.Meeting, Proposed NC
32 Connector from US-44 to?lthe Inteisection of NC 32 and
NC 94. Washington-County, WBS No.'345,, 8.1.1, Federal
Aid No. STP-00.0 52), TIP Project No. P-3620
a?,
:.
A Concurrence Meeting was. held on January, 24, 2010 at 10:30 a.m. in the
Transportation Building Board Room'in?Raleigh. In attcn$ancc were:

Ron Lucas Fedctal Highway Administration
BillBiddlecome U.S.'ArrnyCorpst6fEngineers
Chris Militscher U.S. Environmental' Protection Agency
Gary Jordan,', ` ii U. S. Fish ;& Wildlife Service
Fritz Rohd'c ? ?r National Marine Fisheries Service
Renee Gledhill Eerlcy `"U?N C Deputment of Cultural Resources
Cathy Brittingham N:C. Division of Coastal Management
Jim l loadle:-" N.C. Division of Coastal Management

David Wainwright.., m,,1
,,, N.C. Division of Water Quality
Travis Wilson N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission
Bob Capehart NCDOT-Division I
K.J. Kim NCDOT-Geotechnical Engineering Unit
Galen Cail .' . NCDOT-Hydraulics Unit
Charles Cox NCDOT-PDEA
Rob Hanson NCDOT-PDEA
Kristine O'Connor NCDOT-PDEA
Missy Pair NCDOT-PDEA
Greg Thorpe NCDOT-PDEA
Ed Lewis NCDOT-PDEA-I-IEU-Public Involvement & Community Studies
Tris Ford NCDOT- PDEA-FIEU-Comnwnity Studies
Elizabeth Lusk NCDOT-PDEA-Natural Environment Unit
MAILING ADDRESS:
Ne DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
PROJECT DEVELOPMENT AND ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS
1548 MAIL SERVICE CENTER
RALEIGH NC 27699-1548
TELEPHONE: [phone]
FAX: [phone]
WEBSITE1 w VNCDOT.ORG
LOCATION:
TRANSPORTATION BUILDING
1 SOUTH WILMINGTON STREET
RALEIGH NC
f
Chris Manley NCDOT-PDEA-Natural Environment Unit
Chris Rivenbark NCDOT-PDEA-Natural Environment Unit
Mark Staley NCDOT-Roadside Environmental Unit
Gary Lovering NCDOT-Roadway Design
Ron McCollum NCDOT-Roadway Design
Brenda Moore NCDOT-Roadway Design
Rckha Patel NCDOT-Roadway Design
Thomas Stoddard NCDOT-TIP Development Unit
Bcnjctta Johnson NCDOT-Transportation Planning Branch
Kerry Morrow NCDOT-Transportation Planning Branch
:V4.,
Meeting Purpose:
This was the fifth meeting in the NEPA/404 Merger 'Rrocess for R-3620. 'f'ile
purpose of the meeting was to gain concurrence on Point _;4A - Avoidance &
Minimization. sle, _1
Introduction:
i
Bill Biddlecome opened the meeting with an introduction of attendees.
Kristine O'Connor gave an overview--of, TIP Project R-3620 via
PowerPoint presentation:, :Kristine briefly reviewed^the project history, the
preferred alternative (Alternative _l) carried forward from the Concurrence
Point 3 meeting held orinOctober:15 2009, and the avoidance and
minimizatio'rnmeasures associated with this'altemative.
Discussion: I,U
• Chris, Militscher wanted-to know,Jf1NCDOT had a ballpark estimate of how
much wetland-impacts were reduced by shifting Alternative 1 to avoid wetlands
aWand by using 3:+l fill slopes,in-wetland areas. Kristine O'Connor responded that
-",-NCDOT does not.have a,quantifiable number for this since the alignment has
been. shifted multiple times throughout the planning process. Additionally, the
fmalfill height has not yet been set, so the exact location of the slope stakes has
notyettbeen determined.
,
• David Wainwright asked when NCDOT would know for certain whether or not
guardrail will be required since the use of guardrail will change shoulder widths
and possibly increase wetland impacts. Gary Levering replied that when the final
grade is set, this would set the height of the fill, and this is the criteria NCDOT
uses to determine whether or not guardrail is required. Bill Biddleconnc noted
that he was under the impression that guardrail would be required in all wetland
areas because it was not possible to clear 30-feet out for the Clear Recovery
Zone, which means that wetland impacts would always be less when using 3:1 fill
slopes with a four (4) to six (6) foot fill height. Rekha Patel confirmed that
guardrail would be required in all wetland areas. Galen Cail stated that if the fill
is shallow enough (less than 3 feet) it would be possible that there would be
fewer impacts with 4:1 fill slopes as opposed to 3:1 fill slopes and guardrail
2

because of the additional shoulder width required for guardrail. He added that
NCDOT would use whichever combination provided the least amount of wetland
impacts.
• Bill Biddlecome stated that Kristine O'Connor had previously discussed with him
why there was not a comparison of the impacts to wetlands for undercutting
versus raising the grade available at today's meeting. Since final surveys are not
completed at this point, it would be premature to estimate how much
undercutting would be required to construct this facility. He requested that
NCDOT provide these wetland impact comparisons at the Concurrence Point 4B
meeting. Charles Cos noted that NCDOT would provide these numbers once
the final surveys become available.
? r ',
• Chris Militscher requested that the concurrence form bc,reorganized to show the
strict 404(b)(1) avoidance and minimization measures separately from the NEPA
avoidance and minimization measures. .Kristine O'Connor revised the form to
reflect this change and also added another bullet per Cathy Brittingham stating
that there would be no impacts to CAMA AGCs fin the selected alternative.
• At this point, Bill Biddlecome stated that"'tfie,?Unitcd States Army Corps of
Engineers (USAGE) would' concur with "approving the avoidance and
minimization measures for this project. The remaiiiifig,agencies also concurred
that sufficient avoidance and minitniZRion'had been conducted.
Concurrence:
The team agreed-to the following avoidance/minimization measures:
I -
Avoidance, T., _
Complete avoidance of the streams and wetlands is not possible due to the
presence of these resources throughout the project study corridor. Each
alternative had some wetland and stream impacts.
Minimization
• Alternative 1 has been shifted so that the fewest number of wetlands and
streams would be affected along this alignment.
• NCDOT will employ 3:1 fill slopes in all wetland areas.
• No ditches will be utilized in wetland areas throughout the project unless
undercutting is readdressed at a later date.
• There will be no impacts to Coastal Area Management Act (LAMA) Areas of
Environmental Concern (AECs).
;; 3
.r
• The project will have limited control of access on the new location portion and
partial control of access on the existing location portion. Limited control of
access will only allow connections to the facility at interchanges or at-grade
intersections and no private driveway connections will be allowed.
Additional Issues
• Alternative I will not displace any residences.
• Alternative l avoids adverse impacts to properties on or eligible for the
National Register of Historic Places (Rehoboth Methodist Church and the farm
on NC 32).
• Alternative 6 was developed to the west of, Alternative I in the hopes of
minimizing the number of wetlands impacted. However, Alternative 6 actually
had a greater number of impacted- wetlands, so it was removed from
consideration at the Concurrence Point.2A meeting in October 2008.
• Eight (8) foot shoulders (the minimum allowed by AASHTO) will be designed
for this facility. If guardrail becomes necessary, the shoulders will be widened
to 1 I feet.
1 '"'T -
• Once final geotechnical surve'y's,areecompleted, the issue of undercutting can be
readdressed prior to the CP 4W meeting
• NCDOT.will examinethe use of grass swales with non-erosive velocities at the
wetlands; preformed, scour holes-, energy dissipators and pipe equalizers.
Stonnwatcr'basins -though., probably not necessary for this project, will be
designed at a later date if required--.
Concidgion:
c?
Concurrence among;-attending team members was achieved. Actions to be
completed by NCDOT before the next concurrence meeting'include:
• Provide a,quantifiable comparison of the impacts associated with undercutting
and the impacts associated with raising the grade.
If any recipient of the meeting notes would like to add comments or feels that a
continent is erroneous or needs to be expanded, please feel free to contact Kristine
O'Connor by phone at [phone] cxt. 311 or by email at kaoconnorb vncdot. gov.
4