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HomeMy WebLinkAbout20190230_Meeting Minutes_20090603i- L °f nN> ? `?? STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION BEVERLY EAVES PERDUE GOVERNOR EUGENE A. CONTI, JR. SECRETARY June 3, 2009 MEMORANDUM TO: File FROM: Matthew W. Potter Project Planning Engineer Project Development and Environmental Analysis Branch SUBJECT: R-2582/R-2584 Concurrence Point 3 Merger Meeting Minutes, Widening of US 158 from the I-95/NC 46 Interchange West of Garysburg to the Murfreesboro Bypass, Northampton County, WBS Element 34472. 1.1 A Concurrence Meeting was held on March 26, 2009 in the Transportation Building Board Room in Raleigh. In attendance were: Bill Biddlecome Chris Militscher Gary Jordan Sara Winslow David Wainwright Renee Gledhill-Earley Travis Wilson Jerry Jennings Jerry Snead Charles Cox Rob Hanson Kristine O'Connor Missy Pair Matthew Potter Steve Gurganus John Merritt Chris Rivenbark Craig Freeman Bryan Key Gary Lovering MAILING ADDRESS: NC DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION PROJECT DEVELOPMENT AND ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS BRANCH 1548 MAIL SERVICE CENTER RALEIGH NC 27699-1548 U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) .U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) NC Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF) NC Division of Water Quality (DWQ) NC State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) NC Wildlife Resources Commission (WRC) NCDOT-Division 1 NCDOT-Hydraulics NCDOT-PDEA NCDOT-PDEA NCDOT-PDEA NCDOT-PDEA NCDOT-PDEA NCDOT-PDEA-HEU NCDOT-PDEA-NEU NCDOT-PDEA-NEU NCDOT-Roadway Design NCDOT-Roadway Design NCDOT-Roadway Design TELEPHONE: 919-733-3141 LOCATION: FAX: 918-733-9794 TRANSPORTATION BUILDING 1 SOUTH WILMINGTON STREET WEBSI7E. RALEIGH NC 27601 www.ncdot.org /doh /preconstruct /pe / -A. Ron McCollum Jason Moore Neb Bullock Thomas Stoddard Chris Rountree Ann Whitley NCDOT-Roadway Design NCDOT-Roadway Design NCDOT-Structures NCDOT-TIP Unit Peanut Belt RPO Peanut Belt RPO This was the fourth meeting in the NEPA/404 Merger Process for R-2582/R-2584. The purpose of the meeting was to gain concurrence on Point 3 by choosing the Least Environmentally Damaging Practicable Alternative (LEDPA). Bill Biddlecome opened the meeting with an introduction of attendees. Matthew Potter gave an overview of TIP Project R-2582/R-2584 via PowerPoint presentation. Matthew briefly reviewed the purpose and need, the alternatives carried forward from the Concurrence Points 2 and 2A meetings held March 10, 2005, August 18, 2005, and June 19, 2007. Garysburg The Garysburg alternatives were the first ones under discussion. Matthew described the three proposed alternatives, including the Garysburg Northern Bypass, the Garysburg Southern Bypass 1, and the Garysburg Southern Bypass 2, and stated that NCDOT recommended dropping the Garysburg Northern Bypass. The Town of Garysburg is opposed to this alternative since it has high community impacts. Chris Militscher wanted to know if an Executive Order 12898 was completed for the low income/minority population in this area. Steve Gurganus stated the Environmental Justice memorandum identified minority and low income impacts. NCDOT's Human Environment Unit (HEU) found these impacts to be adverse, especially after receiving comments from the community. A stand alone analysis for the low income/minority population was not done after the Community Impact Assessment (CIA). Chris Militscher requested that one be perforated since NCDOT was asking the agencies to eliminate the alternative with the lowest cost and the lowest amount of wetland and stream impacts. Steve agreed that he and Matthew would do this as part of the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS). At this point, the team concurred with dropping the Northern Garysburg Bypass if further documentation about the community impacts is included in the FEIS. It was agreed that the team would continue with the rest of the alternatives before making a decision on the two southern bypasses. `r.. 'r Jackson Matthew Potter gave an overview of the four (4) proposed Jackson alternatives, which included the Old Jackson Bypass, the Extended Northern Jackson Bypass, the Northern Jackson Bypass, and the Southem Jackson Bypass. He stated that NCDOT recommended carrying forward the Extended Northern Jackson Bypass as the preferred alternative since this was the alternative preferred by the community and it would have a low number of relocations. • Chris Militscher wanted to know what the overall facility type would be for US 158, as a strategic corridor. Bryan Key stated that the overall view was an expressway. Rob Hanson noted that Nucor was the driving force behind creating new access for industries in this area and that NCDOT would be providing access at interchanges so that industries would not have their access cut off. Rob also stated that the Division was concerned about safety on this project. This is why NCDOT wanted to have a freeway on new location so that there would be full control of access. Not only is this a safer option, but it will allow the Town of Jackson to control development while at the same time providing access. • Chris Militscher is concerned about the historic impacts associated with the Northern Jackson Bypass. Jason Moore noted that the reason why so much of the historic district is being affected is because of the control of access limits. NCDOT can't connect driveways too close to the interchange terminals. Chris Militscher wanted to know if a Single Point Urban Interchange (SPUI) had been considered for this location. Jason Moore stated that SPUIs are typically used in urban areas where there is no room for expansion. Bill Biddlecome wanted to know if the interchange could be shifted to the north. Jason Moore responded that this was not possible because then the interchange would be impacting other historic properties and NCDOT would not be within the agreed-upon corridor limits. He also noted that in order to get rid of all the impacts, NCDOT would have to move the corridor significantly northward. Charles Cox commented that the interchanges were not originally part of the project, so the necessary bulb-outs in the corridor were not added. Chris Militscher questioned why the interchange design was different for the Southern Jackson Bypass than for the Northern Jackson Bypass. Charles Cox stated that NCDOT was attempting to avoid the school and historic impacts. Chris then wanted to know if wetland impacts were increased in order to avoid historic impacts. Jason Moore responded that this was not necessarily the case because there were wetlands on both sides of the corridor. Chris Militscher stated that there was no balance between the avoidance options. • Matthew Potter informed the Merger team that NCDOT recommended dropping the Old Jackson and Southern Jackson Bypasses because of high wetland impacts and significant numbers of relocatees, respectively. The team stated that they were in agreement on dropping the Old Jackson Bypass. C Renee Gledhill-Earley wanted to know which historic properties have adverse impacts on the Southern Jackson Bypass. She requested that the historic impacts associated with the Northern Jackson Bypass be broken down by individual properties instead of lumping the entire historic district as one impact. At this point, the Merger team agreed to drop the Southern Jackson Bypass. The team decided to hold off on a decision at this point between the remaining two northern bypass alternatives. Faisons Old Tavern Matthew Potter gave an overview of the six (6) proposed Faisons Old Tavern alternatives, which included the Faisons Widen on Existing 1, Faisons Widen on Existing 2, Faisons Northern Bypass 1, Faisons Northern Bypass 2, Faisons Southern Bypass 1, and Faisons Southern Bypass 2. He stated that NCDOT recommended dropping the Widen on Existing alternatives (due to the high number of residential relocations) and evaluating the remaining alternatives in concert with the Conway alternatives to determine the best combination for this area. Chris Militscher wanted to know why a half cloverleaf interchange was designed for the Faisons Northern Bypasses and if it increased wetland and stream impacts as opposed to a standard diamond interchange. Charles Cox noted that ramps on the other side of the interchange would affect high quality wetlands and that numerous changes were made to this design based on the results of the field review. Cluis Militscher stated that although NCDOT has prime farmland impacts listed for the Southern Bypasses, the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) did not score any of these farmlands above prime farmland standards. Steve Gurganus responded that these farmlands are still considered prime and that the "high to moderate" concern level is an internal NCDOT notation. He stated that HEU is in the process of resubmitting these fannlands to NRCS and they expect results within six weeks. However, lie also noted that HEU is not resubmitting lands currently classified as "low." Chris Militscher said that he felt NCDOT's evaluation of these farmlands was arbitrary and capricious. At this point, the Merger team agreed to drop the Widen on Existing alternatives and move on to the Conway alternatives. Conv, ay Matthew Potter gave an overview of the four (4) proposed Conway alternatives, which included Conway Northern Bypass 1, Conway Northern Bypass 2, Conway Southern Bypass 1, and Conway Southern Bypass 2. He noted that NCDOT's recommendation was to drop both Southern Bypass alternatives (due to high wetland impacts) and compare the remaining combination of Faisons Old Tavern 0 c ;r and Conway alternatives to see which would best meet the needs of this project. The Merger team concurred with NCDOT's recommendation and dropped Conway Southern Bypass 1 and Conway Southern Bypass 2. To help the team understand the Faisons Old Tavern-Conway Alternatives, Matthew included a table which showed the 16 possible combinations. Some of the combined alternatives had already been dropped due to earlier discussions. Matthew stated that there were three possible combinations of Faisons Old Tavern and Conway alternatives still remaining: o Combination 7: Faisons Old Tavern Northern Bypass 1 and Conway Northern Bypass 1. NCDOT recommended, that this alternative be dropped because of the high cost and the adverse impacts to historic properties. The Merger team was in agreement with this. o Combination 10: Faisons Old Tavern Northern Bypass 2 and Conway Northern Bypass 2. NCDOT recommended this combination as the preferred alternative for Faisons Old Tavern and Conway. o Combination 11: Faisons Old Tavern Southern Bypass 1 and Conway Northern Bypass 1. NCDOT recommended that this combination be dropped because of the high number of relocations, the high cost, and the adverse historic property impacts. Chris Militscher wanted to know the quality of the wetlands for Combinations 10 and 11. John Merritt stated that Combination 10 has 20% more high quality wetlands than does Combination 11. • Bill Biddlecome noted that St. John's AME church is outside of the permit area and that this would affect the agencies' call in terms of adverse effects. Renee Gledhill-Earley stated that the setting of this church is not particularly crucial to the property. It could be moved back. Travis Wilson and Chris Militscher both stated that they supported Combination 11. Charles Cox responded that NCDOT supports Combination 10 because it provides better continuity and a safer facility. If Combination 10 is chosen, it will allow that entire stretch of US 158 to be the same type of controlled access facility. Bill Biddlecome noted that secondary and cumulative impacts would be less with full control of access. At this point, the Merger team decided to go ahead with Combination 10 as the preferred alternative in order to create a continuous full control of access section of US 158. Combination 11 was subsequently dropped from consideration. ;e Garysbur2 and Jackson (Revisited) NCDOT recommended that the Merger team select Garysburg Southern Bypass 1 as the preferred alternative (due to the alignment of its connection with the remaining Jackson Bypass alternatives). The Merger team concurred. • There were two alternatives left under consideration in Jackson, the Extended Northern Jackson Bypass and the Northern Jackson Bypass. NCDOT recommended the Extended Northern Jackson Bypass as the preferred alternative. Renee Gledhill-Earley wanted to know if there was anything that could be done to reduce the adverse historic impacts on the Extended Northern Jackson Bypass. Jason Moore noted that there was no way to shift the alignment and no interchange designs that would lessen these impacts. Travis Wilson questioned if these intersections warranted impacts, to which Jason Moore responded that they did. Bill Biddlecome suggested that perhaps a service road could be used. Jason Moore stated that NCDOT could design a half cloverleaf interchange with ramps on the other side, but the driveway access would still have to be removed near the ramp tenninals coming into town. Charles Cox added that a half cloverleaf interchange would cut off about half of the affected homes. • Chris Militscher requested that noise abatement costs be provided for those properties in Jackson along the proposed alignment of the Extended Northern Jackson Bypass. • Concurrence could not be reached between the Extended Nor-them Jackson Bypass and the Northern Jackson Bypass. The Merger team requested that NCDOT look at possible revisions, to each Alternative, prior to the next Merger team meeting. Actions to be Completed by NCDOT • Based on discussion with the Merger Team, NCDOT will look at possible revisions to the Extended Northern Jackson Bypass and the Northern Jackson Bypass. • If needed, additional surveys will be completed prior to the next Merger Team meeting. If you have any questions or comments, please contact me at (919) 733-7844, ext. 227 or at mwpotterQDncdot.sov.