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I-70 Mountain Corridor
Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement
JFSA is currently conducting a Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) to investigate ways to improve mobility and safety along I-70 between C-470 and Glenwood Springs. The Corridor covers 144 miles through the central Rocky Mountains and traverses land jurisdictions of the Bureau of Land Management, 2 National Forests, 5 counties, and 18 communities. The PEIS has focused on broad issues to enable policy decisions on mode choice, general locations of improvements, and how combinations of alternatives may function together to address congestion and improve mobility. The project has included the following elements:
- Performed three levels of screening of 125 alternatives
- Fully evaluated 20 action alternatives in the PEIS that represented transit, highway, and multimodal alternatives with transit options
- Formed 8 special advisory committees to provide effective insight with technical experts, local residents, special interest groups, and officials
- Developed a travel demand model and conducted a ridership study that provided forecasts for 2025 travel demand
- Used GIS spatial analysis, air, water, noise, and economic models, historical aerial photos, and limited field investigations for 18 resource studies
- Developed Section 106 Programmatic Agreement to include tribes and local consulting parties to set guidance for treatment of cultural resources (including 1,477 recorded historic properties, a historic district, and a national historic landmark)
- Developed agreement with EPA and Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment for the management of mine-related materials
- Performed cumulative impact assessment of 3 watersheds and 9 counties to consider the possible induced growth from transportation alternatives
- Provided extensive public outreach with newsletter mailings to more than 10,000 stakeholders, 89 coordination and planning meetings, and 14 open houses
- Developed an electronic database to manage and track approximately 1,250 scoping comments and 2,055 comments during the document review.
The I-70 Mountain Corridor Draft PEIS was released for public review and comment with the publication of the Notice of Availability in the Federal Register on December 10, 2004. The Draft PEIS was originally slated for a 90-day comment period with a closing date of March 10, 2005. In response to public request, the comment period was extended an additional 75 days, with the official close of the comment period moved to May 24, 2005.
Completion of the Final PEIS is pending the results of an innovative collaborative effort between state/federal agencies and Corridor stakeholders to recommend an alternative for the I-70 Mountain Corridor. The objective of the collaborative decision-making process is to seek a consensus solution to transportation problems along the Corridor.
Reference: CDOT Region 1, Bill Scheuerman at 720.497.6925
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