Environmental Assessment United States Highway 183
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ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT UNITED STATES HIGHWAY 183 FROM US 290 TO SH 71 TRAVIS COUNTY CSJ: 0151-09-036, 0151-09-127 0265-01-080 OCTOBER 2014 PREPARED BY U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION FEDERAL HIGHWAY ADMINISTRATION AND THE TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. IMPROVING SAFETY AND MOBILITY ........................................................................ 1 1.1 Where is the roadway located? ...................................................................................... 1 1.2 What does the roadway look like today? ....................................................................... 1 1.3 Why does anything need to change? .............................................................................. 2 1.4 What has been and is being considered? ........................................................................ 7 1.5 What changes are proposed? .......................................................................................... 8 2. EFFECTS AND CONSEQUENCES ................................................................................. 12 2.1 What part of the environment would not be affected? ................................................. 12 2.1.1 Edwards Aquifer ................................................................................................................. 12 2.1.2 Water .................................................................................................................................... 12 2.1.3 Wildlife ................................................................................................................................. 12 2.1.4 Wildlife and Waterfowl Refuges ........................................................................................ 12 2.2 What part of the environment may be affected? .......................................................... 13 2.2.1 Air Quality ........................................................................................................................... 13 2.2.2 Cultural Resources .............................................................................................................. 14 2.2.3 The Community ................................................................................................................... 17 2.2.4 Topography, Soils, and Geology ......................................................................................... 20 2.2.5 Water Resources .................................................................................................................. 21 2.2.6 Vegetation ............................................................................................................................. 22 2.2.7 Hazardous Materials Sites .................................................................................................. 23 2.3 What happens when the effects reach further than the project area? ........................... 23 2.3.1 How far do indirect effects extend from US 183? ............................................................. 24 2.3.2 What does the community want to happen within the study area? ................................ 25 2.3.3 What is special to the community in the study area? ....................................................... 25 2.3.4 What aspects of the US 183 project could cause indirect effects? ................................... 25 2.3.5 What are the indirect effects of the proposed US 183 project? ....................................... 25 2.3.6 What happens as a result of the indirect effects? ............................................................. 26 2.4 What happens if the effect from the project and those away from the project are combined? ........................................................................................................... 27 2.4.1 What issues will be analyzed for potential cumulative impacts? ..................................... 27 2.4.2 What is the current status of the issue? ............................................................................. 28 2.4.3 What are the cumulative impacts? ..................................................................................... 28 3. COMMITMENTS............................................................................................................... 34 3.1 What permits would be obtained? ................................................................................ 34 3.2 What will be done to avoid, minimize or mitigate effects? ......................................... 35 3.2.1 Before Construction ............................................................................................................ 35 3.2.2 During Construction ........................................................................................................... 36 3.2.3 After Construction ............................................................................................................... 37 4. SUMMARY OF PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT ................................................................... 38 5. THE DECISION ................................................................................................................. 38 6. REFERENCES .................................................................................................................... 39 i TABLE OF CONTENTS FIGURES FIGURE 1: LOCATION MAP FIGURE 2: EXISTING AND PROPOSED TYPICAL SECTIONS FIGURE 3: PLAN VIEW FIGURE 4: TOPOGRAPHIC MAP FIGURE 5: AERIAL PHOTOGRAPH FIGURE 6: LAND USE FIGURE 7: BUS ROUTES FIGURE 8: BIKE ROUTES FIGURE 9: PROPOSED PLAN BY 2035 FIGURE 10: LINE DRAWING OF THE EXISTING &PROPOSED US 183 APPENDICES APPENDIX 1: PHOTOGRAPHS APPENDIX 2: THREATENED OR ENDANGERED SPECIES TABLES APPENDIX 3: AIR QUALITY ASSESSMENT APPENDIX 4: AGENCY COORDINATION LETTERS APPENDIX 5: COMMUNITY ASSESSMENT APPENDIX 6: HAZMAT INITIAL SITE ASSESSMENT APPENDIX 7: SECTION 4(F) DOCUMENTATION ii ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS AADT annual average daily traffic NCHRP National Cooperative Highway Research Program ABIA Austin Bergstrom International Airport NEPA National Environmental Policy Act ACHP Advisory Council on Historic Preservation NFIP National Flood Insurance Program AOI Area of Influence NHPA National Historic Preservation Act BG Block Group NOI Notice of Intent Blvd Boulevard NRHP National Register of Historic Places CAMPO Capital Area Metropolitan Planning PA-TU First Amended Statewide Organization Programmatic Agreement for CFR Code of Federal Regulations Transportation Undertakings City City of Austin Rd Road CO carbon monoxide RTA CAMPO Regional Toll Analysis CRIS Crash Records Information System RTP 2035 Regional Transportation Plan CTRMA Central Texas Regional Mobility RM Ranch-to-Market Road Authority SAL State Archeological Landmark Dr Drive SH State Highway ECOS Environmental Compliance Oversight SHPO State Historic Preservation Officer System SIP State Implementation Plan EJ environmental justice St Street EPA U.S. Environmental Protection Agency SW3P Storm Water Pollution Prevention FEMA Federal Emergency Management Agency Plan FHWA Federal Highway Administration TAZ Traffic Analysis Zone FM Farm-to-Market Road TCEQ Texas Commission on Environmental HOV High Occupancy Vehicle Quality IH Interstate Highway TERP Texas Emissions Reduction Plan LEP limited English proficiency THC Texas Historical Commission Ln Lane TIP 2013-2016 Transportation Improvement Program LOS Level of Service TxDOT Texas Department of Transportation MLK Blvd Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard US U.S. Highway MOU Memorandum of Understanding VMT vehicle miles traveled mph miles-per-hour vpd vehicles-per-day MSAT Mobile Source Air Toxics NAAQS National Ambient Air Quality Standards iii 1. IMPROVING SAFETY AND MOBILITY 1.1 Where is the roadway located? The United States Highway (US) 183 extends across Texas; however, this document includes information about studies on approximately 8 miles of US 183 in the city of Austin (the City) in Travis County. The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority (CTRMA), and the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) are proposing improvements to US 183 from US 290 to State Highway (SH) 71. Figure 1 is a project location map. 1.2 What does the roadway look like today? US 183 between US 290 and SH 71 is characterized as a four-lane divided roadway (two travel lanes in each direction). However, the number of travel lanes in each direction varies. Figure 10 is a simple line drawing of the existing travel lanes without the auxiliary or turn lanes. The existing typical sections in Figure 2 represent the number of lanes and turning movements. Figure 3 shows an overhead view or aerial photograph of the existing roadway where the pavement edges have been marked with a dashed/dotted line. Photographs of US 183 and the right-of-way are included in Appendix 1. The six-lane freeway (Sheet 1 of Figure 3) transitions into a four-lane freeway just north of Manor/Springdale Road (Rd). The existing typical section for Manor/Springdale Rd (Sheet 1 of Figure 2) shows the four main lanes that have already been reduced from the six-lane freeway main lane section. The four main lanes north of Manor/Springdale Rd merge with the one-lane frontage roads into the four-lane divided section north of Loyola Lane (Ln) [Sheet 1 of Figure 10]. The four-lane divided section of US 183 (two lanes in each direction) extends from north of Loyola Ln to just north of the Colorado River. The existing typical section for Loyal Ln (Sheet 2 of Figure