Appendix D- Agency Correspondence
HRCS; Ms. Ms. Julie V. Langan; April 1, 2016 Page 2 of 14 Background The purpose of the HRCS is to relieve congestion at the I-64 Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel in a manner that improves accessibility, transit, emergency evacuation, and military and goods movement along the primary transportation corridors in the Hampton Roads region, including the I-64, I-664, I-564, and Route 164 corridors (Figure 1). The four build alternatives (A, B, C, and D) that have been retained for full analysis in the SEIS were described in detail in our February 2016 letter. The location and configuration of each is shown in Figure 2. Figure 3 depicts the 500-foot-wide Study Area Corridors associated with each build alternative (along with expanded areas at the locations of potential interchange improvements) which, for the purposes of Section 106, constitute the Area Potential Effects (APE) for direct effects. We would like to emphasize that the 500-foot Study Area Corridors are so-called “worst-case scenarios” for direct impacts. As work on the SEIS proceeds, more realistic and presumably narrower Limits of Disturbance will be delineated for each alternative based on early preliminary engineering. For example, VDOT and FHWA have already agreed that improvements proposed in the HRCS SEIS to the I-64 corridor largely would be confined to existing highway right-of- way. In general, in undeveloped areas or in areas where alternatives cross water, VDOT defined the APE for indirect effects (e.g., visual or auditory effects) as extending 500 feet beyond each side of the 500-foot Study Area Corridor.
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