GDS NWR TAG Report
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Success of this TAG field investigation/analysis, and, subsequently, the value of this report addressing transportation planning considerations and opportunities for Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge, reflects the successful preparations, logistics, facilitation skills and expertise contributed by those staff representatives listed in Appendix A. The members of the TAG team collectively thank these individuals for their dedicated efforts, and for the contributions they made that greatly facilitated our work. The TAG team also would like to thank the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Federal Highway Administration Eastern Federal Lands for providing staffing and other support to this effort, as well as all stakeholders that participated in the TAG. NOTICE This Transportation Assistance Group (TAG) was convened at the request of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The TAG is an agency-independent effort that is intended to provide technical assistance in support of federal lands transportation and federal lands transportation programs, and does not imply, preference, or guarantee programmatic funding or project support, or further assistance of any kind. This document is disseminated in the interest of information exchange. The recommendations found herein reflect the collective expertise and consensus of the individual TAG members, do not represent regulatory or programmatic requirements, and do not in any way reflect the official opinion of any federal agency. The United States Government assumes no liability for the contents of this document or use thereof. This document is disseminated under the sponsorship of the Department of Transportation in the interest of information exchange. The United States Government assumes no liability for the contents or use thereof. The United States Government does not endorse products or manufacturers. Trade or manufacturers’ names appear herein solely because they are considered essential to the objective of this report. REPORT DOCUMENTATION PAGE Form Approved OMB No. 0704-0188 Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 1 hour per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden, to Washington Headquarters Services, Directorate for Information Operations and Reports, 1215 Jefferson Davis Highway, Suite 1204, Arlington, VA 22202-4302, and to the Office of Management and Budget, Paperwork Reduction Project (0704-0188), Washington, DC 20503. 1. AGENCY USE ONLY (Leave blank) 2. REPORT DATE 3. REPORT TYPE AND DATES COVERED 06-17-2014 March 2014 – June 2014 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE 5a. FUNDING NUMBERS Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge Interagency Transportation Assistance Group: Transportation Observations, Considerations and Recommendations 6. AUTHOR(S) 5b. CONTRACT NUMBER Heather Richardson, Lauren Deaderick 7. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES) 8. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION The Volpe National Transportation Center REPORT NUMBER U.S. Department of Transportation DOT-VNTSC-FHWA-14-06 55 Broadway Cambridge, MA 02142 9. SPONSORING/MONITORING AGENCY NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES) 10. SPONSORING/MONITORING U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service AGENCY REPORT NUMBER 4401 N. Fairfax Drive Arlington, VA 22203 11. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES 12a. DISTRIBUTION/AVAILABILITY STATEMENT 12b. DISTRIBUTION CODE 13. ABSTRACT (Maximum 200 words) In March 2014, U.S. FWS hosted a Transportation Assistance Group at the Great Dismal Swamp in Virginia. The purpose of the meeting was to identify transportation issues impacting the refuge, ways to improve access to and within the refuge, as well as opportunities to address the issues raised and potential funding sources for their implementation. This report summarizes recommendations for coordinated local and regional planning, and implementation related to bicycle, pedestrian and transit routes connecting the local communities to the refuge. 14. SUBJECT TERMS 15. NUMBER OF PAGES Access, alternative transportation system, FWS, partnership, planning, wildlife, visitation 26 16. PRICE CODE 17. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION 18. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION 19. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION 20. LIMITATION OF ABSTRACT OF REPORT OF THIS PAGE OF ABSTRACT Unlimited Unclassified Unclassified Unclassified NSN 7540-01-280-5500 Standard Form 298 (Rev. 2-89) Prescribed by ANSI Std. 239-18 298-102 Contents Executive Summary ................................................................................................................ i Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 1 Background and Existing Conditions ...................................................................................... 1 Visitation ............................................................................................................................................... 5 Partnerships and Programs ................................................................................................................... 7 Area Demographics ............................................................................................................................... 7 Transportation Issues/Problems .......................................................................................... 10 Suffolk ................................................................................................................................................. 10 Chesapeake ......................................................................................................................................... 15 Regional .............................................................................................................................................. 22 Analysis and Recommendations .......................................................................................... 24 Suffolk ................................................................................................................................................. 24 Chesapeake ......................................................................................................................................... 25 Regional .............................................................................................................................................. 27 Appendix A: TAG Participants .............................................................................................. 29 Appendix B: Supporting Documents and Resources ............................................................. 30 Appendix C: TAG Meeting Agendas ...................................................................................... 31 3 List of Tables Table 1: Populations of neighboring cities .................................................................................................... 1 Table 2: Entrances to Great Dismal Swamp NWR ......................................................................................... 4 List of Figures Figure 1: Map of GDS NWR ........................................................................................................................... 3 Figure 2: Average visitation by weekday ...................................................................................................... 4 Figure 3: Average visitation by weekend day ............................................................................................... 5 Figure 4: Underground Railroad Pavilion trail entrance ............................................................................... 6 Figure 5: Low-Income Populations and Accessibility to GDS NWR ............................................................... 8 Figure 6 Non-White Populations and Accessibility to GDS NWR .................................................................. 8 Figure 7: Vehicle Ownership and Accessibility to GDS NWR ........................................................................ 9 Figure 8: Indexed Demographic Variables for Underserved Populations and Accessibility to GDS NWR .... 9 Figure 9: Detail of entry points on Suffolk side ........................................................................................... 10 Figure 10: Jericho Lane conditions .............................................................................................................. 11 Figure 11: Part of Lake Drummond parking facility, Source: USDOT Volpe Center .................................... 13 Figure 12: Detail of entry points on Chesapeake side ................................................................................ 15 Figure 13: Boat Dock on Canal Trail side of the Dismal Swamp Canal ........................................................ 16 Figure 14 Kayak on boat tram at Lake Drummond ..................................................................................... 17 Figure 15: Dismal Swamp Canal Trail new boat launch .............................................................................. 18 Figure 16: Culpepper Landing Development location ................................................................................ 19 Executive Summary In 2011, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the U.S. Department