Increased Transit Service to King of Prussia, PA Draft Environmental Impact Statement DRAFT SCOPING MEETING TECHNICAL MEMORANDUM Prepared for: Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) Prepared by: AECOM Technical Services, Inc. Philadelphia, PA Draft: January 2014 Draft Scoping Meeting Technical Memorandum Increased Transit Service to King of Prussia, PA EIS Table of Contents 1. INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................................... 4 1.1 Project Description ........................................................................................................................ 4 1.2 Overview of the NEPA Process .................................................................................................... 10 1.3 Overview of Scoping Process and Meetings ............................................................................... 12 1.4 Purpose of the Draft Scoping Meeting Technical Memorandum ............................................... 13 2. PRE-SCOPING PROCESS ACTIVITIES ..................................................................................................... 14 2.1 Tiered Screening & Evaluation Process ....................................................................................... 14 2.2 Tier 1 Screening Results .............................................................................................................. 16 2.3 Project Committee Meetings ...................................................................................................... 21 2.4 Public Involvement Meetings ..................................................................................................... 22 2.5 Other Stakeholder Involvement ................................................................................................. 23 2.6 Conclusions of the Pre-Scoping Process ..................................................................................... 23 3. PUBLIC AND AGENCY SCOPING MEETINGS ........................................................................................ 24 3.1 Public Involvement Plan and Agency Coordination Plan ............................................................ 24 3.2 Notice of Intent ........................................................................................................................... 25 3.3 Scoping Package .......................................................................................................................... 25 3.4 Public and Agency Scoping Meetings ......................................................................................... 25 3.5 Notice of the Public and Agency Scoping Meetings ................................................................... 29 3.6 Scoping Comment Period............................................................................................................ 30 3.7 Draft Scoping Meeting Technical Memorandum ........................................................................ 31 4. SUMMARY OF PUBLIC AND AGENCY SCOPING COMMENTS .............................................................. 32 4.1 Public and Agency Scoping Comments Summary ....................................................................... 32 4.2 Social Media Comments Summary ............................................................................................. 34 5. RESPONSES TO PUBLIC AND AGENCY SCOPING COMMENTS ............................................................ 36 5.1 Public Comments ........................................................................................................................ 36 5.2 Agency Comments ...................................................................................................................... 57 6. NEXT STEPS ......................................................................................................................................... 62 6.1 Continued Public Scoping ........................................................................................................... 62 6.2 Alternatives ................................................................................................................................. 62 6.3 Public Involvement...................................................................................................................... 63 6.4 Continued Agency Coordination ................................................................................................. 63 6.5 DEIS and Study Process ............................................................................................................... 63 January 2014 Page 2 Draft Scoping Meeting Technical Memorandum Increased Transit Service to King of Prussia, PA EIS Figures Figure 1-1: Study Area Map ........................................................................................................................7 Figure 1-2: Long List Alternatives Map …………………………………………………………………………………………………..9 Figure 1-3: NEPA Process ...........................................................................................................................11 Figure 2-1: Alternatives Screening and Evaluation Process …………………………………………………………………..16 Figure 2-2: Tier 1 Screening Results – Trunks ………………………………………………………………………………………..17 Figure 2-3: Tier 1 Screening Results – Branches …………………………………………………………………………………….18 Figure 2-4: Tier 1 Build Alternatives Map …………….……………………………………………………………………………….19 Figure 4-1:Public Comments by Category………………………………………………………………………………………….…..33 Figure 4-2:Agency Comments by Category .…………………………………………………………………………………………..34 Appendices Notice of Intent Public Involvement Plan Agency Coordination Plan Draft Purpose and Need Statement List of Committee Members (Steering, Technical, Stakeholder, and Agency Coordination) Agency Scoping Meeting Invitation Letters Agency Scoping Sign-In Sheet Agency Scoping Meeting Transcript Public Scoping Meeting Public Notices and Advertisements Public Scoping Meeting Post Card Public Scoping Meeting Sign In Sheets Public Scoping Meeting Transcript Public Scoping Meeting Presentation Scoping Period: Public Comments Scoping Period: Social Media Comments Scoping Period: Agency Comments Invitation Letters to Elected Officials January 2014 Page 3 Draft Scoping Meeting Technical Memorandum Increased Transit Service to King of Prussia, PA EIS 1. INTRODUCTION The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA), in cooperation with the Federal Transit Administration (FTA), is planning to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and Section 4(f) Evaluation for increased transit service to King of Prussia, PA. The EIS will be prepared in accordance with regulations implementing the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), including FTA’s regulations and guidance for implementing NEPA (40 CFR 1501.2 through 8 and 23 CFR 771.111). The FTA is the lead federal agency for the project, with the SEPTA serving as joint lead agency and project sponsor. SEPTA is coordinating with FTA to advance the project and seek federal funding. This Draft Scoping Meeting Technical Memorandum provides details of project scoping--focusing on the public and agency scoping meetings--the first step of the NEPA EIS process. Contained within this Technical Memorandum is a discussion of the following topics: • Project Description • Tiered Screening & Evaluation Process • Tier 1 Screening Results • Overview of the NEPA process • Overview of Scoping Process and Meetings • Purpose of the Draft Scoping Meeting Technical Memorandum • Pre-Scoping Process Activities • The Public and Agency Scoping Process • Summary of Public and Agency Scoping Comments • Response to Public and Agency Scoping Comments • Conclusions and Next Steps 1.1 Project Description The concept of providing increased transit access to the King of Prussia and Valley Forge areas dates back many years. A deficiency in rail transit services to the study area has been identified in various forms for more than 20 years in regional transportation studies and in Upper Merion Township’s adopted Land Use Plan. In 2003, SEPTA completed the Route 100 Extension Draft Alternatives Analysis (AA). This study, conducted in accordance with FTA guidelines, identified a full range of alternatives, screened alternatives and evaluated the feasibility and costs of alternatives to improve transit access to the study area. The study identified and evaluated four different rail alignments between the Norristown High Speed Line (NHSL) and the King of Prussia Mall, and it identified a feasible alignment beyond the mall. The study was coordinated with other studies then occurring for SEPTA’s proposed Cross-County Metro and Schuylkill Valley Metro services. However, the results of the prior study were not advanced because January 2014 Page 4 Draft Scoping Meeting Technical Memorandum Increased Transit Service to King of Prussia, PA EIS these other transit projects were considered the priority at the time. Nonetheless, funding sources were not available and as a result, the Cross-County Metro and Schuylkill Valley Metro were not pursued and neither was a transit project to improve transit access to King of Prussia and Valley Forge areas. The NHSL currently provides passenger rail service between the 69th Street Transportation Center (in Upper Darby) and the Norristown Transportation Center (in the Municipality of Norristown), serving the Main Line area in Delaware and Montgomery Counties,