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Frequently Asked Questions Q. How do I submit questions or comments about the study?
• Email:
Submit electronic comments or questions via e-mail to: EastColumbiaEIS@ch2m.com
Q. How can I keep updated on the study?
• Check the project web site often at www.EastColumbiaEIS.com
Q. What are the roles of the state, city and county? A. The Missouri Department of Transportation, the City of Columbia Public Works and Boone County Public Works are working together to conduct this study so that the needs of the entire community are evaluated and considered. This also helps ensure that other transportation projects in the area are coordinated with this one. Q. What is an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)? A. An EIS is a full disclosure document that details the process through which a transportation project was developed, includes consideration of a range of reasonable alternatives, analyzes the potential impacts resulting from the alternatives, and demonstrates agreement with other applicable environmental laws and executive orders. The EIS process is completed in the following ordered steps: Notice of Intent (NOI), draft EIS, final EIS, and record of decision (ROD). Essentially, an EIS is part of a federally mandated process to determine what actions, if any, will best address a community’s transportation needs. Q. Why is this EIS necessary? A. The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requires Federal agencies to prepare EISs for major Federal actions that could significantly affect the quality of the human environment. Q. What is the purpose of this study? A. The study was initiated to identify and evaluate options to improve transportation in the rapidly growing area between Interstate 70 south to New Haven Road, and U.S. Highway 63 East to State Highway Z. Working closely with the public, resource agencies and technical experts, state and local officials are evaluating alternatives that would most effectively address traffic congestion and safety concerns, connect the major highways between Eastern Boone County and Columbia and improve access to Eastern Columbia. Q. How will my input be used in the process? A. Study recommendations come from technical analysis combined with public insights and preferences. Solutions are developed that balance community needs with technical and regulatory constraints such as cost, feasibility and environmental protection. Q. How were the initial Conceptual Alternatives identified? A. Looking at public input, crash history and forecasted traffic, the project team identified a number of alternatives that might address the traffic and safety issues in the area.
Conceptual Alternatives Exhibits can be found with the November 15, 2006 Meeting Material. Q. How were the Conceptual Alternatives evaluated? A. Evaluation criteria were developed to determine how well an alternative addressed the study area’s transportation issues while also addressing community priorities. The alternatives that most reasonably satisfied the project’s Purpose and Need were presented at the October 24, 2007 public meeting.
Reasonable Alternatives Exhibits can be found with the October 24, 2007 Meeting Material. Q. What happened after the Oct. 24, 2007 Public Meeting A. At the October 2007 public meeting, the project team demonstrated how four recommended transportation alternatives and “corridors” – at least 600-foot bands where roadway improvements could occur – could reasonably address traffic congestion and safety concerns, connect the major highways between Eastern Boone County and Columbia more efficiently and improve access to Eastern Columbia. Comments gathered during and after the public meeting, as well as additional technical and environmental analysis, guided project engineers as they developed more detailed roadway alignments that were shared with the public at the Drop-In Center in January. Q. What happens after the Jan. 8, 2008 Drop-In Center? A. The project team will further analyze the emerging alignments based on public input and additional analysis of cost, right-of-way acquisition, potential displacements and environmental impacts. A Preferred Alternative will be presented in a Draft EIS, which will be shared with the community at a public hearing in late spring. Q. How will this project affect Route 740 (Stadium Boulevard)? A. All of the Recommended Reasonable Alternatives connect to Route 740/Stadium Boulevard to the east, at the University. Both that intersection and Route 63 will be dramatically enhanced by this effort, reducing travel times and improving traffic flow. Q. Why is the Ballenger Extension included in the recommended Reasonable Alternatives if it’s not a required connection for the reasonable alternatives? A. The Ballenger Extension is a project in the CATSO Long-Range Plan. This indicates the City of Columbia has identified a long-term need for this roadway extension and will likely construct it if funds become available in upcoming years. Therefore, the recommended Reasonable Alternatives were developed to allow for this likely future extension. Doing this now helps us identify and address various engineering and environmental issues that could be related to eventually connecting the selected alternative to the Ballenger Extension. This helps avoid having to complete this work later. Q. How will the Gans interchange impact the study? A. All the proposed alternatives assume that the Gans interchange improvements would be in place. Q. What is Level of Service (LOS)? A. Level of Service (LOS) is a measure of how effectively a roadway can move the volume of traffic it carries. Ranging from LOS A (free-flow conditions) to LOS F (gridlock), the measure takes into account the driver’s speed, freedom to maneuver and proximity to other vehicles. Q. How does the study address multimodal (bike/ped/transit) forms of transportation? A. All of the alternatives would accommodate any eventual bus service in the area. One of the criteria in evaluating the alternatives is whether the alternatives accommodate safe pedestrian and bicycle access. Two of the Conceptual Alternatives did not do well in these areas, which are noted in the evaluation matrix that can be found in the October 24 public meeting materials. Click here to view the October 24, 2007 Meeting Material Q. What is the timeframe for the study? A. A Draft EIS document will be released in spring of 2008. A public hearing will be held in late spring of 2008 after the Draft EIS is completed. Q. How soon will we see something being constructed in East Columbia? A. Construction of improvements, which will be outlined in the finished FEIS in 2009, will be dependent upon the availability of local and federal funding opportunities.
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All rights reserved. Missouri Department of Transportation, City of Columbia, Missouri and Boone County, Missouri.