Early Scoping Notice for the Central Puget Sound Regional Transit Authority Proposed Everett Link Extension (EVLE) From Lynnwood to Everett, WA, 61387-61389 [2021-24181]
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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 212 / Friday, November 5, 2021 / Notices
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Larry W. Minor,
Associate Administrator for Policy.
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Transit Administration
Early Scoping Notice for the Central
Puget Sound Regional Transit
Authority Proposed Everett Link
Extension (EVLE) From Lynnwood to
Everett, WA
Federal Transit Administration,
Department of Transportation (DOT).
ACTION: Early scoping notice.
AGENCY:
The Federal Transit
Administration (FTA) and the Central
Puget Sound Regional Transit Authority
(Sound Transit) issue this early scoping
notice to advise tribes, agencies, and the
public that FTA and Sound Transit will
explore potential route and station
alternatives for the Everett Link light
rail extension (EVLE or Project) and are
starting to determine the scope of the
environmental issues associated with
the Project. The Project would extend
Link light rail from the Lynnwood City
Center Station to the Everett Station area
in Snohomish County, Washington, and
improve connections to the regional
transit system and major activity
centers. Potential alternatives for a light
rail operations and maintenance facility
(OMF North) in Snohomish County will
also be explored to support the regional
Link light rail program, including EVLE.
DATES: Two online public early scoping
meetings will be held at the following
times (all times are Pacific Standard
Time):
• Wednesday, November 17, 2021, from
12:00–1:30 p.m.
• Thursday, November 18, 2021, from
6:00–7:30 p.m.
These early scoping meetings will be
conducted in a webinar format,
accessible via the internet and by
teleconference. Registration for an
online public early scoping meeting can
be done in advance of the meeting at
everettlink.participate.online.
FTA and Sound Transit have also
scheduled an interagency and tribal
early scoping meeting on November 8,
2021, to receive comments from tribes
and agencies who have an interest in the
proposed Project. Invitations to the
tribal and agency early scoping meeting
will be sent to appropriate federal,
tribal, state, and local government units
and will include details on how to
participate in the online meeting.
Supplemental information about the
Project is provided in the following
sections. Sound Transit will also
provide information on the alternatives
analysis at the early scoping meetings,
along with opportunities for comments.
Information is also available on the
SUMMARY:
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61387
Sound Transit website at https://
www.soundtransit.org/systemexpansion/everett-link-extension.
Written early scoping comments are
requested by December 10, 2021, and
can be mailed or emailed to the
addresses below. Comments can also be
provided via the online comment form
available at the website address below
or left as a voicemail at the phone
number below.
ADDRESSES: Kathy Fendt, Sound Transit,
401 S Jackson Street, Seattle, WA
98104–2826, Email:
EverettLinkComments@
soundtransit.org, Project website:
everettlink.participate.online, Voicemail
Phone Number: 888–512–8599.
Information in alternative formats: 800–
201–4900/TTY: 711 or accessibility@
soundtransit.org.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Mark Assam, Environmental Protection
Specialist, Region 10, Federal Transit
Administration, 915 Second Avenue,
Suite 3142, Seattle WA 98174, phone:
206–220–4465, email: Mark.Assam@
dot.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Early Scoping
Early scoping is an optional element
of the NEPA process that is intended to
invite public, agency, and tribal
comments at the earliest reasonable time
in project planning, as in the case for
this Project, where alignment and siting
variations are under consideration in a
broadly defined study area. FTA is the
lead federal agency under NEPA. Early
scoping is also being conducted under
the Washington State Environmental
Policy Act (SEPA) rules regarding
expanded scoping (Washington
Administrative Code 197–11–410).
Sound Transit is the lead agency under
SEPA.
Early scoping can ensure that tribes,
agencies, and the public have the
opportunity to review and provide
comments on the proposal that can then
be used to inform subsequent steps in
the NEPA process.
Early scoping is being initiated for
EVLE during the Project’s alternatives
development phase. This early scoping
notice invites the public and other
interested parties to comment on the
scope of the alternatives development
analysis, including the following: (a)
The purpose and need for the Project;
(b) the range of alternatives for light rail
route, station, and OMF locations; (c)
the impacts and benefits to the social,
built, and natural environments; and (d)
other considerations that are relevant to
the evaluation of alternatives. These
early scoping efforts are being
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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 212 / Friday, November 5, 2021 / Notices
conducted in support of NEPA
requirements and in accordance with
the Council on Environmental Quality’s
regulations for implementing NEPA.
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Purpose and Need for the Project
The purpose of the EVLE is to expand
the Link light rail system from the
Lynnwood City Center Station to the
Everett Station area and provide an
operations and maintenance facility in
order to:
• Provide high quality, rapid, reliable,
accessible, and efficient light rail transit
service to communities in the Project
corridor as defined through the local
planning process and reflected in the
Sound Transit 3 (ST3) Plan (Sound
Transit 2016).
• Improve regional mobility by
increasing connectivity and capacity in
the EVLE corridor from the Lynnwood
Transit Center to the Everett Station area
to meet projected transit demand.
• Connect regional centers as
described in adopted regional and local
land use, transportation, and economic
development plans and Sound Transit’s
Regional Transit Long-Range Plan
(Sound Transit 2014).
• Implement a system that is
technically and financially feasible to
build, operate, and maintain.
• Expand mobility for the corridor
and region’s residents, including
explicit consideration for transitdependent, low-income, and minority
populations.
• Encourage equitable and
sustainable growth in station areas
through support of transit-oriented
development and multimodal
integration in a manner that is
consistent with local land use plans and
policies, including South Transit’s
Equitable Transit Oriented Development
Policy (Sound Transit 2018) and
Sustainability Plan (Sound Transit
2019).
• Encourage convenient, safe, and
equitable nonmotorized access to
stations, such as bicycle and pedestrian
connections, consistent with Sound
Transit’s System Access Policy (Sound
Transit 2013) and Equity and Inclusion
Policy (Sound Transit 2019).
• Preserve and promote a healthy
environment and economy by
minimizing adverse impacts on the
natural, built, and social environments
through sustainable and equitable
practices.
• Provide an OMF with the capacity
to receive, test, commission, store,
maintain, and deploy vehicles to
support the intended level of service for
system-wide light rail system
expansion.
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• Develop an OMF that supports
efficient and reliable light rail service
and minimizes system operating costs.
The Project is needed because:
• Chronic roadway congestion on
Interstate 5 (I–5) and State Route (SR)
99—two primary highways connecting
communities along the corridor—delays
today’s travelers, including those using
transit, and degrades the reliability of
bus service traversing the corridor,
particularly during commute periods.
• These chronic, degraded conditions
are expected to continue to worsen as
the region’s population and
employment grow.
• Puget Sound Regional Council (the
regional metropolitan planning
organization) and local plans call for
high-capacity transit in the corridor
consistent with VISION 2050 (Puget
Sound Regional Council 2020) and the
Regional Transit Long-Range Plan
(Sound Transit 2014).
• Snohomish County residents and
communities, including transitdependent residents and low-income or
minority populations, need long-term
regional mobility and multimodal
connectivity, as called for in the
Washington State Growth Management
Act (Revised Code of Washington
36.70A.108).
• Regional and local plans call for
increased residential and/or
employment density at and around
high-capacity stations and increased
options for multimodal access.
• Environmental and sustainability
goals of the state and region, as
established in Washington state law and
embodied in Puget Sound Regional
Council’s VISION 2050 (Puget Sound
Regional Council 2020) and Regional
Transportation Plan (Puget Sound
Regional Council 2018), include
reducing greenhouse gas emissions by
prioritizing transportation investments
that decrease vehicle miles traveled.
• The current regional system lacks
an OMF with sufficient capacity and
suitable location to support the efficient
and reliable long-term operations for
system-wide light rail expansion,
including the next phase of light rail
expansion in Snohomish and King
counties.
• New light rail maintenance and
storage capacity needs to be available
with sufficient time to accept delivery of
and commission new vehicles to meet
fleet expansion needs and to store
existing vehicles while the new vehicles
are tested and prepared.
Project Description
The Everett Link extension corridor is
approximately 16 miles long and
extends Link light rail service north
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from the Lynnwood City Center Station
to the Everett Station area. The Project
includes six new Link stations and
study of one additional provisional
station during the planning process. The
new light rail stations would be located
in the following areas: (a) West
Alderwood; (b) Ash Way; (c) Mariner
Station; (d) Southwest Everett Industrial
Center; (e) State Route (SR) 526/
Evergreen; and (f) Everett. The
provisional station is in the SR 99/
Airport Road area. From Lynnwood, the
proposed Link route parallels I–5 to the
Mariner Station area, and then travels
westward along Airport Road to the SW
Everett Industrial Center and eastward
along SR 526/Evergreen Way, before it
continues northward along I–5 to
Everett. The Project also includes a new
operations and maintenance facility that
will support the system-wide Link light
rail system (OMF North), to be located
along the alignment in Snohomish
County.
Project Context and History
Sound Move, the first phase of
regional transit investments, was
approved and funded by voters in 1996.
Regional transit implemented as part of
the Sound Move Plan included various
Sounder commuter rail, regional Sound
Transit Express bus, and Link light rail
services that are now operational,
including the Central Link light rail
system, and the light rail extension to
the University of Washington. In 2008,
voters authorized funding for additional
regional transit services as part of the
Sound Transit 2 (ST2) Plan. The ST2
Plan extends Link light rail by
approximately 36 miles including
extensions east to Bellevue, south to
Federal Way, and north to Northgate
and Lynnwood. The Northgate
extension opened in October 2021, and
the other projects are currently under
construction with the Lynnwood Link
Extension opening for revenue service
in 2024. The third phase of regional
transit investments, ST3, was approved
and funded by voters in 2016. ST3 will
further extend the Link light rail system
east from Bellevue to Redmond, south
from Federal Way to Tacoma, north
from Lynnwood to Everett, and from
downtown Seattle to West Seattle and
Ballard.
Based on current revenue projections
and cost estimates for the Everett Link
extension, Sound Transit anticipates
opening service from Lynnwood to SW
Everett Industrial Center in 2037 and
from SW Everett Industrial Center to
Everett Station in 2041. The OMF North
is currently planned for completion in
2034, and parking at Mariner and
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Everett stations is planned for
completion in 2046.
Potential Alternatives
Previous planning work done to
support development of the ST3 Plan
included an examination of a range of
potential high-capacity transit modes
and alignment options between
Lynnwood and Everett, including both
bus rapid transit and light rail options
on several potential alignments
including I–5, SR 99, SR 525 and SR
526. Based on the analysis, a
representative project was developed for
the Everett Link extension for the
purposes of establishing project scope,
cost estimates, and ridership forecasts.
The representative project developed for
all ST3 projects, including the Everett
Link extension, formed the basis of the
ST3 Plan, financing for which was
approved by the voters in 2016. The ST3
representative project is being used to
establish the transit mode, corridor,
number of stations, and general station
locations during alternatives
development. It is also the starting point
for investigating other reasonable
alternatives consistent with the ST3
Plan.
As part of the alternatives
development phase for the Project, FTA
and Sound Transit will explore
alternative alignment, station, and OMF
North locations and design
configurations that could meet the
Project’s purpose and need. During this
early scoping comment period, FTA and
Sound Transit invite comments on the
Project purpose and need, the ST3
representative project, other potential
alternatives, and environmental issues
of concern. Alternatives could include
alignments on the west or east side of
I–5, or other alternatives that arise
during the early scoping comment
period. During the alternatives
development phase, FTA and Sound
Transit will evaluate the relative
performance of alternatives using
performance measures that reflect the
purpose and need for the Project.
Examples of these measures include
projected light rail ridership; capital,
operations and maintenance costs; and
potential benefits or burdens to
vulnerable populations in the corridor.
As part of early scoping, FTA and
Sound Transit also invite tribes,
agencies, and the public to comment on
the types of impacts or benefits that
should be considered during the
alternatives development phase.
Next Steps
Following early scoping, FTA and
Sound Transit anticipate narrowing the
range of alternatives for further
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evaluation in a combined NEPA/SEPA
environmental document. If the
resulting range of alternatives involves
the potential for significant
environmental impacts requiring an
environmental impact statement (EIS),
FTA will publish a Notice of Intent to
Prepare an EIS in the Federal Register,
and Sound Transit will publish a
Determination of Significance/Scoping
Notice. Tribes, agencies, and the public
will be invited to comment on the scope
of the EIS at that time.
Authority: 49 CFR 622.101, 23 CFR
771.111, and 40 CFR 1501.7.
61389
Transportation, MARAD–2021–0257,
1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, West
Building, Room W12–140, Washington,
DC 20590, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.,
Monday through Friday, except on
Federal holidays.
Note: If you mail or hand-deliver your
comments, we recommend that you include
your name and a mailing address, an email
address, or a telephone number in the body
of your document so that we can contact you
if we have questions regarding your
submission.
Maritime Administration
Instructions: All submissions received
must include the agency name and
specific docket number. All comments
received will be posted without change
to the docket at www.regulations.gov,
including any personal information
provided. For detailed instructions on
submitting comments, or to submit
comments that are confidential in
nature, see the section entitled Public
Participation.
[Docket No. MARAD–2021–0257]
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Linda M. Gehrke,
Regional Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2021–24181 Filed 11–4–21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910–57–P
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Coastwise Endorsement Eligibility
Determination for a Foreign-Built
Vessel: FREEDOM (Motor); Invitation
for Public Comments
Maritime Administration,
Transportation (DOT).
ACTION: Notice.
AGENCY:
The Secretary of
Transportation, as represented by the
Maritime Administration (MARAD), is
authorized to issue coastwise
endorsement eligibility determinations
for foreign-built vessels which will carry
no more than twelve passengers for hire.
A request for such a determination has
been received by MARAD. By this
notice, MARAD seeks comments from
interested parties as to any effect this
action may have on U.S. vessel builders
or businesses in the U.S. that use U.S.flag vessels. Information about the
requestor’s vessel, including a brief
description of the proposed service, is
listed below.
DATES: Submit comments on or before
December 6, 2021.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments
identified by DOT Docket Number
MARAD–2021–0257 by any one of the
following methods:
• Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to
https://www.regulations.gov. Search
MARAD–2021–0257 and follow the
instructions for submitting comments.
• Mail or Hand Delivery: Docket
Management Facility is in the West
Building, Ground Floor of the U.S.
Department of Transportation. The
Docket Management Facility location
address is: U.S. Department of
SUMMARY:
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James Mead, U.S. Department of
Transportation, Maritime
Administration, 1200 New Jersey
Avenue SE, Room W23–459,
Washington, DC 20590. Telephone 202–
366–5723, Email James.Mead@dot.gov.
As
described in the application, the
intended service of the vessel
FREEDOM is:
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
—Intended Commercial Use of Vessel:
‘‘Owner intends bay and near-shore
sunset cruises, events, and parties.’’
—Geographic Region Including Base of
Operations: ‘‘California.’’ (Base of
Operations: San Diego, CA)
—Vessel Length and Type: 42.0′ Motor
The complete application is available
for review identified in the DOT docket
as MARAD 2021–0257 at https://
www.regulations.gov. Interested parties
may comment on the effect this action
may have on U.S. vessel builders or
businesses in the U.S. that use U.S.-flag
vessels. If MARAD determines, in
accordance with 46 U.S.C. 12121 and
MARAD’s regulations at 46 CFR part
388, that the employment of the vessel
in the coastwise trade to carry no more
than 12 passengers will have an unduly
adverse effect on a U.S.-vessel builder or
a business that uses U.S.-flag vessels in
that business, MARAD will not issue an
approval of the vessel’s coastwise
endorsement eligibility. Comments
should refer to the vessel name, state the
commenter’s interest in the application,
and address the eligibility criteria given
in section 388.4 of MARAD’s
regulations at 46 CFR part 388.
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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 212 (Friday, November 5, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 61387-61389]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-24181]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Transit Administration
Early Scoping Notice for the Central Puget Sound Regional Transit
Authority Proposed Everett Link Extension (EVLE) From Lynnwood to
Everett, WA
AGENCY: Federal Transit Administration, Department of Transportation
(DOT).
ACTION: Early scoping notice.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) and the Central Puget
Sound Regional Transit Authority (Sound Transit) issue this early
scoping notice to advise tribes, agencies, and the public that FTA and
Sound Transit will explore potential route and station alternatives for
the Everett Link light rail extension (EVLE or Project) and are
starting to determine the scope of the environmental issues associated
with the Project. The Project would extend Link light rail from the
Lynnwood City Center Station to the Everett Station area in Snohomish
County, Washington, and improve connections to the regional transit
system and major activity centers. Potential alternatives for a light
rail operations and maintenance facility (OMF North) in Snohomish
County will also be explored to support the regional Link light rail
program, including EVLE.
DATES: Two online public early scoping meetings will be held at the
following times (all times are Pacific Standard Time):
Wednesday, November 17, 2021, from 12:00-1:30 p.m.
Thursday, November 18, 2021, from 6:00-7:30 p.m.
These early scoping meetings will be conducted in a webinar format,
accessible via the internet and by teleconference. Registration for an
online public early scoping meeting can be done in advance of the
meeting at everettlink.participate.online.
FTA and Sound Transit have also scheduled an interagency and tribal
early scoping meeting on November 8, 2021, to receive comments from
tribes and agencies who have an interest in the proposed Project.
Invitations to the tribal and agency early scoping meeting will be sent
to appropriate federal, tribal, state, and local government units and
will include details on how to participate in the online meeting.
Supplemental information about the Project is provided in the
following sections. Sound Transit will also provide information on the
alternatives analysis at the early scoping meetings, along with
opportunities for comments. Information is also available on the Sound
Transit website at https://www.soundtransit.org/system-expansion/everett-link-extension.
Written early scoping comments are requested by December 10, 2021,
and can be mailed or emailed to the addresses below. Comments can also
be provided via the online comment form available at the website
address below or left as a voicemail at the phone number below.
ADDRESSES: Kathy Fendt, Sound Transit, 401 S Jackson Street, Seattle,
WA 98104-2826, Email: [email protected], Project
website: everettlink.participate.online, Voicemail Phone Number: 888-
512-8599. Information in alternative formats: 800-201-4900/TTY: 711 or
[email protected].
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mark Assam, Environmental Protection
Specialist, Region 10, Federal Transit Administration, 915 Second
Avenue, Suite 3142, Seattle WA 98174, phone: 206-220-4465, email:
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Early Scoping
Early scoping is an optional element of the NEPA process that is
intended to invite public, agency, and tribal comments at the earliest
reasonable time in project planning, as in the case for this Project,
where alignment and siting variations are under consideration in a
broadly defined study area. FTA is the lead federal agency under NEPA.
Early scoping is also being conducted under the Washington State
Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) rules regarding expanded scoping
(Washington Administrative Code 197-11-410). Sound Transit is the lead
agency under SEPA.
Early scoping can ensure that tribes, agencies, and the public have
the opportunity to review and provide comments on the proposal that can
then be used to inform subsequent steps in the NEPA process.
Early scoping is being initiated for EVLE during the Project's
alternatives development phase. This early scoping notice invites the
public and other interested parties to comment on the scope of the
alternatives development analysis, including the following: (a) The
purpose and need for the Project; (b) the range of alternatives for
light rail route, station, and OMF locations; (c) the impacts and
benefits to the social, built, and natural environments; and (d) other
considerations that are relevant to the evaluation of alternatives.
These early scoping efforts are being
[[Page 61388]]
conducted in support of NEPA requirements and in accordance with the
Council on Environmental Quality's regulations for implementing NEPA.
Purpose and Need for the Project
The purpose of the EVLE is to expand the Link light rail system
from the Lynnwood City Center Station to the Everett Station area and
provide an operations and maintenance facility in order to:
Provide high quality, rapid, reliable, accessible, and
efficient light rail transit service to communities in the Project
corridor as defined through the local planning process and reflected in
the Sound Transit 3 (ST3) Plan (Sound Transit 2016).
Improve regional mobility by increasing connectivity and
capacity in the EVLE corridor from the Lynnwood Transit Center to the
Everett Station area to meet projected transit demand.
Connect regional centers as described in adopted regional
and local land use, transportation, and economic development plans and
Sound Transit's Regional Transit Long-Range Plan (Sound Transit 2014).
Implement a system that is technically and financially
feasible to build, operate, and maintain.
Expand mobility for the corridor and region's residents,
including explicit consideration for transit-dependent, low-income, and
minority populations.
Encourage equitable and sustainable growth in station
areas through support of transit-oriented development and multimodal
integration in a manner that is consistent with local land use plans
and policies, including South Transit's Equitable Transit Oriented
Development Policy (Sound Transit 2018) and Sustainability Plan (Sound
Transit 2019).
Encourage convenient, safe, and equitable nonmotorized
access to stations, such as bicycle and pedestrian connections,
consistent with Sound Transit's System Access Policy (Sound Transit
2013) and Equity and Inclusion Policy (Sound Transit 2019).
Preserve and promote a healthy environment and economy by
minimizing adverse impacts on the natural, built, and social
environments through sustainable and equitable practices.
Provide an OMF with the capacity to receive, test,
commission, store, maintain, and deploy vehicles to support the
intended level of service for system-wide light rail system expansion.
Develop an OMF that supports efficient and reliable light
rail service and minimizes system operating costs.
The Project is needed because:
Chronic roadway congestion on Interstate 5 (I-5) and State
Route (SR) 99--two primary highways connecting communities along the
corridor--delays today's travelers, including those using transit, and
degrades the reliability of bus service traversing the corridor,
particularly during commute periods.
These chronic, degraded conditions are expected to
continue to worsen as the region's population and employment grow.
Puget Sound Regional Council (the regional metropolitan
planning organization) and local plans call for high-capacity transit
in the corridor consistent with VISION 2050 (Puget Sound Regional
Council 2020) and the Regional Transit Long-Range Plan (Sound Transit
2014).
Snohomish County residents and communities, including
transit-dependent residents and low-income or minority populations,
need long-term regional mobility and multimodal connectivity, as called
for in the Washington State Growth Management Act (Revised Code of
Washington 36.70A.108).
Regional and local plans call for increased residential
and/or employment density at and around high-capacity stations and
increased options for multimodal access.
Environmental and sustainability goals of the state and
region, as established in Washington state law and embodied in Puget
Sound Regional Council's VISION 2050 (Puget Sound Regional Council
2020) and Regional Transportation Plan (Puget Sound Regional Council
2018), include reducing greenhouse gas emissions by prioritizing
transportation investments that decrease vehicle miles traveled.
The current regional system lacks an OMF with sufficient
capacity and suitable location to support the efficient and reliable
long-term operations for system-wide light rail expansion, including
the next phase of light rail expansion in Snohomish and King counties.
New light rail maintenance and storage capacity needs to
be available with sufficient time to accept delivery of and commission
new vehicles to meet fleet expansion needs and to store existing
vehicles while the new vehicles are tested and prepared.
Project Description
The Everett Link extension corridor is approximately 16 miles long
and extends Link light rail service north from the Lynnwood City Center
Station to the Everett Station area. The Project includes six new Link
stations and study of one additional provisional station during the
planning process. The new light rail stations would be located in the
following areas: (a) West Alderwood; (b) Ash Way; (c) Mariner Station;
(d) Southwest Everett Industrial Center; (e) State Route (SR) 526/
Evergreen; and (f) Everett. The provisional station is in the SR 99/
Airport Road area. From Lynnwood, the proposed Link route parallels I-5
to the Mariner Station area, and then travels westward along Airport
Road to the SW Everett Industrial Center and eastward along SR 526/
Evergreen Way, before it continues northward along I-5 to Everett. The
Project also includes a new operations and maintenance facility that
will support the system-wide Link light rail system (OMF North), to be
located along the alignment in Snohomish County.
Project Context and History
Sound Move, the first phase of regional transit investments, was
approved and funded by voters in 1996. Regional transit implemented as
part of the Sound Move Plan included various Sounder commuter rail,
regional Sound Transit Express bus, and Link light rail services that
are now operational, including the Central Link light rail system, and
the light rail extension to the University of Washington. In 2008,
voters authorized funding for additional regional transit services as
part of the Sound Transit 2 (ST2) Plan. The ST2 Plan extends Link light
rail by approximately 36 miles including extensions east to Bellevue,
south to Federal Way, and north to Northgate and Lynnwood. The
Northgate extension opened in October 2021, and the other projects are
currently under construction with the Lynnwood Link Extension opening
for revenue service in 2024. The third phase of regional transit
investments, ST3, was approved and funded by voters in 2016. ST3 will
further extend the Link light rail system east from Bellevue to
Redmond, south from Federal Way to Tacoma, north from Lynnwood to
Everett, and from downtown Seattle to West Seattle and Ballard.
Based on current revenue projections and cost estimates for the
Everett Link extension, Sound Transit anticipates opening service from
Lynnwood to SW Everett Industrial Center in 2037 and from SW Everett
Industrial Center to Everett Station in 2041. The OMF North is
currently planned for completion in 2034, and parking at Mariner and
[[Page 61389]]
Everett stations is planned for completion in 2046.
Potential Alternatives
Previous planning work done to support development of the ST3 Plan
included an examination of a range of potential high-capacity transit
modes and alignment options between Lynnwood and Everett, including
both bus rapid transit and light rail options on several potential
alignments including I-5, SR 99, SR 525 and SR 526. Based on the
analysis, a representative project was developed for the Everett Link
extension for the purposes of establishing project scope, cost
estimates, and ridership forecasts. The representative project
developed for all ST3 projects, including the Everett Link extension,
formed the basis of the ST3 Plan, financing for which was approved by
the voters in 2016. The ST3 representative project is being used to
establish the transit mode, corridor, number of stations, and general
station locations during alternatives development. It is also the
starting point for investigating other reasonable alternatives
consistent with the ST3 Plan.
As part of the alternatives development phase for the Project, FTA
and Sound Transit will explore alternative alignment, station, and OMF
North locations and design configurations that could meet the Project's
purpose and need. During this early scoping comment period, FTA and
Sound Transit invite comments on the Project purpose and need, the ST3
representative project, other potential alternatives, and environmental
issues of concern. Alternatives could include alignments on the west or
east side of I-5, or other alternatives that arise during the early
scoping comment period. During the alternatives development phase, FTA
and Sound Transit will evaluate the relative performance of
alternatives using performance measures that reflect the purpose and
need for the Project. Examples of these measures include projected
light rail ridership; capital, operations and maintenance costs; and
potential benefits or burdens to vulnerable populations in the
corridor. As part of early scoping, FTA and Sound Transit also invite
tribes, agencies, and the public to comment on the types of impacts or
benefits that should be considered during the alternatives development
phase.
Next Steps
Following early scoping, FTA and Sound Transit anticipate narrowing
the range of alternatives for further evaluation in a combined NEPA/
SEPA environmental document. If the resulting range of alternatives
involves the potential for significant environmental impacts requiring
an environmental impact statement (EIS), FTA will publish a Notice of
Intent to Prepare an EIS in the Federal Register, and Sound Transit
will publish a Determination of Significance/Scoping Notice. Tribes,
agencies, and the public will be invited to comment on the scope of the
EIS at that time.
Authority: 49 CFR 622.101, 23 CFR 771.111, and 40 CFR 1501.7.
Linda M. Gehrke,
Regional Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2021-24181 Filed 11-4-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-57-P
