|
“Avoidance,
then Minimization” analysis for 4(f), wetlands and LWCF impacts requires selection of WETLANDS alternative over any WEP route |
|
| Avoidance WETLANDS Alternative |
No Build for WEP, safety improvements to Belt Line, West 11th expressway west of Belt Line, Roosevelt / 99 intersection repair, West 11th intersection repairs, land use shifts, Bus Rapid Transit to Bethel and west 11th. Added turn lanes at West 11th / Belt Line may or may not fit into current right-of-way (if not, then minor 4(f) / LWCF impacts and Environmental Assessment would be required) |
| Minimization WETLANDS Alternative |
All of the above plus addition of grade-separated interchange at Roosevelt / Belt Line and partial interchange at West 11th / Belt Line intersection (flyover ramp from eastbound 11th to northbound Belt Line plus wide curve from southbound Belt Line to westbound 11th). Similar to ODOT recommendation at June 2001 “West Eugene Charette” - “No Build” for WEP, widen Belt Line and widen West 11th, plus a West 11th / Belt Line interchange. |
Options
for the WEP |
|
| Minimal avoidance FHWA Southern Alignment (June 2006) new EIS so Cooperating Agencies can participate in scoping of alternatives |
The 2006 FHWA Southern Alignment has miniscule levels of minimized impact over the "Alternative A / Modified Project" north of the railroad tracks. Both options fail to examine the full impact of wetland destruction caused by the proposed WEP / Beltline interchange (since temporary roads would fill in additional wetlands), the independent utility and logical termini problems, the traffic problems caused by the WEP, and the existence of a prudent and feasible alternative to any version of the WEP. |
No avoidance,
no minimization |
The 1997 route would be twice as wide through the BLM lands as the 1990 route, requiring more acres of wetland destruction, 4(f) impacts and LWCF land transfers. WEP Alternative A Mitigated would have more than twice the acreage of wetland destruction as described in the 1997 SDEIS. |
No avoidance, no minimization, failure to disclose all impacts
|
The ultimate termini of the WEP are Veneta and I-105. A full disclosure of all WEP impacts would include tributary road projects (stated and unstated), mitigation for congestion (wider intersections and possible future grade separations, especially at Seneca), WEP extended west along 126 to Veneta, possible WEP to I-105 connector |
| Compensatory mitigation is not possible | There are no other large, contiguous wetland prairies to acquire and protect along Amazon Creek in the West Eugene Wetlands. |