Notice To Rescind a Notice of Intent for an Environmental Impact Statement for the Kake Access Project in Southeast Alaska

Topics:  Morgan 3 Wheeler

Sandra L. Otto
Federal Highway Administration
13 April 2016

[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 71 (Wednesday, April 13, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Page 21951]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-08456]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Highway Administration


Notice To Rescind a Notice of Intent for an Environmental Impact 
Statement for the Kake Access Project in Southeast Alaska

AGENCY: Federal Highway Administration, Department of Transportation.

ACTION: Notice to rescind a Notice of Intent for an Environmental 
Impact Statement.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: A Notice of Intent (NOI) to prepare an Environmental Impact 
Statement (EIS) was published in the Federal Register on January 22, 
2013. The FHWA is issuing this notice to advise the public that FHWA 
and the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities 
(ADOT&PF) will no longer prepare an EIS for the Kake Access project. 
The purpose of the Kake Access project was to provide Kake residents 
with more frequent, faster and cost effective surface transportation 
access to medical facilities, goods and services, education facilities, 
and economic opportunities not available in Kake.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mike Traffalis, Project Manager, 
Federal Highway Administration-Western Federal Lands, 610 E. 5th St., 
Vancouver, WA 98661. 360-619-7700.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 2004 Southeast Alaska Transportation 
Plan (SATP) identified the need to improve the transportation system 
between communities in southeast Alaska. One improvement includes 
providing local access between the community of Kake and a major 
transportation and commercial hub. The 2012 Alaska Legislature 
appropriated $40 million to ADOT&PF for construction of a roadway 
connecting the communities of Kake and Petersburg.
    On January 22, 2013, FHWA issued a Notice of Intent (NOI) to advise 
the public that it intended to prepare an EIS for a proposed 
transportation project to improve access to and from the community of 
Kake (Federal Register Volume 78, Number 14). The Western Federal Lands 
Highway Division of FHWA was the lead Federal agency for the project. A 
draft purpose and need statement was prepared in June 2013. Scoping 
meetings were held on the purpose and need statement and preliminary 
alternatives. Following the public meeting, FHWA and ADOT&PF determined 
that the purpose and need statement should be better defined.
    To refine the project's purpose and need statement, a public phone 
survey and a transportation needs assessment were completed to provide 
more information about current travel patterns between Kake and 
surrounding communities. The needs assessment summarized prior work on 
the Kake Access Project, analyzed travel patterns, documented 
perceptions of project benefits and potential negative effects, and 
estimated potential annual average daily traffic counts for round trips 
between Kake and Petersburg. Public meetings were held in Kake and 
Petersburg in March 2014 to present the results and to give residents 
an opportunity to provide input and ask questions about the proposed 
project. A revised purpose and need statement was drafted in May 2015. 
The FHWA and ADOT&PF studied project alternatives and began narrowing 
down the list to a reasonable range of alternatives to be analyzed in 
the EIS. Public meetings were held in Kake and Petersburg in September 
2015 and another public survey was completed November 2015 through 
January 2016 to collect public input on the project.
    In February 2016, ADOT&PF decided to close the Kake Access project. 
The principal factors supporting the decision to close the project is 
that the Federal project is not fully funded and the need to operate 
and maintain a shuttle ferry would add significantly to ADOT&PF's 
annual maintenance and operating expense.
    The purpose of this notice is to rescind the January 22, 2013 NOI 
to prepare an EIS for the Kake Access project.

    Authority: 23 U.S.C. 315; 49 CFR 1.48.

    Issued on: April 7, 2016.
Sandra L. Otto,
Division Director, Western Federal Lands Highway Division, Federal 
Highway Administration.
[FR Doc. 2016-08456 Filed 4-12-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4910-22-P