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Presentation on I-70 East Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement
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Summary and Background Information:
The I-70 East Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement was released on Aug. 29, 2014. This marks the latest step in the process to complete the environmental document and reach a Record of Decision in 2016. The Interstate 70 East Corridor has been studied for over a decade, when the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) and the Regional Transportation District (RTD) first began a joint study in 2013. In 2006, the agencies split the highway and rail elements into separate studies and CDOT released a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) in 2008 with four alternatives, two of which rerouted I-70 along Interstate 270.
Commerce City strongly opposed the reroute alternatives in the Draft EIS and sent a formal comment letter to the agency in response to the document. The lack of support for any alternatives led state and federal agencies to begin a collaborative process, which city staff, community and business representatives actively participated in. While this Preferred Alternative Collaborative Team (PACT) could not reach consensus on a preferred alternative, the group did reach consensus to eliminate realignment alternatives from further consideration. The CDOT and City & County of Denver initiated outreach efforts to affected neighborhoods to improve design/aesthetics of on-alignment alternatives to address public concerns. CDOT and the Federal Highway Administration decided to review prior decisions in the process, including the previously eliminated alternatives. As a result, a new alternative was developed that addressed the public and stakeholder concerns while satisfying the projects purpose and need.
The Partial Covered Lowered Alternative with Managed Lanes Option has been preliminarily identified as the Preferred Alternative for I-70 East. This alternative and associated option is the preliminarily identified Preferred Alternative because it meets the project purpose and need, best addresses community concerns, has the most community and agency support, and-with the proposed mitigations appears to cause the least overall impact. There are two design options associated with the Preferred Alternative that need to be finalized related to the Vasquez Boulevard access. The city has strived to work collaboratively with Denver, the state and other stakeholders to ensure regional and business interests are appropriately represented; the SDEIS notes that final design will be completed in the Final EIS.
Formal public hearings for the project have concluded.The purpose of tonight's presentation is to hear directly from CDOT representatives about the project, including next steps for the environmental process and project construction. The executive summary of the SDEIS is attached; the entire document is available online for review at www.i-70east.com.
Staff Responsible (Department Head): Michelle Halstead
Staff Member Presenting: Public Works Director Maria D'Andrea
Financial Impact: $0
Funding Source: N/A
Staff Recommendation: None at this time - for informational purposes.
Suggested Motion: N/A