EIS Process

Alternative Analysis and Screening Process

EIS Process

The I-70 East EIS is following a process outlined by the National Environmental Policy Act. It is designed to ensure that reasonable transportation alternatives are considered, that community input plays a key role, and that the environmental and community effects are fully disclosed.

The process includes:

1. Define Project Scope - Issues and concerns are solicited from the various agencies, the community, and others. Scoping activities include initial resource agency coordination meetings, door-to-door questionnaire, block meetings, neighborhood meetings, business meetings, and corridor meetings.

2. Define Project Purpose and Need - Using the input from scoping, data gathering, and technical analysis, a purpose and need statement is developed. It serves as the basis for the alternative development, screening, and environmental evaluation.

3. Define Evaluation Criteria - Working with the community, agencies, and other stakeholders, criteria are developed to compare the numerous alternatives that will be considered.

4. Develop Alternatives - A full-range or “master list” of alternatives, including previous and current proposals, and new ideas from the community and stakeholders is developed for consideration.

5. Screen Alternatives - Once the “master list” has been developed, the alternatives are screened using the established evaluation criteria to eliminate those that are not reasonable, feasible, or do not meet the purpose and need. This step is described further below: Alternative Analysis and Screening Process

6. Evaluate and Document Resource Effects - The alternatives that make it through the screening process are fully evaluated in the DEIS. The DEIS is an official document issued during the process and includes a detailed analysis of the social, environmental, and economic effects of the alternatives.

7. Solicit Formal Public Comment on DEIS - Following the release of the DEIS, the public has 45 days to review and comment on the DEIS. During this 45-day period, one or more public hearings are held to present the information and encourage formal comments.

8. Final EIS (FEIS) - Following the DEIS public and agency comment period, comments are logged and addressed, and additional analysis is conducted to develop the FEIS, which identifies the Preferred Alternative.

9. Formal Public Comment on FEIS - Following the release of the FEIS, the public has 45 days to review and comment on the FEIS. During this 45-day period, one or more public hearings are held to present the information and encourage formal comments.

10. Record of Decision (ROD) - After receiving public and agency comments on the FEIS and providing responses, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) will issue a ROD formalizing the official decision on the Preferred Alternative.

A continuous community outreach process is integrated into every step of the project to ensure that the corridor residents, businesses, the traveling public and other interested parties have an opportunity to have meaningful participation in the process.

Alternative Analysis and Screening Process

As part of the I-70 East analysis, a four-step process has been used to reduce the master list of alternatives to the four (see Alternatives) that will receive full evaluation in the DEIS. Additional information on alternative analysis can be found in the Alternative Development and Screening Process Presentation. Alternatives will be evaluated on each level based on the evaluation criteria determined from the project purpose, need, goals, and objectives.

1. Initial Screening - Initial screening is a reality check that eliminates alternative elements that do not have a realistic chance of being designed and built. A series of yes-or-no questions were used to evaluate alternatives during this step.

Alternative elements were screened individually within the nine goal areas: access, capacity, community, environment, implementation, infrastructure, mobility, safety, and security. Elements not eliminated in initial screening were then refined and evaluated in comparative screening.

2. Comparative Screening - Comparative screening looked in more detail at elements to determine if some were clearly better than others. A qualitative (good/better/best) approach was used to decide the elements within each category that were more effective at meeting purpose and need or practicability.

3. Detailed Screening - Detailed screening is a quantitative (measure-based) analysis that identifies the strength of the various alternatives. The elements that remained after the second level of evaluation, comparative screening, were combined to create several corridor-wide highway alternatives. Highway alignments, lane types, and interchange locations were combined to form these highway alternatives. Interchange locations were combined for detailed analysis, but interchange types or forms were evaluated at each access location in a separate interchange screening process.

4. Alternative Refinement - Alternatives remaining after the detailed screening are now being fully evaluated in the DEIS to develop the best transportation solution. The evaluation considers potential effects to over 20 different social, environmental, and economic resources. These resources are listed on the Environmental Resources page. This evaluation is more extensive than the detailed screening analysis.

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