Northwest Corridor
LRT Line to Farmers Branch and Carrollton
Final Environmental Impact Statement

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

LIST OF FIGURES vi
LIST OF TABLES ix
FOREWORD (50KB PDF File)
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY (3.6MB PDF File) ES-1
1.0 PURPOSE AND NEED (201KB PDF File - includes sections 1.1 through 1.5) 1-1
1.1 Goals and Objectives (201KB PDF File - includes sections 1.1 through 1.5)
 1-1
1.2 Relevant System Planning Activities (201KB PDF File - includes sections 1.1 through 1.5)
 1-3
1.3 Overview of the Corridor (201KB PDF File - includes sections 1.1 through 1.5)
 1-4
1.3.1 Population and Employment
 1-4
1.3.2 Travel Patterns and Congestion
 1-7
1.4 Need for Action (201KB PDF File - includes sections 1.1 through 1.5)
 1-7
1.4.1 Specific Transportation Needs in the Corridor
 1-8
1.4.2 Purposes of the Proposed Action
 1-8
1.5 Planning Context (201KB PDF File - includes sections 1.1 through 1.5)
 1-9
1.5.1 Decision Framework
 1-9
1.5.2 Selection of the LPIS
 1-9
1.5.3 Description of Federal Project (New Starts)
 1-10
1.5.4 The Role of the EIS in Project Development
 1-12
2.0 ALTERNATIVES CONSIDERED (284KB PDF File - includes sections 2.1 through 2.5) 2-1
2.1 Major Investment Study (MIS) Alternatives (284KB PDF File - includes sections 2.1 through 2.5)
 2-1
2.1.1 Screening and Selection Process
 2-1
2.1.2 Conceptual MIS Alternatives
 2-1
2.1.3 Detailed MIS Alternatives
 2-2
2.1.4 Rationale For Choosing The Locally Preferred Investment Strategy (LPIS)
 2-2
2.2 Selected LRT Alternative (284KB PDF File - includes sections 2.1 through 2.5)
 2-4
2.2.1 Alignment
 2-6
2.2.2 LRT Stations
 2-10
2.2.3 Bus Operating Plan
 2-26
2.2.4 Rail Operating Plan
 2-26
2.2.5 Rail Operating Facility
 2-29
2.3 Other Alternatives Considered (284KB PDF File - includes sections 2.1 through 2.5)
 2-31
2.3.1 No-Build Alternative
 2-31
2.3.2 Other LRT Alignments Considered
 2-35
2.3.3 Other Rail Operating Facility Sites Considered
 2-49
2.4 Capital Costs (284KB PDF File - includes sections 2.1 through 2.5)
 2-52
2.5 Operations and Maintenance Costs (284KB PDF File - includes sections 2.1 through 2.5)
 2-31
2.5.1 Bus System
 2-52
2.5.2 LRT System
 2-53
2.5.3 Systemwide Operations and Maintenance Costs
 2-53
3.0 AFFECTED ENVIRONMENT (504KB PDF File - includes sections 3.1 through 3.7) 3-1
3.1 Land Use (504KB PDF File - includes sections 3.1 through 3.7)
 3-1
3.1.1 Regional Summary
 3-1
3.1.2 Existing Land Use
 3-1
3.1.3 Land Use in Design Option Areas
 3-7
3.1.4 Local Land Use Plans/Policies
 3-9
3.1.5 Schools, Community Services, Facilities, and Resources
 3-12
3.1.6 Major Activity Centers
 3-16
3.2 Socioeconomic Characteristics and Neighborhoods (504KB PDF File - includes sections 3.1 through 3.7)
 3-21
3.2.1 Population Dynamics
 3-21
3.2.2 Labor Force and Employment Centers
 3-22
3.2.3 Neighborhoods
 3-25
3.3 Transportation (504KB PDF File - includes sections 3.1 through 3.7)
 3-28
3.3.1 Transit Services and Facilities
 3-28
3.3.2 Roads and Highways
 3-32
3.3.3 Railroads
 3-37
3.3.4 Movement of Freight
 3-37
3.3.5 Non-Motorized Circulation
 3-42
3.3.6 Parking
 3-43
3.3.7 Regional Transportation Improvement Plans
 3-44
3.4 Air Quality (504KB PDF File - includes sections 3.1 through 3.7)
 3-45
3.4.1 Study Methodology
 3-46
3.4.2 Affected Environment
 3-48
3.5 Noise (504KB PDF File - includes sections 3.1 through 3.7)
 3-50
3.5.1 Transit Noise Criteria
 3-51
3.5.2 Existing Noise Conditions
 3-52
3.6 Vibration (504KB PDF File - includes sections 3.1 through 3.7)
 3-57
3.6.1 Ground-Borne Vibration Criteria
 3-58
3.6.2 Existing Vibration Conditions
 3-60
3.7 Visual and Aesthetic Resources (504KB PDF File - includes sections 3.1 through 3.7)
 3-62
3.7.1 Methodology
 3-62
3.7.2 Overview of the Corridor
 3-62
3.7.3 Corridor Assessment Unit Description
 3-62
3.8 Cultural Resources and Parklands (354KB PDF File - includes sections 3.8 through 3.12)
 3-65
3.8.1 Applicable Legal and Regulatory Requirements
 3-66
3.8.2 Cultural Resources
 3-67
3.8.3 Archeological Resources
 3-74
3.8.4 Parklands
 3-78
3.9 Ecosystems (354KB PDF File - includes sections 3.8 through 3.12)
 3-82
3.9.1 Wetlands Inventory
 3-82
3.9.2 Vegetation Inventory
 3-84
3.9.3 Wildlife Inventory
 3-84
3.9.4 Protected Species
 3-97
3.9.5 Aquatic Habitats
 3-99
3.10 Geology (354KB PDF File - includes sections 3.8 through 3.12)
 3-100
3.10.1 Geologic Setting
 3-100
3.10.2 Soil Types
 3-100
3.11 Hydrology/Water Quality (354KB PDF File - includes sections 3.8 through 3.12)
 3-102
3.11.1 Surface Water Quality
 3-102
3.11.2 Groundwater Resources
 3-104
3.11.3 Floodplains
 3-105
3.12 Hazardous/Regulated Materials (354KB PDF File - includes sections 3.8 through 3.12)
 3-105
3.12.1 Study Methodology
 3-105
3.12.2 Assessment of Probable Contamination Potential
 3-112
4.0 TRANSPORTATION IMPACTS (643KB PDF File - includes sections 4.1 through 4.5) 4-1
4.1 Impacts of Transit Service and Ridership (643KB PDF File - includes sections 4.1 through 4.5)
 4-1
4.1.1 Transit Levels of Service
 4-1
4.1.2 Transit Ridership
 4-6
4.2 Highway and Roadway Impacts (643KB PDF File - includes sections 4.1 through 4.5)
 4-8
4.2.1 Regional Impacts
 4-10
4.2.2 Local Impacts
 4-10
4.2.3 Transit Station Access
 4-22
4.3 Impacts on Movement of Freight (643KB PDF File - includes sections 4.1 through 4.5)
 4-32
4.3.1 Freight Railroads
 4-32
4.3.2 Trucking and Deliveries
 4-38
4.4 Impacts on Non-Motorized Circulation (643KB PDF File - includes sections 4.1 through 4.5)
 4-41
4.4.1 Pedestrian Movements
 4-41
4.4.2 Bicycles
 4-41
4.5 Impacts on Parking (643KB PDF File - includes sections 4.1 through 4.5)
 4-43
4.5.1 Selected LRT Alternative Impacts and Mitigation
 4-43
4.5.2 Other Alignments Considered
 4-44
5.0 ENVIRONMENTAL CONSEQUENCES (532KB PDF File - includes sections 5.1 through 5.8) 5-1
5.1 Land Use and Economics (532KB PDF File - includes sections 5.1 through 5.8)
 5-1
5.1.1 Land Use Impacts
 5-1
5.1.2 Economic Impacts
 5-11
5.1.3 Mitigation Measures
 5-15
5.2 Acquisitions and Displacement (532KB PDF File - includes sections 5.1 through 5.8)
 5-15
5.2.1 Real Estate Acquisitions
 5-16
5.2.2 Displacements and Impacts
 5-19
5.2.3 Summary of Acquisitions and Displacements
 5-24
5.2.4 Mitigation Measures
 5-24
5.3 Air Quality (532KB PDF File - includes sections 5.1 through 5.8)
 5-25
5.3.1 Impact Assessment
 5-25
5.3.2 Mitigation Measures
 5-26
5.3.3 Conformity Statement
 5-26
5.4 Noise (532KB PDF File - includes sections 5.1 through 5.8)
 5-27
5.4.1 Noise Impact Assessment
 5-27
5.4.2 Noise Impact Mitigation
 5-30
5.5 Vibration (532KB PDF File - includes sections 5.1 through 5.8)
 5-34
5.5.1 Ground Vibration Impact Assessment
 5-34
5.5.2 Ground-Borne Noise Impact Assessment
 5-36
5.5.3 Ground-Borne Vibration Mitigation
 5-36
5.6 Visual and Aesthetic Resources (532KB PDF File - includes sections 5.1 through 5.8)
 5-36
5.6.1 Methodology
 5-36
5.6.2 Impact Assessment and Mitigation
 5-36
5.7 Ecosystems (532KB PDF File - includes sections 5.1 through 5.8)
 5-43
5.7.1 Wetlands
 5-43
5.7.2 Long-term Vegetation Impacts
 5-45
5.7.3 Wildlife Impacts
 5-46
5.7.4 Protected Species
 5-47
5.7.5 Aquatic Habitat Impacts
 5-48
5.8 Geology (532KB PDF File - includes sections 5.1 through 5.8)
 5-48
5.9 Hydrology/Water Quality (494KB PDF File - includes sections 5.9 through 5.20)
 5-49
5.9.1 Surface Water Quality Impacts
 5-49
5.9.2 Impacts to Groundwater Resources
 5-50
5.9.3 Floodplains Impacts
 5-51
5.10 Hazardous/Regulated Materials (494KB PDF File - includes sections 5.9 through 5.20)
 5-53
5.10.1 Impact Assessment
 5-53
5.10.2 Mitigation Measures
 5-55
5.11 Safety and Security (494KB PDF File - includes sections 5.9 through 5.20)
 5-55
5.11.1 No-Build Alternative
 5-55
5.11.2 LRT Alternative
 5-56
5.12 Construction Impacts (494KB PDF File - includes sections 5.9 through 5.20)
 5-59
5.12.1 Construction Scenario
 5-59
5.12.2 Construction Noise Impacts
 5-63
5.12.3 Construction Vibration Impacts
 5-64
5.12.4 Disruption of Utilities
 5-64
5.12.5 Access and Distribution of Traffic
 5-65
5.12.6 Air Quality Impacts
 5-67
5.12.7 Disruption of Business Activities
 5-67
5.12.8 Water Quality and Runoff
 5-68
5.12.9 Excavations, Fill Material, Debris, and Spoil
 5-69
5.13 Cultural Resources (494KB PDF File - includes sections 5.9 through 5.20)
 5-69
5.13.1 Application of the Criteria of Adverse Effect
 5-70
5.13.2 Effect Determinations and Mitigation for Selected LRT Alternative
 5-70
5.13.3 Differences in Potential Impacts of the Other Alignments Considered
 5-78
5.14 Archeological Resources (494KB PDF File - includes sections 5.9 through 5.20)
 5-78
5.14.1 Definition of Formal Finding of Effect
 5-78
5.14.2 Finding of Effect
 5-78
5.14.3 Determination of Adverse Effect
 5-79
5.14.4 Mitigation Measures
 5-79
5.15 Section 4(f) Evaluation (494KB PDF File - includes sections 5.9 through 5.20)
 5-79
5.15.1 Application of Section 4 (f)
 5-80
5.15.2 Public Parks and Recreation Areas
 5-81
5.15.3 Historic Sites
 5-87
5.15.4 Section 6(f)(3) Considerations
 5-92
5.15.5 Texas Parks and Wildlife Code, Chapter 26
 5-92
5.16 Environmental Justice (494KB PDF File - includes sections 5.9 through 5.20)
 5-92
5.16.1 Overview
 5-92
5.16.2 Public Participation
 5-93
5.16.3 Impact Assessment Methodology
 5-95
5.16.4 Impact Assessment
 5-95
5.16.5 Conclusion
 5-102
5.17 List of Required Federal Permits (494KB PDF File - includes sections 5.9 through 5.20)
 5-104
5.18 Relationship Between Short-Term Uses of the Environment and Long-term Productivity
(494KB PDF File - includes sections 5.9 through 5.20)
 5-104
5.19 Irreversible or Irretrievable Commitment of Resources
(494KB PDF File - includes sections 5.9 through 5.20)
 5-105
5.20 Cumulative Impacts (494KB PDF File - includes sections 5.9 through 5.20)
 5-105
5.20.1 Transportation
 5-105
5.20.2 Land Use and Economics
 5-106
5.20.3 Acquisitions and Displacements
 5-107
5.20.4 Air Quality
 5-107
5.20.5 Noise and Vibration
 5-107
5.20.6 Visual and Aesthetic Resources
 5-108
5.20.7 Ecosystems
 5-108
5.20.8 Geology
 5-108
5.20.9 Hydrology/Water Quality
 5-108
5.20.10 Hazardous/Regulated Materials
 5-108
5.20.11 Safety and Security
 5-109
5.20.12 Historic and Archeological Resources
 5-109
5.20.13 Public Parks and Recreation Areas
 5-109
6.0 Public and Agency Involvement (546KB PDF File - includes sections 6.1 through 6.4) 6-1
6.1 Public Involvement Plan (546KB PDF File - includes sections 6.1 through 6.4)
 6-1
6.1.1 Summary of Public and Agency Participation
 6-2
6.2 Agency Coordination (546KB PDF File - includes sections 6.1 through 6.4)
 6-8
6.3 Public and Agency Involvement and the Draft EIS
(546KB PDF File - includes sections 6.1 through 6.4)
 6-8
6.4 Organization of the Comments and Responses Received
(546KB PDF File - includes sections 6.1 through 6.4)
 6-9
6.4.1 Summary of Comments
 6-9
6.4.2 List of Comments and Responses
 6-10

BIBLIOGRAPHY (100KB PDF File)

APPENDICES
Appendix A List of Recipients (116KB PDF File)
Appendix B List of Preparers (141KB PDF File)
Appendix C Plan and Profile Drawings (14MB PDF File)
Appendix D Letters of Coordination (2.7MB PDF File)
Appendix E Love Field Access Alternative Summary (266KB PDF File)
Appendix F Love Field Tunnel Study (1.5MB PDF File)
Appendix G DART LRT Rail Operating Facility – Phase 1 Site Selection Study - Executive Summary (1.1MB PDF File)
Appendix H Section 106 Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) (316KB PDF File)

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