1. Home
  2. TRID
  3. View Record
https://www.ntro.org.au/

TIGER by the Tail: The Interstate-15 Bridge No. 6 Environmental Assessment

This paper presents a case study in streamlining the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process for a project with multiple environmental resource issues and four primary agency partners. By exploring a complex infrastructure project committed to an extremely compressed schedule, this paper illustrates a project in the general topic area of Regulatory Coordination and Compliance that embodies the special interest topic of Shifting to High Gear. Through streamlined coordination and delivery processes, the four agencies executed an Environmental Assessment (EA) for a complex project in less than 8 months (typical timeframe 18 months to 2 years). In June 2012, the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) received a federal Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) IV grant award to rehabilitate Virgin River Bridge No. 6 (Bridge No. 6) on Interstate 15 (I-15) in a remote corner of northwest Arizona. Bridge No. 6 is located in the Virgin River Gorge, a scenic wonder designated as a “Nationally and Exceptionally Significant Feature of the Federal Interstate Highway System”. The bridge is also located within an easement from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), flanked by congressionally designated wilderness, surrounded by designated critical habitat for three federally protected species, and crosses the Virgin River-listed on the Nationwide Rivers Inventory and one of the few perennial rivers in Arizona. As part of the requirements to obtain the TIGER funding, ADOT must complete the environmental document by May 31, 2013. The project, as was originally conceived, was anticipated to have minimal impacts in the Virgin River and its associated floodplain, and a Categorical Exclusion was suggested as the appropriate level of environmental documentation. However, additional evaluation of the structural condition of the bridge revealed the need to widen and strengthen the pier foundations. During early coordination with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), BLM, and National Park Service (NPS) in summer 2012, it was determined that potential impacts to biological resources and the Virgin River would be considered adverse, even with appropriate mitigation measures. Therefore, in October 2012, the Federal Highway Administration and ADOT decided to move forward with an EA for this project, triggering the need for an extremely compressed schedule to determine by May 31, 2013 if a Finding of No Significant Impact is warranted for this project.

  • Summary URL:
  • Supplemental Notes:
    • Abstract used with permission from the International Conference on Ecology and Transportation, organized by the Center for Transportation and the Environment, Institute for Transportation Research and Education, North Carolina State University.
  • Corporate Authors:

    North Carolina State University, Raleigh

    Center for Transportation and the Environment
    Raleigh, NC  United States  27695-8601
  • Authors:
    • Phoebus, Betsi
    • Yedlin, Rebecca
  • Conference:
  • Publication Date: 2013

Language

  • English

Media Info

  • Media Type: Digital/other
  • Features: Figures; References;
  • Pagination: 11p
  • Monograph Title: Proceedings of the 2013 International Conference on Ecology and Transportation (ICOET 2013)

Subject/Index Terms

Filing Info

  • Accession Number: 01557927
  • Record Type: Publication
  • Files: TRIS
  • Created Date: Mar 27 2015 10:30AM