01128772

Component

https://doi.org/10.3141/2123-01

http://scholar.google.com...Goff&publication_year=2009

The Montana Department of Transportation (MDT) developed the corridor-planning process to bridge the gap between its statewide long-range transportation policy plan and project-level National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) processes. MDT cooperated with Lincoln County, Montana; the USDA Forest Service; and FHWA to complete the Libby North Corridor Study. The approach used new rules and regulations: 23 Code of Federal Regulations, Part 450, Appendix A: Linking the Transportation Planning and NEPA Processes. Corridor planning complements NEPA and ensures that decisions are made at the appropriate level with consideration of low-cost alternatives and available funding. Environmentally complex issues in the Pipe Creek area, north of Libby, prompted the study. It was uncertain whether any project was possible on this secondary highway (MT-567) because of its environmentally challenging location: parallel to Pipe Creek (Bull Trout Critical Habitat), within the Kootenai National Forest and grizzly bear habitat distribution area, and just outside the Cabinet–Yaak grizzly bear recovery zone. If this project had been developed under traditional methods beginning with the NEPA-compliant environmental review, a full environmental impact study would have been likely. Concerned that any reconstruction would be insurmountable and not fundable because of environmental sensitivities, MDT and the county took a step back. The corridor was reassessed at the planning level to obtain a better understanding of corridor limitations and needs and to determine what improvements, if any, could be pursued. With the aid of many stakeholders and agencies, the study identified recommendations for improving safety, maintaining the scenic character of the corridor, and minimizing impacts to threatened and endangered species.

01147486

09-0564

English

pp 1-7

2009

Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board

9780309142526

Print

Maps (2) ; References (3) ; Tables (1)

Decision making; Endangered species; Environmental impact statements; Environmental policy; Habitat (Ecology); Long range planning; Reconstruction; Transportation corridors; Transportation planning

National Environmental Policy Act of 1969; United States Code. Title 23. Section 450

Grizzly bears

Montana

Environment; Highways; Planning and Forecasting; I15: Environment; I72: Traffic and Transport Planning

TRIS, TRB, ATRI

Jan 30 2009 4:49PM

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