Final Environmental Impact Report - Whittier Bridge/I-95 ...

Whittier Bridge/I-95 Improvement Project FEIR
Chapter 2.0: Response to Comments on the Environmental Assessment/Draft Environmental Impact Report
2.5 NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS
2.5.1 Coastal Trails Coalition
The Coastal Trails Coalition (CTC) submitted a letter dated December 20, 2011.
CTC-1: The Shared-Use Path will be an outstanding addition to the alternative transportation network in the lower
Merrimack Valley. However, the current design leaves out two vital connections that are needed to make the Shared-
Use Path complete and fully functional. First, there is no connection between the Shared-Use Path and Main
Street/Evans Place in Amesbury and the Amesbury Visitors Center right next to I-95. Second, there is no connection
between Salisbury's Ghost Trail and Amesbury.
The connection to Main Street/Evans Place is needed to permit pedestrians and bicyclists to get to the Shared-Use
Path from Amesbury's riverside neighborhoods, from downtown and from towns west of Amesbury. It would facilitate
commuting to the Route 113 Park & Ride and would also permit users to park at the Amesbury Visitors Center next
to I-95 and walk or bike a short distance to the river crossing. The connection could easily be made on municipallyowned
property that lies adjacent to the Shared-Use Path and to I-95 by using a spiral pedestrian/bicycle ramp
similar to that used on I-394 in Minnesota (see picture enclosed) or an equivalent pedestrian/bicycle facility.
The Secretary's Certificate on the Environmental Notification Form for the project required the Draft EIR to
"investigate the feasibility of providing additional bicycle path and pedestrian connections" (EEA-16) and to "identify
additional commitments to improved connections" (EEA-17). The Draft EIR did not include any investigation of the
feasibility of making this vital connection. We request that you require MassDOT to make this vital pedestrian/ bicycle
connection as part of the project. The project considered a number of potential connections from the Shared-Use
Path to the vicinity of the existing Visitor Information Center at 520 Main Street. The visitor center building is the
former Smith’s Chain Bridge Filling Station No. 3 and has been determined by the State Historic Preservation Officer
to be eligible for individual listing in the National Register. As such, any construction on its lot or modifications of the
building would trigger review under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act and would require
modification of the project’s Section 106 Memorandum of Agreement. If determined to be an adverse impact under
Section 106, Section 4(f) would be triggered. Additionally, the limited space available at the 520 Main Street location
and the difference in elevation between the visitor center parcel and the shared use path (approximately 40-feet)
would make a connection infeasible, would require a large ramp structure with grades in excess of handicapped
accessibility requirements and result in additional wetland impacts to Wetland I, located behind the visitor center
building. Additional wetland impacts in excess of 40 square feet at Wetland I would result in the need for wetlands
Variance for the project, whose timeline would push the project outside of the Accelerated Bridge Program funding
schedule.
Response: Several comment letters have requested consideration of an additional access point to
the Shared-Use Path in the vicinity of the existing Visitor Information Center at 520 Main Street. The
visitor center, the former Smith‘s Chain Bridge Filling Station No. 3, has been determined by the
State Historic Preservation Officer to be eligible for individual listing in the National Register of
Historic Places. As such, any construction on its lot or modifications of the building would trigger
review under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act and would require modification of
the project‘s Section 106 Memorandum of Agreement. If determined to be an adverse impact under
Section 106, Section 4(f) would be triggered. Additionally, the limited space available at the 520
Main Street location and the difference in elevation between the visitor center parcel and the
Shared-Use Path (approximately 40-feet) would make the connection infeasible, require a large
ramp structure with grades in excess of handicapped accessibility requirements and result in
additional wetland impacts to Wetland I, located behind the visitor center building. Additional wetland
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