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Glossary

• Alternatives

  This is a NEPA term that can be applied to planning studies. It refers to everything from major modal alternatives and location alternatives to minor design changes that would mitigate adverse impacts, to a No-Action alternative as a baseline if no improvements are made. At the planning level, alternatives may also be referred to generically as concepts, strategies, or solutions.

• CDOT

  Colorado Department of Transportation. The agency responsible for planning, design and maintenance of state highway facilities.

• Context Sensitive Design

  A process used to identify design elements that focuses first on the need and purpose of the transportation project, and then equally addresses safety, mobility, and the preservation of scenic, aesthetic, historic, environmental, and other community values. Context sensitive design represents a comprehensive process that attempts to bring all stakeholders together in a positive, proactive environment. The objective is to complete projects that meet transportation needs and are viewed as improvements or enhancements to the community through preservation efforts and sensitivity to local values.

• EA

  Environmental Assessment. The NEPA process followed for this project, which will provide an assessment of the possible impact - positive or negative - that the proposed project may have on the environment, together consisting of the natural, social and economic aspects. The findings of the EA will be included in an EA document that will be available for public review and comment.

• Fiscally Constrained

  The term fiscally constrained refers to financial limitation, usually in reference to a long range transportation plan. Fiscally constrained plans are a subset of a region or statewide need for improvements that include projects that have identified funding sources and have a relative schedule for when these funds would be encumbered and the project constructed.

• FHWA

  Federal Highway Administration. The federal agency responsible for federally funded highways.

• FONSI

  Finding of No Significant Impact. A document that briefly states why a project will not significantly affect the natural or man-made environment.

• Light Rail (LRT)

  Lightweight rail cars operating on fixed rails, including RTD’s Southeast Corridor route that operates along I-25 in the project area.

• Mitigation

  This is a NEPA term than can be applied to planning studies. In NEPA, mitigation refers to actions taken to protect, restore and enhance the environmental consequences of a Federal, State, or local action that involves CDOT.

• NEPA

  The National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) is a United States law that declares national environmental policies and goals; enables federal agencies to enforce those policies and goals for major federal actions, and establishes an oversight council (the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ)) in the Executive Office of the President.

• Par Clo

  Partial Cloverleaf Interchange. This is the current ramp configuration at I-25/Arapahoe Road.

• PEL

  The Planning and Environmental Linkages process.

• PEL Study

  A PEL Study is the interim step of evaluation for a transportation need or project that has been identified in the regional transportation plan, yet has not entered a formal NEPA-level analysis. The purpose of a PEL Study is to perform preliminary analysis and make decisions not completed as a part of traditional regional level planning that will make NEPA level evaluation and decision-making more transparent to resource agencies and the public. PEL Studies may also be conducted for transportation corridors to more clearly identify the problem and develop potential solutions for future inclusion on the regional transportation plan.

• Purpose and Need

  A purpose and need developed for a PEL study describes why a transportation improvement is justified, based on a data-driven need. A well crafted purpose and need statement forms the basis for developing alternatives that can solve the transportation need. In addition, it aids in the determination of what alternatives are reasonable and which ones should be screened out. Goals and objectives are often developed in concert with a purpose and need. The goals and objectives are structured around the data that justifies the need.

• RTD

  Regional Transportation District. The public agency responsible for the provision of transit in the Denver Metro Region.

• SPUI

  Single Point Urban Interchange. An example of this interchange ramp configuration is at I-25 and University Boulevard.

• Study Area

  The project study area is defined as the transportation elements and defined geographic limits where a defined need has been demonstrated including the surrounding area where direct social, physical, or natural resource impacts may occur from proposed transportation improvements.

• Transit-Oriented Development (TOD)

  Moderate to higher density development, located within an easy walk of a major transit stop, generally with a mix of residential, employment, and shopping opportunities designed for pedestrians without excluding the auto.

This is an Arapahoe County, Colorado project website.
The I-25/Arapahoe EA is being conducted in conjunction with FHWA, CDOT, the City of Centennial and the City of Greenwood Village.

© 2010 David Evans and Associates, Inc.