Merger Project Team Meeting Information

The following guidance is intended to aid Project Development Engineers in preparing for merger project team meetings for concurrence points 1, 2, 2A, 3, 4A. 4B, and 4C. This guidance details information to be presented at each of these concurrence points and should be used in conjunction with the Merger Process Implementation Guidelines for Processes I (New Location Projects) and II (Widening Projects). The differences in these two processes in terms of information needed at each concurrence point are noted. The goal of this guidance is to provide more consistency in terms of information presented at project team meetings and to reduce the number of follow-up meetings due to lack of adequate information. The guidance is also intended to inform other project team members what information to expect at each type of concurrence meeting.

The following information should be presented at Concurrence Point 1 project team meetings. Depending on the purpose of a project, different data should be presented. Below is a list of information that should be presented for all projects as well as a listing of information that should be presented depending on the purpose of the project.

• Preliminary limits of study area on Environmental Features Map
• Existing traffic and future no-build average daily traffic
• Environmental Features Map – See “Environmental Features Map” section of this guidance for information to include on this map. For both new location and widening projects, information presented on the environmental features map at this point will be gathered from readily available sources such as GIS, aerial photography and databases.
• Summary of any information or comments from the public concerning purpose and need and community concerns (if available).
• Any other readily available information which may aid in justifying the project’s purpose and need.

Present the following:

• Capacity analysis of existing conditions

• Inter-modal relationships including bicycle/pedestrian systems, transit, port facilities, HOV lanes, and airport facilities
• Other area TIP projects
• Functional Classification
• Project history and background information including communityissues.
• Photographs
• Roadway geometric deficiencies and accident history
• Area Transportation Plan (Local, State, Federal)
• Land use plans

Present one or more of the following:

• Roadway geometric deficiencies and accident history
• Emergency evacuation needs
• Predictive models (as available)
• Location of accidents
• Physical Condition of structures

• Inter-modal relationships including bicycle/pedestrian systems, transit, port facilities, HOV lanes, and airport facilities
• Other area TIP projects
• Functional Classification
• Project history and background information including community issues.
• Photographs
• Area Transportation Plan (Local, State, Federal)
• Land use plans
• Capacity analysis of existing conditions
• Recent safety improvements

Present one or more of the following:

• Roadway Network Discontinuity
• Travel time comparison
• Travel demand (Origin-Destination studies)
• Intra-state/Strategic Corridor System (Intra-State, Interstate, NHS, etc.)
• Military/Homeland Security needs
• Access needs

• Inter-modal relationships including bicycle/pedestrian systems, transit, port facilities, HOV lanes, and airport facilities
• Other area TIP projects
• Functional Classification
• Project history and background information including community issues.
• Photographs
• Roadway geometric deficiencies and accident history
• Area Transportation Plan (Local, State, Federal)
• Land use plans
• Capacity analysis of existing conditions

Present one or more of the following:

• Roadway geometric deficiencies and accident history (Truck accident rates)
• Community issues (vibration, time of operation, noise, etc..)
• Trucking data from local businesses
• Pedestrian conflicts

• Inter-modal relationships including bicycle/pedestrian systems, transit, port facilities, HOV lanes and airport facilities
• Other area TIP projects
• Functional Classification
• Project history and background information including community issues.
• Photographs
• Land use plans
• Area Transportation Plan (Local, State, Federal)
• Capacity analysis of existing conditions

Present one or more of the following:

• Intra-State System
• Interstate System
• Other Congressional/Legislative designation
• Area Transportation Plan (Local, State, Federal)

• Inter-modal relationships including bicycle/pedestrian systems, transit, port facilities, HOV lanes, and airport facilities
• Other area TIP projects
• Functional Classification
• Project history and background information including community issues
• Existing traffic and future no-build average daily traffic
• Roadway geometric deficiencies and accident history
• Land use plans
• Capacity analysis of existing conditions

Present one or more of the following:

• Area Transportation Plan (Local, State, Federal)
• Land use plans
• Areas of interest to local citizens and elected officials
• Economic initiatives/plans
• Economic demographics
• Prospective/existing development needs (New employment, schools, recreation centers, etc…)
• Department of Commerce data (if available)
• Plans for supporting infrastructure

• Inter-modal relationships including bicycle/pedestrian systems, transit, port facilities, HOV lanes, and airport facilities
• Other area TIP projects
• Functional Classification
• Project history and background information including community issues.
• Photographs
• Roadway geometric deficiencies and accident history
• Capacity analysis of existing conditions

At Concurrence Point 2, the project team will decide on alternatives to carry forward. For new location projects, NCDOT will present preliminary study corridors based on functional designs as a starting point for alternative discussion. The project team will then decide to eliminate or add additional alternatives. For widening projects, NCDOT will present the results of detailed field surveys in order for the team to determine alternative widening scenarios. The following information will be presented at Concurrence Point 2 meetings depending on project type:

• Environmental Features Map: See “Environmental Features Map” section within this guidance. The environmental features map will contain preliminary alternative corridors based on functional designs. Information presented in the Environmental Features Map at this point will be readily available information from sources such as GIS, aerial photography and databases.
• Public and local official comments obtained from early public involvement
• A qualitative discussion of operational/geometric/safety concerns of alternatives, if identified.
• Preliminary alternatives table based on latest available resources and the functional design construction limits and/or right of way limits with the following information:
  • Length
  • Interchanges (Number)
  • Number of railroad crossings (Type – at grade or grade separation)
  • Schools (Number)
  • Parks (Number)
  • Churches (Number)
  • Cemeteries (Number)
  • Major Utility Conflicts (Yes or no)
  • Recorded Historic Sites (Number)
  • Known Federal Listed Species Habitat (Natural Heritage Program) (Number)
  • 100 Year Floodplain and Floodway Impacts (Yes or no)
  • Residences (Number)
  • Businesses (Number)
  • Hazardous material sites (Gas Stations, hog farms, superfund sites) (Number)
  • NWI wetland impacts (Number of crossings and acreage within functional design construction limits): Where available, data from the N.C. Division of Coastal Management’s GIS-based wetland inventory should be used.
  • Stream impacts from quad sheets or soil survey maps (number of crossings and length within functional design construction limits)
  • Potential Riparian Buffer Impacts (Yes or no)
  • Water Supply Critical Areas (Yes or no)
  • Greenway Crossings (Number)
  • Potential Section 4(f) Impacts (Yes or no)
  • Low income or minority populations (Yes or no)

• Environmental Features Map: See “Environmental Features Map” section within this guidance. The environmental features map will contain a preliminary alternative corridor (study area) which is large enough to encompass all potential widening scenarios and typical sections. Environmental information displayed on the environmental features map will be delineated and verified. Preliminary designs are not required at this concurrence point.
• A table of potential impacts (rough estimate of widening impacts on 1 side of the existing road verses the other side) may be provided if the PDEA Project Engineer feels this information would facilitate the identification of alternatives.
• Public and local official comments obtained from early public involvement
• Suggested alternative typical section(s) with supporting information (qualitative and/or quantitative discussion)

At Concurrence Point 2A, the project team will identify bridge locations and lengths, and determine which natural resources warrant additional avoidance measures. The team will review the preliminary designs to identify any changes that may be needed before finalization of the preliminary engineering and completion of the environmental document. Additionally, the need for expensive structural items such as wildlife crossings, large retaining walls, special pedestrian accommodations, etc… will be considered at this time. For both new location and widening projects, preliminary design data for each alternative will be presented and all potential impacts will be field delineated and verified. For widening projects, this concurrence also includes alignment refinement, alternative elimination, selecting the hydraulic structure to be carried forward at each stream crossing, and selecting which typical section(s) and widening scenarios to carry forward. The following information should be presented at Concurrence Point 2A for both new location and widening projects:

• Hydraulic Table: This table will provide NCDOT’s proposed hydraulic recommendations for each alternative at the major stream crossings. The wetland and stream crossings will be numbered to correspond with any corresponding mapping. The stream crossings will be named and numbered. The following information will be included:
  • Type of proposed structure (bridge or culvert)
  • Dimensions of proposed structure (length and width)
  • Net Cost of structure (including removal, earthwork, etc..)
  • Stream classification
  • Stream name
  • Wetland rating and type
  • Impacts to wetlands and streams (Separate tabulations for earthwork impacts and and area under bridge deck)
  • Intermittent or Perennial?
  • Existing channel dimensions
  • Type and size of existing structure if applicable
  • Zone 1 riparian buffer impacts (sq. ft.)
  • Zone 2 riparian buffer impacts (sq. ft.)

• Environmental Features Map: See “Environmental Features Map” section of this guidance. At this point, information included on the map will be field verified and delineated for both new location and widening projects. Preliminary design data (construction limits or right of way limits) will be included within each concurred-upon study corridor. Also, potential service road locations and potential utility impacts will be presented as well as proposed control of access. The PDEA Project Engineer may choose to present (in addition to the environmental features map) the preliminary designs on preliminary mapping along with the potential environmental impacts if this type of mapping would better facilitate discussions at this concurrence point.
  • Hydraulic conveyance recommendations at major stream crossings as proposed by Hydraulics Unit. A stream crossing is considered major if the existing or proposed box culvert is 6’x 6’ (72” pipe) or greater or there is an existing or proposed bridge.
  • Information on existing structures upstream and downstream of each crossing if those structures could influence the hydraulic recommendation.
  • Public Involvement Comments from workshops, group meetings, or public official meetings.
  • A qualitative discussion of operational/geometric/safety concerns of alternatives, if identified.
  • Interchange justification discussion: The need for interchanges should be discussed as appropriate on a case by case basis.
  • A discussion of potential wildlife crossings
  • Preliminary alternatives table with identified and quantified impacts based on each alternative’s construction limits and field studies for both new location and widening projects. The following impacts will be noted for each alternative if applicable-:
    • Length
    • Interchanges (number)
    • Railroad crossings (Number)
    • Schools (Number)
    • Recreational areas and parks (Number)
    • Churches (Number)
    • Cemeteries (Number)
    • Major Utility crossings (Number)
    • Historic Properties (Number)
    • Archaeological Sites (Number)
    • Federal Listed Species Present Within Corridor (Yes or no)
    • State Listed Species (Yes or no) – Readily available information only, no detailed field surveys
    • 100 Year Floodplain and floodway Crossings (Number)
    • Forest Impacts (Acreage)
    • Prime Farmlands (Acreage) – From Conservation Service Form AD 1006
    • Potential Residential Relocations (Number)
    • Potential Business relocations (Number)
    • Hazardous material sites (Number and type:RCRA, CERCLA, UST, etc. if known)
    • Delineated wetland impacts (Number of crossings and Acreage)
    • Delineated stream impacts (Number of crossings and length)
    • CAMA Areas of Environmental Concern (# Crossings and Acreage)
    • Riparian buffer impacts for Zone 1 and Zone 2 (sq. ft.)
    • Water Supply Watersheds (Yes or No)
    • Wildlife Refuges and gamelands (Yes or No)
    • On-site restoration potential (Yes or No, if known)
    • Impacted noise receptors (Number)
    • Section 4(f) impacts (Number)
    • Federal Lands (Yes or No)
    • Low income population impacts (Number of relocatees and communities)
    • Minority population impacts (Number of relocatees and communities)
    • Significant Natural Heritage Program Areas (Number of Crossings)
    • Right of way cost estimate
    • Construction cost estimate
    • Existing and proposed greenway crossings (Number)

At the Concurrence Point 3 meeting, the project team will concur on the least environmentally damaging practicable alternative (LEDPA). For both new location and widening projects, preliminary design data for each alternative will be presented and all potential impacts will be delineated and verified. The following information should be presented at Concurrence Point 3:

Environmental Features Map: See “Environmental Features Map” section of this guidance. At this point, information included on the map will be delineated and verified for both new location and widening projects. Completed and minimized preliminary designs (construction limits or right of way limits) with concurred upon hydraulic recommendations from Concurrence Point 2A will be included within each concurred-upon study corridor. Additionally, potential service road locations, type of access control, and major utility relocations will be included in the preliminary designs. The PDEA Project Engineer may choose to present (in addition to the environmental features map) the preliminary designs on preliminary mapping along with the potential environmental impacts if this type of mapping would better facilitate discussions at this concurrence point.

• Updated Preliminary Alternatives Table (Same as Concurrence Point 2A)
• Brief summary of previous project team decisions
• Minimization efforts to date with calculated impact reductions
• Substantive comments received from agencies and the public during the document review, public hearing, and public notice relative to LEDPA selection with NCDOT responses.
• A qualitative discussion of operational/geometric/safety concerns of alternatives, if identified
• Capacity analyses and traffic counts for each alternative for projects with capacity needs as a component of the purpose.
• The results of preliminary geotechnical reconnaissance (if available)
• A discussion of constructability constraints, if known (soils, severe terrain, etc..)

At the concurrence point 4A meeting, the project team will review the preliminary design for the LEDPA and concur on avoidance and minimization by addressing issues such as minor alignment shifts, horizontal and vertical alignment, slopes and construction techniques. In addition, service road locations and utility relocations should be reviewed for avoidance and minimization. For projects where bridge length and location were not previously agreed to, a decision on these parameters will be included. The preliminary design of the LEDPA will be presented within the concurred-upon study corridor for new location projects. The preliminary design of the selected alternative will be presented for widening projects. The following information should be presented at Concurrence Point 4A:

Environmental Features Map: See “Environmental Features Map” section of this guidance. The preliminary design (construction limits or right of way limits) with service road locations, utility relocations, control of access, and typical section(s) will be presented within the selected LEDPA study corridor for new location projects. The PDEA Project Engineer may choose to present (in addition to the environmental features map) the preliminary design on preliminary mapping along with the potential environmental impacts if this type of mapping would better facilitate discussions at this concurrence point.

• Recommendations from Concurrence Point 2A concerning bridge lengths and culvert recommendations
• A discussion of avoidance and minimization efforts to date.
• If the team did not concur on bridge lengths or culvert requirements at Concurrence Point 2A, the team should do so at this point. All information listed for Concurrence Point 2A (above) which pertains to structure decisions should be presented for the LEDPA alternative at the 4A meeting, in this case.
• Other impacted resource issues will be addressed as appropriate.
• Wetland and surface water impact tables. Each stream and wetland resource site should be numbered on the preliminary design corresponding to the number given in the impacts tables. The tables should provide the following information:
  
  

  Stream Impacts Table Stream site number Perennial or Intermittent Best Usage Classification Stream Width Stream Depth Impacted Length Zone 1 Buffer Impacts (if applicable) Zone 2 Buffer Impacts (if applicable) Stream Name

  Wetland Impacts Table Wetland site number Wetland Type (Cowardin Classification) DWQ Rating (Score) Riverine or Non-Riverine Isolated or Adjacent? Impacts in Acres

At the concurrence point 4B meeting, a Hydraulics design engineer will lead the team to review the preliminary hydraulic and drainage design plans including the following:

• Boundaries of the affected environmentally sensitive areas
• Existing drainage structures
• Deficiency of existing structures, such as perched, buried culverts, etc.
• Degraded streams, such as eroded banks, scour holes, etc.
• Layout of proposed drainage structures and stormwater BMP designs
• Proposed hazardous spill retention basins
• Proposed type A silt retention basins
• Proposed bridge survey reports
• Proposed culvert survey reports
• FEMA flood insurance compliance
• On-site stream and/or wetland mitigation candidate sites

• Preliminary types of bridge superstructure
• Preliminary location and types of bridge substructure
• Preliminary types of construction method (top-down construction, temporary work bridges, temporary rock causeways, etc.)
• Bottomless box culverts
• Sills and/or baffles inside culverts

After the 4B meeting, the Hydraulics design engineers will incorporate agencies’ comments into their final hydraulic and drainage designs. Then the design engineers will hold the final design field inspection to review the design plans with Division construction, Roadside Environmental, Right of Way, Utility personnel. The design engineer will then complete the final hydraulic and drainage designs, develop draft permit drawings and hold the 4C meeting with the resource agencies. At the 4C meeting, the Hydraulics engineer will present the team with project specific stormwater management plan as well as all permit-related issues as follows:

• Impacts to the wetlands
• Impacts to the jurisdictional surface waters
• Impacts to the riparian buffer zones
• Impacts to the wetland by roadway ditches
• Natural stream designs
• Riparian buffer rule compliance
• Final recommendation of construction methods for bridges and culverts
• Location of diversion channels for culvert construction
• Construction easement
• Temporary impacts to wetlands and streams
• Impacts to wetlands and streams by utilities
• Final recommendation of hazardous spill retention basins

This section explains the major differences between new location and widening projects in terms of information to be presented at each project team meeting.

Orthophotography will be used as the base mapping for new location projects. Digital aerial photography will be used as the base mapping for widening projects.

For new location projects, all information presented will be based on readily available information from sources such as GIS, databases, and aerial photography. Potential impacts will not be field delineated. NCDOT will present preliminary alternative corridors based on functional designs for the project team to consider at this point. For widening projects, all potential project impacts will be delineated and verified. NCDOT is not required to present preliminary design alternatives at this point, but the PDEA Project Manager should be prepared to discuss NCDOT-suggested widening scenarios. The PDEA Project Manager will present NCDOT-suggested typical sections with supporting capacity and safety data.

There is no difference in the two processes in terms of information presented at these concurrence points.

The environmental features map is a continuously updated visual aid to help project team members locate infrastructure and environmental resources within the project area. Initially, this map will consist of readily available information based on sources such as GIS, databases, and aerial photography. The information contained in this mapping is then updated, as more information becomes available due to detailed field surveys and technical reports as the project progresses.

The environmental features map should consist of orthophotography for new location projects (or digital mosaic for widening projects) as a base map with overlaid designs (depending on concurrence point) and information from GIS sources, databases, field surveys, and technical reports. The following information should be included depending on type of project:

• Study area
• Topography (Separate quad sheet may be necessary)
• Labeled community features (boundaries, schools, churches, community centers, hospitals, transit dependent areas, demographics, potential environmental justice areas, worship centers, cemeteries, etc.)
• 100-Year Floodplain and Floodway limits (If available digitally)
• Known historic properties and possible areas of archaeological concern: Field delineated starting with the Concurrence Point 2A meeting.
• Wetlands, Streams, and buffers (including stream names if known): Field delineated starting with the Concurrence Point 2A meeting. (Use DCM GISbased wetland inventory when available)
• CAMA Areas of Environmental Concern: Present at Concurrence Point 2A and beyond
• River basins (Boundary lines if located within study area)
• Water supply watersheds
• Wildlife Refuges and game lands
• Recreational areas, parks and greenways
• Federal Lands as identified in GIS
• Known hazardous material sites
• Known threatened and endangered species information: Field verified starting with the Concurrence Point 2A meeting.
• Known State-Listed species information: From readily available sources only. No field surveys are conducted for these species.
• Significant Natural Heritage Program Areas
• Major Utilities: Presented at the Concurrence Point 2A meeting and beyond.
• Prime and important farmland: Presented at the Concurrence Point 2A meeting and beyond.
• Study corridors with functional designs: Included at Concurrence Point 2 meeting only.
• Preliminary designs (Construction limits and right of way limits) within all study corridors: Presented at Concurrence Points 2A and 3 only.
• Preliminary designs (Construction limits and right of way limits) of LEDPA: Presented at Concurrence Point 4A only.
• Control of access limits: Presented at Concurrence Point 2A and beyond.
• Obvious service road locations: Presented at Concurrence Point 2A and beyond.