Mickelson Connector Feasibility Study

Transcription

1 Friends of the Norbeck PO Box 2003 Rapid City, SD Summary Comments on the Mickelson Connector Feasibility Study Prepared by Brian Brademeyer Submitted to Wyss Associates On 11/18/09 on behalf of Friends of the Norbeck Native Ecosystems Council Defenders of the Black Hills Brian Brademeyer Charmaine White Face Eve Koevenig See our website for these comments and virtual hikes along selected trail segments.

2 Conclusions and Recommendations We have shown that those segments identified as segments of environmental concern also do not coincide with the best transportation solution, which we found was a Composite route as shown below. The Alternative Route results for the entire route from Hill City Trailhead (A) to Mt. Rushmore Boundary (X) can be derived by adding the results from the final table in Section IV A (Hill City to Palmer Gulch) to the results in the final table in Section IV B (Palmer Gulch to Mt. Rushmore), yielding the following Alternative Route Evaluation Table (A X): Route Length Steepness Earthworks Safety Total Composite IV-II-III Alt-III Peter Norbeck Alt-IV North Alt-V Highway Alt-II Rabbit Gulch Alt-I North / South

3 We can summarize these results and analyses into the following conclusions and recommendations: 1. A Composite Alternative consisting of Alternative IV from Hill City Trailhead to Palmer Gulch (A O), Alternative II from Palmer Gulch to Hwy 244 Crossing (O S ), and Alternative III from Hwy 244 Crossing to Rushmore boundary (S X) is the best route that can be assembled from the segments presented in the Feasibility Study Final Report, and is preferable to any single alternative identified by Consultants. 2. New trail corridor construction within the Norbeck Preserve is not needed to meet the objectives of this project. The top ranked Composite Alternative does not involve new corridor construction in Norbeck, and the second ranked Peter Norbeck Alternative III involves less than ¼ mile of new construction in the Norbeck Preserve. 3. Feasible alternatives exist that do not traverse our identified Segments of Environmental Concern. The top ranked Composite Alternative involves only 1000 of Segment 40 where we thought a better alignment could be found along the north side of Highway 244 between the junction to the Horsethief Lake Fishing Access parking lot and the lower junction to the Breezy Point loop road (Consultants had shown this section on the south side of the highway). The second ranked Peter Norbeck Alternative III (if suggestions for better alignments were adopted on Segments 18 and 39) would only have concerns involving less than ¼ mile of new Norbeck corridor construction on Segment Our Segments of Environmental Concern correlate strongly with segments that are undesirable from a transportation standpoint. The two top ranked alternatives have the least overlap with the Segments of Environmental Concern; just eliminating routes violating the New Norbeck Corridor concern by more than ½ mile would have eliminated Alternatives I, II, and IV. 5. The Lower Pine Creek route through Camp Judson (where it would also need an easement, since it passes through the church camp exercise yard for about 300 feet) is not a feasible route. Also, this route is severely constrained by very steep cross slopes, and is too narrow to have two routes along this alignment. This area is currently used by hikers and horseback riders; routing the Mickelson Connector along the Pine Creek route would have the perverse effect of eliminating existing horse users in this area. It should be dropped from further study in the Draft EIS. 6. The Highway 244 Route is undesirable, primarily due to safety concerns, and should be eliminated from further study west of Big Pine Trailhead. 7. We agree that horses should not be allowed on the Mickelson Connector Trail. 3

4 The following corridor map shows our recommendations for further analysis in the DEIS. The Composite Alternative Route is shown in BLUE on the map above, with primary alternative sections shown in GREEN, and secondary alternative sections shown in PURPLE. The Highway 244 Route east of Big Pine Trailhead is shown in RED. From Big Pine (S) to Mt. Rushmore (X), a bike lane should be evaluated in the Draft EIS, for possible construction in addition to the recommended Composite Route for the Connector Trail Route. The short distance between points of interest (Horsethief Lake loop, Horsethief Dam scenic turnout, Breezy Point loop, Forest Information turnout, Wrinkled Rock Trailhead) within this short 1.55 mile section increases the likelihood that cyclists will cut corners between waypoints and utilize the highway surface in this area. East of Palmer Gulch, the DEIS should focus on the general Old Hill City Road corridor for additional alternatives, staying north of Ford Mountain and Summit Peak. Further questions in this corridor should be addressed in the Draft EIS, such as: Should the Palmer Gulch crossing be farther to the north, perhaps at the mouth of Hay Draw, to avoid the KOA s sewage lagoons (along Palmer Creek near node O)? [This 4

5 would require an easement across either the Schmidt or Parker properties north of the KOA.] Should a major trailhead be located along the Old Hill City Road north of Summit Peak (near node label O above), or nearer the KOA at node O? Can a route along the Old Hill City Road be used to get up the steep grade east of Hill City (top of Tin Mill Hill is at node B above)? The best transportation routes within the Norbeck Preserve follow the Old Norbeck Gravel Road alignments from Mt. Rushmore to the top of Hay Draw (node P above). The westbound one way (S Q P ) provides the route with least new construction, although the three routes from Palmer Gulch to Hwy 244 Crossing (O S ) are roughly equivalent [note that the route through node P requires ¼ miles of new Norbeck corridor construction and loops around the KOA sewage lagoons as it crosses Palmer Creek, which are not factor in to this quantitative screening analysis]. Nevertheless, the three routes shown in the figure above (O P N S, O P N S, and O P Q S ) should be investigated more fully in the Draft EIS, especially their potential wildlife impacts, along with locating a trailhead at the Highway 244 Crossing point (S ). With horse use excluded from the Mickelson Connector Trail, possibilities for a handicappedaccessible section should be considered in the DEIS. The Norbeck One Ways area is the most likely candidate for such an ADA compliant trail, due to its relative gentle terrain and distance from the highway. The eastbound Old Norbeck remnants around N should be investigated for the possibility of such a trail, with a trailhead where P N crosses Forest Road