PURPOSE AND NEED FOR THE PROJECT
During the Major Investment Study
(MIS) process for the SR-22/WOCC project, a broad
number and va-riety of potential transportation strategies
for addressing the project's purpose and needs were
evaluated and screened until the remaining four alternatives
were carried forward for analysis in the DEIR/EIS.
These four alternatives are briefly described below
and are described in more detail in Section 2.0 of
the DEIR/EIS, which also covers the alternative screening
process. The entire alternative screening process
is documented in the MIS (available at Caltrans, OCTA,
and major libraries).
No Build Alternative
Both CEQA and NEPA require environmental
documents to consider a no-action or no-project alternative.
This alternative represents the status quo, or what
would happen if none of the project elements included
in the other alternatives were implemented. The No
Build Alternative for the SR-22/WOCC project repre-sents
the future baseline condition in the year 2020. The
No Build Alternative encompasses only im-provements
to the transportation network that have already been
approved and funded. No capital im-provements for
SR-22 are included under this alternative. The No
Build Alternative incorporates all of the elements
of the OCTA 1998 FastForward Long-Range Transportation
Plan (FFTP) Baseline Scenario. The FFTP Baseline Scenario
also includes the 1995 Combined Transportation Funding
Program (CTFP) data. In addition, the No Build Alternative
includes all city or developer projects not in the
1995 CTFP that have been approved and funded. Throughout
this document, the other project alternatives are
compared to this No Build Alternative as a baseline
condition.
Also included in the No Build Alternative
are all of the elements of the No Build and Transportation
Sys-tem Management (TSM) alternatives defined in OCTA's
The Corridor Major Investment Study Final Evaluation
Report, which was adopted by the OCTA Board on June
9, 1997. Descriptions of these ele-ments are contained
in the MIS Evaluation Report. The No Build Alternative
represents the existing highway, HOV, bus, fixed guideway,
and Advanced Transportation Systems (ATS), plus all
transportation improvements programmed to be implemented
by 2020, as outlined in OCTA's FFTP Baseline Scenario.
On February 12, 2001, SCAG released a Letter of Completion
for the SR-22/WOCC Final MIS. Accord-ing to the SCAG
letter, "the range of alternatives studied in
the SR-22/WOCC Final MIS Evaluation Re-port is sufficient
to meet the requirements of the regionally significant
transportation investments study (RSTIS) guidelines.
Adequate public involvement was utilized in the planning
process through work-shops and public hearings. Moreover,
public agency involvement was augmented by numerous
meetings and RSTIS Peer Review Group Meetings."
TSM/Expanded Bus Service Alternative
The TSM/Expanded Bus Service Alternative
includes all of the improvements outlined in the No
Build Al-ternative, such as OCTA's FFTP Baseline Scenario.
In conjunction with these improvements, the TSM/Expanded
Bus Service Alternative incorporates additional TSM
and transit service strategies in the SR-22 corridor,
such as more buses, extended routes, and shorter headways
(less time between buses). The TSM alternative represents
implementation of lower-cost capital improvements,
such as increased bus service with associated arterial
improvements. The TSM/Expanded Bus Service Alternative
does not include any capital improvements to SR-22.
Full Build Alternative
The Full Build Alternative includes
all of the elements contained in the No Build and
TSM/Expanded Bus Service Alternatives, as well as
specific elements that address HOV system connectivity.
This alternative would add an HOV lane in each direction
on SR-22. The SR-22 HOV connectors were added September
1997 with the expansion of the project, which included
the West Orange County Connection. This ele-ment was
incorporated in response to public outreach, which
identified HOV system completion as a high priority.
HOV connectors, in particular, were perceived as important,
especially in regards to the safety and efficiency
of the system. The HOV connectors allows the system
to accommodate long distance travel for carpools and
buses, while enabling the smooth flow of vehicles
between freeways to avoid chokepoints at major interchanges.
It would also provide an additional HOV lane in each
direction on I-405 between I-605 and SR-22. It would
provide direct freeway-to-freeway HOV connectors between
I-605 and I-405, between I-405 and SR-22, between
SR-22 and I-5, and between SR-22 and SR-55. The Full
Build Alternative would also construct a new arterial
in the former Pacific Electric right-of-way in Gar-den
Grove and Santa Ana, on land currently owned by OCTA.
This arterial, which would connect SR-22 with both
Santa Ana Boulevard and Civic Center Drive, would
provide direct access to and from SR-22 and downtown
Santa Ana. The Full Build Alternative also includes
selected design improvements to en-hance the operational
characteristics of the SR-22 facility in certain locations
that currently create bottle-necks for motorists.
These include elements such as interchange spacing,
shoulder widths, and median widths that must be approved
by Caltrans. Under the Full Build Alternative, the
freeways within the SR-22/WOCC project would maintain
standard lane widths with some exceptions to advisory
and man-datory design standards such as interchange
spacing, shoulder widths, and median widths that must
be approved by Caltrans.
Reduced Build Alternative
The Reduced Build Alternative
includes all of the elements contained in the No Build
and TSM/Expanded Bus Service Alternatives, as well
as some of the elements of the Full Build Alternative.
The Reduced Build Alternative was created by eliminating
certain elements of the Full Build Alternative from
the project design. The three major elements not included
in the Reduced Build Alternative are the new arterial
in the former Pacific Electric right-of-way, the HOV
connectors between SR-22 and I-5, and the HOV con-nectors
between SR-22 and SR-55. These elements were eliminated
to reduce environmental impacts related primarily
to right-of-way acquisition. The Reduced Build Alternative
also includes selected design improvements to enhance
the operational characteristics of the SR-22 facility
in certain locations as de-scribed in the Full Build
Alternative. The horizontal alignment of the Reduced
Build Alternative varies slightly from the Full Build
Alternative in the eastern Garden Grove/western Orange
area.
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2)
Both the FFTP and CTFP are available at OCTA.
3) Discussion of the MIS is in Section 1.2.7. The
Corridor MIS Final Evaluation Report is available
at OCTA.
4) The Full Build Alternative is referred to as the
"Build Alternative" in the technical reports,
which were prepared be-fore the development of the
Reduced Build Alternative. The Reduced Build Alternative
is addressed in addenda to each technical report.
