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TDOT technical working group opens planning study to feed alternatives into NEPA
Summary
At the first technical working group for the I‑40/I‑75 West Knoxville PEL study, STV and TDOT described how Planning and Environmental Linkages (PEL) outputs will be adopted into NEPA, outlined study phases, and invited agency input on screening criteria.
Brad Thompson, the STV project manager serving as prime consultant on the I‑40/I‑75 West Knoxville PEL study, told agency partners the PEL will inform the NEPA process and help define purpose and need for corridor improvements. "We are following the statutory PEL approach, which intends to adopt the planning products and recommendations from this PEL study into the NEPA process," he said during the technical working group meeting.
Thompson walked the group through the PEL phases — framework and methodology, alternatives identification, a fatal‑flaw level screening, and the NEPA transition — and said outputs will include an alternative screening methodology, evaluation report and a phased implementation plan. He noted the team is addressing FHWA comments on the PEL framework and is coordinating multiple FHWA checkpoints that must be completed before moving into PD&E and design.
