Department of Transportation
State of California
190 Capitol Street
Sacramento, CA 98221

Keene Department of Transportation Division,

        Thank you for contacting us about your Airport Development Proposal. According to section 4f of the Department of Transportation Act, "special effort should be made to preserve the natural beauty of the countryside and public park and recreation lands, wildlife and waterfowl refuges, and historical sites. "The Secretary (of Transportation) shall not approve any program or project that requires the use of any publicly owned land from a public park, recreation area, or wildlife and waterfowl refuge of national, state, or local significance as so determined by the Federal, State, or local officials that have jurisdiction thereof, or any land from an historical site of national, State, or local significance as so determined by such officials unless (1) there is no feasible and prudent alternative to the use of such land, and (2) such program includes all possible planning to minimize harm to such park, recreational area, wildlife and waterfowl refuge, or historic site resulting from such use." In light of this, we have conducted a survey of the region surrounding the proposed development plot. What follows are the results from that survey and some suggestions for perspective development.

        A survey of Highway 200 was conducted between March and July of 2002. The highway is satisfactory for its current traffic load, and becomes mildly congested during the typical rush hours of 7:30 to 9 AM and 4:30 to 6 PM. If the airport is to be developed, Highway 200 will need at least one additional lane in each direction and two bridge overpasses to accommodate increases in traffic and travel to the west of Keene.

        The ideal location for highway expansion is between exits one and two and their respective on ramps on Highway 200. This region is within 30 minutes of the city and residential regions of Keene, making it accessible to the majority of potential users. State owned land is adjacent to exit one, and would be suitable for lane expansion. A new lane could continue to exit two over less than 1/2 mile of continuous paved surface. The overpasses could be built in the west-east direction at exits one and two, respectively. Adding these extra lanes and overpasses should allow several hundred vehicles to pass from the highway to airport every hour.

        Highway 200 currently has ample drainage and maintenance facilities for handling current traffic. The construction above should not alter drainage significantly, but with increased traffic in this region, maintenance in terms of trash and accident clean-up will need to be increased. Keene will need to propose a means to handle maintenance needs before the Department of Transportation can approve highway development for the airport.

        Additional roads will need to be constructed to and from airport facilities, as well as adequate parking structures. The soil and groundcover for the region should make this an easy process, overall. Wetlands in the region will require much preparation before construction occurs, if a road is to be built in this region. Similarly, sloped regions will need to be leveled somewhat prior to development.

        Please consider long-term advantages of using mass transit in developing your proposal. California Transportation Department (Caltrans) can provide train, bus, and related options in order to improve passenger convenience while easing access and egress to the airport facility. If these options are to be used, adequate passenger and cargo loading/unloading areas need to be designed, as well as ample foot-traffic regions for pedestrians arriving at the airport via mass transit.

        As the proposed development occurs in a natural area that is used periodically for recreation, you must meet the act cited above by showing that the plan for airport development takes into account environmental issues and is the best place for construction. The EPA has been contacted to provide information about the site, and an independent land assessing agency has been employed to carry out environmental quality tests. Please send us clearly and completely documented results of your research and planning development so we can best determine if Keene Airport development is in compliance with Department of Transportation regulations.

        Sincerely,
                Rebecca Agin
                Secretary of Transportation