Federal: The Code of Federal Regulations and the Forest Service Manual provide federal travel management regulations. There is also a snow removal and storage best management practice that would require the project area to be plowed for year-round access.
State: Caltrans manages transportation.
Local: The Mono County General Plan and the Town of Mammoth Lakes General Plan include transportation goals and requirements.
Construction will cause an increase in traffic along public roadways.
Six new vehicle trips would result because of the six new employees operating the proposed facilities.
Access to existing buildings and recreational areas for general and emergency vehicles near the work sites may become limited, as lane closures along public roads are expected.
There may be conflict between construction, decommissioning-related traffic and other transportation modes along affected roads. Increases in traffic volume caused by construction and decommissioning could disrupt transit service and slow buses on specific routes.
Under Alternative 3, there may be additional impacts associated with the small number of planned pipelines and well pads in different locations.
Cumulative impacts
Construction vehicle trips from foreseeable future projects and this project would overlap on the regional roadways, and impacts may be compounded if the new project vehicles use the same roadways.
There may be congestion along roadways because of increased traffic. If other project construction overlaps, service levels along roadways may degrade.
Mitigation
A coordinated Transportation Management Plan will be developed in collaboration with Mono County. The plan will address roadways adjacent to and directly affected by the planned project facilities, the transportation impact of overlapping projects, road closures, and recreational users.
Residual impacts
None mentioned.
All possible direct and indirect effects related to traffic, transportation and circulation seem to have been considered. However, it is possible that the Transportation Management Plan will not sufficiently address all of these concerns as there are many to be examined, and difficulty in doing so is likely. Details on the desired actions of the Plan should have been included.