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<br />• The Dudley Bluffs ACEC comprises 1,630 acres and was also established by the BLM <br />because of the presence of the federally threatened Dudley Bluffs twinpod and the <br />Dudley Bluffs bladderpod. <br />7.16 TRANSPORTATION <br />Principal vehicular access to the Piceance Site and the northern portion of the <br />proposed project pipeline is along Colorado Highway 13 from the Interstate 70 <br />corridor to the south. Additional access to the Piceance Site is provided from the <br />north by Colorado Highway 64 from Meeker and Rangely (Figure 1-1). From <br />Highways 13 and 64, the northern project area is reached via Piceance Creek Road <br />(County Road 5) and then single-lane dirt access roads (Figure 1-2). All of these state <br />and county roads are two-lane, paved highways. Transportation of workers and <br />shipment of equipment and supplies to the Piceance Site would require use of these <br />roads by automobiles and trucks. There is no rail service in the Piceance Creek <br />valley. The nearest rail service is provided by the Union Pacific Railroad in Rifle. <br />To the south, access to the Parachute Site and the southern portion of the project <br />pipeline route is provided by Garfield County Road 215 (Parachute Creek Road), <br />which extends north from Interstate 70 and the town of Parachute. County Road 215 <br />is a two-lane, paved road. <br />• Average daily traffic numbers were compiled from the Colorado Department of <br />Transportation (CDOT), the Rio Blanco County Road and Bridge Department, and <br />the Garfield County Road and Bridge Department. While recent traffic counts are <br />available from CDOT for the state highways and Garfield County for Parachute <br />Creek Road, traffic data available from Rio Blanco County for Piceance Creek Road <br />are older and may not be representative of current conditions. These traffic <br />volumes are presented in Table 7-15. In general, traffic volumes along Highways 13 <br />and 64, along Piceance Creek Road, and along Parachute Creek Road are modest and <br />are well below their respective carrying capacities. Highways 13 and 64 are <br />maintained by the Colorado Department of Transportation, while Piceance Creek <br />Road is maintained by the Rio Blanco County Road and Bridge Department and <br />Parachute Creek Road is maintained by the Garfield County Road and Bridge <br />Department. <br />The bed of an inactive rail spur extends from the preferred Parachute Site southeast <br />to the main Union Pacific Railroad line that parallels Interstate 70. The rail spur has <br />been inactive since 1991. Part of the proposed project is to reactivate the rail spur for <br />product hauling purposes. <br />., <br />,. <br />Amencan Soda, L.L.P. '7_60 <br />Commercial Mine Plan <br />August 18, 1998 <br />