GENERAL55787

• Permit No: M1999002
• IBM Index Class Name: General Documents
• Doc Date: 8/18/1998
• Doc Name: COMMERCIAL MINE PLAN SUBMITTED TO BLM SECTION 8
• Media Type: D
• Archive: No

approximately 90 percent north of the Piceance Site and by a maximum of roughly
• 63 percent south of the site. The reason for these large percentage increases is the
low traffic volume currently experienced on Piceance Creek Road. It is also
important to note that baseline traffic numbers provided by Rio Blanco County for
Piceance Creek Road date back to 1989. Current traffic volumes are likely to be
higher. Thus, the project-related increase in traffic volumes on Piceance Creek Road
are likely to be smaller than estimated above.
For traffic to the Parachute Site, it is assumed that all trips would utilize Interstate 70
and Parachute Creek Road to access the site and the very southern part of the
pipeline route. If many construction workers use accommodations in Parachute
and Battlement Mesa, this assumption would exaggerate the traffic impact to
Interstate 70. Based on these assumptions, traffic volumes would increase by a
maximum of about 3 percent on Interstate 70 between Rifle and Parachute and a
maximum of about 55 percent on Parachute Creek Road. As described above for
Piceance Creek Road, the reason for the large percentage increase on Parachute
Creek Road is the low traffic volume currently experienced. Despite these
seemingly large traffic increases, current traffic volumes are well below the
capacities of all highways and roads serving the project area, and, therefore, little or
no congestion-related impacts are expected due to project construction. A summary
of peak construction-phase traffic impacts is provided in Table 8-4. Construction-
related traffic impacts are expected to be short-term in nature, lasting only 1 to 2
years.
Operating Phase
Over the operating life of the Yankee Gulch Project, vehicle traffic to and from the
Piceance Site would comprise approximately 37 commuter trips and 14 materials
and vendor truck trips per day over the life of the project. For the Parachute Site,
vehicle traffic would comprise approximately 48 commuter trips and 16 materials
and vendor truck trips per day. In addition, operation and maintenance of the
project pipelines would generate approximately 1 commuter trip per day. As with
the construction phase, the greatest impacts of increased traffic volumes during the
operations phase will be to Piceance Creek Road and Parachute Creek Road, with
average increases of 24 percent and 15 percent, respectively, over current levels. A
summary of average operating-phase traffic impacts is provided in Table 8-5. These
operations-related traffic impacts will be long-term in nature, lasting throughout the
life of the Yankee Gulch Project.
The modest increase in traffic on regional highways and local roads during the
operating phase of the project would be insignificant given that current traffic
volumes on highways and local roads providing access to the Piceance Site and the
Parachute Site are well below the capacities of these roads.

Amencan Soda. L.L.P. 8_~
Commernal Mine Plan
August 16, 1998