81 FR 76866 - Drawbridge Operation Regulations; Tchefuncta River, Madisonville, LA

DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
Coast Guard

Federal Register Volume 81, Issue 214 (November 4, 2016)

The Coast Guard has issued a temporary deviation from the operating schedule that governs the State Route 22 Bridge (Madisonville (SR22) swing span bridge) across the Tchefuncta River, mile 2.5, at Madisonville, St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana. This deviation will test a change to the drawbridge operation schedule to determine whether a permanent change to the schedule is needed. This deviation will allow the bridge to only open for vessels on the hour during the day and to not open for vessels during the weekday peak traffic hours.

[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 214 (Friday, November 4, 2016)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 76866-76867]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2016-26655]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

Coast Guard

33 CFR Part 117

[Docket No. USCG-2016-0963]
RIN 1625-AA09


Drawbridge Operation Regulations; Tchefuncta River, Madisonville, 
LA

AGENCY: Coast Guard, DHS.

ACTION: Notice of temporary deviation from regulations; request for 
comments.

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SUMMARY: The Coast Guard has issued a temporary deviation from the 
operating schedule that governs the State Route 22 Bridge (Madisonville 
(SR22) swing span bridge) across the Tchefuncta River, mile 2.5, at 
Madisonville, St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana. This deviation will test a 
change to the drawbridge operation schedule to determine whether a 
permanent change to the schedule is needed. This deviation will allow 
the bridge to only open for vessels on the hour during the day and to 
not open for vessels during the weekday peak traffic hours.

DATES: This deviation is effective from 6 a.m. on November 21, 2016 
through midnight on May 18, 2017.
    Comments and related material must reach the Coast Guard on or 
before January 18, 2017.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by docket number USCG-
2016-0963 using the Federal eRulemaking Portal at http://www.regulations.gov. See the ``Public Participation and Request for 
Comments'' portion of the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below for 
instructions on submitting comments.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: If you have questions on this test 
deviation, call or email David Frank, Bridge Administrator at 504-671-
2128, email [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background, Purpose and Legal Basis

    The State Route 22 (SR 22) swing span bridge across Tchefuncta 
River, mile 2.5, at Madisonville, St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana 
presently operates under 33 CFR 117.500. The SR 22 swing bridge has a 
vertical clearance of 6.2 feet above Mean High Water (MHW) in the 
closed-to-navigation position and unlimited clearance in the open-to-
navigation position.
    Local governmental officials from St. Tammany Parish and the City 
of Madisonville, in conjunction with the Louisiana Department of 
Transportation and Development (LDOTD) have requested that the 
operating regulation of the SR 22 swing span bridge be changed in order 
to better accommodate the increased vehicular traffic crossing the 
bridge especially during the peak, weekday rush hours. A traffic study 
conducted by the LDOTD has determined that the existing vehicular 
traffic at the intersection of SR 22 and SR 21/SR 1077 is over capacity 
at peak hours and causes unacceptable levels of delay to roadway 
traffic. This situation is compounded by the opening of the bridge 
during these peak hours. A combination of modifications to the 
operating schedule of the bridge and modifications to the traffic 
controls at this intersection will improve traffic flow and reduce 
traffic delays.
    Approximately 7,500 vehicles cross the bridge daily between the 
hours of 6 a.m. and 7 p.m. Vessel openings for the month of July 
indicate that the bridge opened to pass vessels 118 times during the 
week and 202 times during the weekend. Vessel openings for the month of 
August dropped to 68 openings during the week and 85 openings during 
the weekend.
    Concurrent with the publication of the Test Deviation, a Notice of 
Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) [USCG-2016-0963] has been issued to allow 
the LDOTD to test the proposed schedule and to obtain data and public 
comments. The test period will be in effect during the entire NPRM 
comment period. The Coast Guard will review the logs of the drawbridge, 
the traffic counts provided by LDOTD, and evaluate public comments from 
this NPRM and the above referenced Temporary Deviation to determine if 
the requested change to the permanent special drawbridge operating 
regulation is warranted.
    The deviation to test the proposed schedule will allow the SR 22 
Bridge, mile 2.5 at Madisonville to operate as follows: The draw of the 
SR22 Bridge shall open on signal from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. From 6 a.m. to 7 
p.m., the draw need only open on the hour, except that the draw need 
not open for the passage of vessels at 8 a.m., 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. Monday 
through Friday except federal holidays. The bridge will open at any 
time an emergency.
    During the 180-day deviation, LDOTD will continue to monitor 
vehicular traffic counts and work to make roadway traffic control 
improvements to further reduce vehicular traffic delays.
    There are no alternate routes available for vessels that wish to 
transit the bridge site; however, if vessels have a vertical clearance 
requirement of less than 6.2 feet above MHW, they may transit the 
bridge site at any time.

II. Public Participation and Request for Comments

    We view public participation as essential to effective rulemaking, 
and will consider all comments and material received during the comment 
period. Your comment can help shape the outcome of this rulemaking. If 
you submit a comment, please include the docket number for this 
rulemaking, indicate the specific section of this document to which 
each comment applies, and provide a reason for each suggestion or 
recommendation.
    We encourage you to submit comments through the Federal eRulemaking 
Portal at http://www.regulations.gov. If your material cannot be 
submitted using http://www.regulations.gov, contact the person in the 
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of this document for alternate 
instructions.

[[Page 76867]]

    We accept anonymous comments. All comments received will be posted 
without change to http://www.regulations.gov and will include any 
personal information you have provided. For more about privacy and the 
docket, you may review a Privacy Act notice regarding the Federal 
Docket Management System in the March 24, 2005, issue of the Federal 
Register (70 FR 15086).
    Documents mentioned in this notice of temporary deviation from 
regulations, and all public comments, are in our online docket at 
http://www.regulations.gov and can be viewed by following that Web 
site's instructions. Additionally, if you go to the online docket and 
sign up for email alerts, you will be notified when comments are posted 
or a final rule is published.

    Dated: October 31, 2016.
David M. Frank,
Bridge Administrator, Eighth Coast Guard District.
[FR Doc. 2016-26655 Filed 11-3-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 9110-04-P