TIER ONE DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT Submitted Pursuant to 42 USC: 4332(2)(c)

Administration (FHWA), has conducted a study of alternative multimodal transportation solutions for the Elgin O'Hare-West Bypass study area, which comprises 127 square miles and 27 communities in Cook and DuPage counties in Illinois. The study is being advanced as a tiered process. Tier One will yield a preferred multimodal transportation concept for the study area, and Tier Two will conduct detailed engineering and environmental studies for elements of the preferred concept. Alternatives under consideration in the Tier One Draft Environmental Impact Statement include the No-Action (Baseline) Alternative, and two build alternatives: Alternative 203 and Alternative 402. The proposed build alternatives would provide more than 40 miles of freeway and arterial improvements. Companion to both roadway alternatives are transit, bicycle/pedestrian, and freight rail improvements, and travel demand management / transportation system management strategies. The build alternatives would have both adverse and beneficial impacts. Environmental and social impacts include a loss of up to 39 acres of wetlands, 27 acres of floodplains, and seven acres of park or forest preserve properties. Depending on the alternative and south bypass connection option selected, up to 18 homes, 38 industrial structures, 12 commercial structures, and 57 businesses in those commercial and industrial structures would be displaced, and 730 to 1,200 employees would b