FONSI Improve Visitor Safety and Mitigate Rockfall Hazards In the Paw Paw Tunnel Hollow

The National Park Service (NPS) prepared an Environmental Assessment (EA) to evaluate the impacts associated with mitigating safety issues at the downstream end of the Paw Paw Tunnel in the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park (the Park). This project would remove debris from the canal prism deposited from a 2016 rockslide and stabilize the rock face adjacent to the canal for 1,000 feet north of the Paw Paw Tunnel. The project would also replace in-kind the wooden boardwalk that serves as the towpath for 750 feet of this stretch.

This project is needed to improve visitor safety, prevent disruptions to towpath continuity that may result from future landslides, and allow the Park to address visitor safety and access issues at the Paw Paw Campground parking lot and on its entrance road. The campground parking lot is not currently large enough to accommodate the number of visitors to the area; when the existing parking lot fills, visitors park along State Route 51, creating a safety hazard. This project would provide the opportunity to use removed rock material to expand the existing parking lot and to widen the entrance ramp off of State Route 51 from one lane to two lanes, thus reducing the possibility of collision between cars entering and exiting the campground.

As documented in the EA on pages 14-31, the selected alternative has the potential to adversely impact visitor use and experience, historic structures, archeology, and vegetation and wildlife, and will have an adverse effect on the cultural landscape. However, the NPS has determined that the selected alternative can be implemented without significant adverse impacts as defined in 40 CFR §1508.27.

Document Content:

Paw Paw Rockfall Mitigation FONSI RD signed508.pdf   (2.9 MB, PDF file) Disclaimer: Links within the above document(s) were valid as of the date published. Note: Some of the files may be in PDF format and can be viewed using the Adobe Acrobat Reader software. You may download a free copy of from Adobe Systems.