Glossary
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Alamo Regional Mobility Authority (Alamo RMA):
The Alamo Regional Mobility Authority is an independent governmental agency created by the Texas Transportation Commission and the Bexar County Commissioners Court in December 2003. Their purpose is to provide Bexar County with opportunities to accelerate needed transportation projects, through the direction of a local board making local choices about local mobility needs that enhance the quality of life and economic growth for all residents in this region.
Alternative:
A general term that refers to possible approaches to meeting the need for and purpose of the project, including corridor, transportation mode, and alignment. It typically refers to the No-Build and the Build Alternatives.
Alternative Alignment:
An alignment that refers to a proposed routing of a Build Alternative.
Ambient Air Quality:
The state of quality of the air in the surrounding environment.
Aquatic Resources:
For the purpose of this study, aquatic resources are defined as both adjacent and isolated wetlands.
Aquifer:
A water-bearing geologic unit of permeable rock, sand, or gravel that yields considerable quantities of water to springs and wells.
Area of Influence (AOI):
The geographic boundary within which possible indirect development and potential indirect impacts could occur.
Area of Potential Effect (APE):
The geographic area within which an undertaking may cause changes in the character or use of any resources present.
Artesian Zone:
An area where pressurized groundwater rises to create springs, seeps, and artesian wells.
At-Grade:
Describes a roadway that will be relatively close to the existing ground elevation and not elevated on a bridge structure.
At-Grade Intersection:
A point where two roadways meet and traffic is controlled by a traffic signal or stop sign.
Attainment:
The status of the various pollutants described in the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS). A condition where a pollutant meets NAAQS.
Average Daily Traffic (ADT):
The average traffic volume in a 24-hour period on a particular roadway.
Benthic:
A characteristic that describes the lowest level or sediments of a body of water or pertaining to bottom-dwelling organisms.
Biodiversity:
The variety and abundance of species, their genetic composition, and the communities, ecosystems, and landscapes in which they occur.
Biotic:
An attribute that pertains to life and living organisms.
Build Alternative:
A Build Alternative is an alternative that requires programming and construction of improvements to fulfill the need for and purpose of the project.
Carbon Monoxide (CO):
A colorless, odorless, poisonous gas that is formed as a product of the incomplete combustion of carbon and is emitted directly by automobiles and trucks.
Circumferential Roadway:
A facility that is oriented in a circular manner such as a beltway (Examples: IH 410 and Loop1604).
Collector Roadways:
These roadways provide service to any county seat, large towns, or other major traffic generators not served by the arterial system. They provide links to the higher classified routes and serve as important intra-county travel corridors.
Community Cohesion:
The connections between and within communities, which are essential for serving the needs of the residents.
Complex Encroachments:
Continuous linear impacts that are mixtures of both longitudinal and transverse impacts.
Contributing Zone:
The surface area of the Edwards Plateau where rainfall flows to the recharge zone of the Edwards Aquifer.
Control-Section-Job (CSJ) Numbers:
CSJ numbers are numbers assigned to all on-system public highways in Texas. The CSJ is a unique, nine-digit identification for a project.
Corridor:
A corridor is a broad geographical band with no predefined size or scale that follows a general directional flow connecting major sources of trips. It involves a nominally linear transportation service area that may contain a number of streets, highways, and transit route alignments. For the Loop 1604 EIS, the corridor extends along Loop 1604, from US 90 West to IH 35 North.
Cultural Resources:
The patterned physical remains of human activity distributed over the landscape through time.
Cumulative Effect/Impact:
An impact on the environment which results from the incremental impact of the action when added to other past, present, and reasonably foreseeable future actions, regardless of what agency (federal or non-federal) or person undertakes such other actions.
Direct Impact:
Direct effects are caused by the action and occur at the same time and place (40 CFR 1508.8).
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