Environmental Assessment, Visitor Center Area Parking and Roadway Modifications, Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, Arizona

Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument

The purpose of the proposed project is to provide a safe parking area and access road at the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument (OPCNM) visitor center for the benefit of all users (motorists, bicyclists and pedestrians). The proposed project is needed to reduce congestion and impacts to visitors and resources resulting from the currently inadequate parking and roadway facilities. The visitor center is located about 5 miles north of the International Boundary between the United States and Mexico (see attached map on page 2). The visitor center orients visitors to the Sonoran Desert and National Park Service (NPS) facilities, and enhances the experience of those visiting the monument. The visitor center is located on a one-way loop roadway, just a few hundred feet west of Arizona Highway 85, a two-lane highway that bisects the park. A map of the existing visitor center, parking area and access roads is provided. The existing visitor center at OPCNM was built in 1957 as part of the NPS servicewide Mission 66 program. Access and egress to the visitor center has remained essentially unchanged for 45 years. To access the visitor center, motorists turn west off of Highway 85 onto a one-way park road and proceed south to a parking area that is west of the visitor center (see maps). Egress is via a one-way road to the south of the visitor center. When originally constructed, the parking lot was one large, unpaved area without traffic islands. Later, a traffic island in the middle of the parking area was constructed and plantings were installed. The existing configuration accommodates up to 30 vehicles plus an additional 6-8 spaces parallel to the traffic island for longer vehicles such as buses, motor homes and vehicles towing recreational equipment. Two of these spaces provide accessibility to the visitor center for mobility-impaired visitors. The facilities were not designed to accommodate the existing and increasing number of visitors. Neither were the facilities designed to accommodate the many visitors now arriving in large and longer vehicles (e.g. motor homes or vehicles towing trailers). The objectives of the proposed project are to: • Improve visitors’ sense of arrival and orientation. • Enhance visual quality. • Improve circulation and safety of vehicles and pedestrians. • Better accommodate visitors with mobility impairments. • Reduce traffic congestion during peak visitation. • Provide additional parking spaces to accommodate increasing visitation. • Provide appropriate and safe administrative and service access.

Environmental Assessment, Visitor Center Area Parking and Roadway Modifications, Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, Arizona

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