DRPT to present new SEHSR alignments

In 2010, the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation and the North Carolina Department of Transportation held a series of Public Hearings on a Draft Tier II Environmental Impact Statement for the Richmond, Va. to Raleigh, N.C. portion of the Southeast High-Speed Rail Corridor. The SEHSR project proposes to implement approximately 162 miles of high-speed rail as part of an overall plan to extend high-speed passenger rail service from the Northeast Corridor (Boston to Washington, D.C.) southward through Virginia to Charlotte, N.C. More than 1,800 individuals, local governments and agencies provided comments on the DEIS. In response to comments, new rail alignments have been developed in two of the project's sections in Virginia. The two areas affected are in Brunswick County, north of Alberta between the Nottoway River and Flat Rock Road and south of Alberta, between Millville Road and the Meherrin River. The new rail alignments will be presented to the public at a Project Update Meeting on Thursday, July 14, 2011, at the Southside Va. Community College. Section D: Alternative VA4 was developed after consultation with the resource agencies responsible for reviewing the SEHSR project. During discussions with these agencies, it was determined that none of the existing alternatives would satisfy their conflicting concerns (endangered species and historic resources on Alternatives VA1/VA3 and wetland impacts on Alternative VA2). See new alignment section D maps: http://www.sehsr.org/pdf/SectionDMap1.pdf http://www.sehsr.org/pdf/SectionDMap2.pdf Section G: Alternative VA4 was developed based on discussions with local citizens at the public hearing held in Alberta, Va., on July 15, 2011 and input from the resource agencies. It seeks to address public concerns about the property impacts associated with Alternative VA2 and to minimize impacts to the Tourist Guest House historic property. See new alignment section G maps: http://www.sehsr.org/pdf/SectionGMap1.pdf http://www.sehsr.org/pdf/SectionGMap2.pdf A Project Update Meeting will be held in Raleigh, N.C. later this summer to present a newly developed rail alignment in downtown Raleigh. A series of smaller update meetings will be scheduled in Virginia and North Carolina later in the fall to obtain comments on newly developed roadwork in areas where the rail alternatives are on common alignment. A Recommendation Report is expected to be published this fall. The report will identify DRPT's and NCDOT's recommended preferred rail alternatives in each of the 26 project sections. Based on federal concurrence, the preferred alternatives will be presented in the Tier II Final Environmental Impact Statement. The FEIS is projected to be published late 2012, followed by a Record of Decision from the Federal Railroad Administration in 2013.