Saturday, Aug. 28, 2010

DOT gives more time for rail input

The public has until Sept. 10 to submit comments on the high-speed line.

Anyone with comments or suggestions on a plan to run high-speed trains from downtown Raleigh to Richmond, Va., now has more time to be heard.

The N.C. Department of Transportation will extend to Sept. 10 the deadline for public comment on the proposal to run trains as fast as 110 mph on the new leg, which would run 162 miles from downtown to Richmond.

Monday had been the cutoff for responses to the draft environmental impact statement published as part of the Southeast High Speed Rail Corridor project from Charlotte to Washington. More than 2,200 people attended eight public hearings during July in Virginia and North Carolina, and many residents and businesses have filed comments.

The DOT has received about 1,000 comments so far from people who live along the 162-mile Raleigh-to-Richmond portion and expects that to double by the end of the comment period, said Patrick Simmons, DOT Rail Division director.

Officials are pleased with the public participation so far. Support for the project is strong, Simmons said, and the DOT has learned a lot from property owners, businesses and others on how to improve it.

"People are paying attention and taking part in the process," Simmons said. "Clearly we didn't want to cut off the opportunity for citizens, government or business to think this through. That kind of dialogue and interaction makes it a better process."

DOT officials spent time "in the field" as they developed the plan, Simmons said, but that doesn't always paint a clear picture of how neighbors and other stakeholders may be affected.

"You really can't see it from their vantage point until you put something down on paper they can respond to," he said.

The study is a "key step" toward implementing high-speed service on the East Coast, said Thelma Drake, director of the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation.

"The large public response confirms the importance of this project," Drake said.

One of the most controversial parts of the plan centers on the route northbound trains will take through downtown Raleigh. The Raleigh City Council has scheduled a Tuesday hearing on whether to run the trains through a Norfolk Southern freight yard on the west side of Capital Boulevard, or through a CSX freight yard on the east side of Capital.

A resident task force has endorsed the Norfolk Southern path. The council is expected to weigh in with its preference in September.

Go to sehsr.org online to read the environmental study and to file your comments.