Public Hearings for Southeast High Speed Rail Corridor

Public hearings are being held during July to seek public comments on the Tier II Env. Impact Statement for the Richmond to Raleigh portion of this corridor. As we have reported earlier, the completion of this corridor will result in a wider and straighter corridor than at present and one that includes a designated lane that can be used to develop a future trail. In  North Carolina, current transportation policy foresees that the development and construction of rail-with-trail projects will be the responsibility of city and county governments. While this policy allows local initiative and local decisions on trail widths and surfaces, the resources required will be substantial and development may be extended for many years. If you support having rail-with-trail on this corridor and would like to see the State of North Carolina have a leading role in trail development on this corridor rather than leaving all development to cities and counties, please consider attending one of these hearings to express your views. Here is the link to the SEHSR page showing upcoming times and locations. As part of the Environmental Impact Statement process, NC DOT is also seeking public input through a short on-line survey. Please spend a few minutes to complete this survey and let the State know you strongly support this and want DOT and other State agencies to take an active role in getting trails planned and constructed from the VA line to Raleigh.

UPDATES:

AL Capehart and Carrie Banks, our new Executive Director, attended the 7-26 meeting in Raleigh and provided input on rail-trail interests and issues. If you are a Facebook user, please check in with NCRT's Facebook page for updates on the high speed rail corridor and other areas we are involved in.

Recent Articles on High Speed Rail

DOT to Examine Alternate Routes for High Speed Rail

Resident's Thoughts on Impacts from 7/13 Meeting at Norlina

Residents Give Input at 7/26 Meeting at Raleigh

Deadline for Comments on SEHSR Extended to September 10

Background on Hearings