NEWS YOU CAN USE Chance to comment on Central Corridor

A Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement (SDEIS) for the Central Corridor light-rail transit project is available for public review through Aug. 25. An environmental impact statement is a comprehensive study and document intended to guide local decision-making on a wide range of impacts related to large development projects.

Three public hearings will be held on the topic, including one in Cedar-Riverside on Aug. 7:

Monday, Aug. 4 at noon at the Wilder Foundation, 451 Lexington Parkway N., St. Paul An open house will precede the hearing, beginning at 11:30 a.m.

Thursday, Aug. 7, 6 p.m., at the Brian Coyle Center, 420 15th Ave. S. An open house will precede the hearing, beginning at 5 p.m.

Saturday, Aug. 9, 2 p.m., at Goodwill Easter Seals, 553 Fairview Ave. N., St. Paul. An open house will precede the hearing, beginning at 1 p.m.

An earlier Alternatives Analysis/ Draft Environmental Impact Statement (AA/DEIS) for the Central Corridor was published in April 2006; the more recent SDEIS is to “inform the public, resource agencies and local governments of changes proposed to the project” since that time, and to published “refinements proposed and analyzed during preliminary engineering,” according to the Central Corridor website.

The SDEIS offers a project summary, including proposed stations and key project elements, and it addresses the project’s history; key changes and refinements; social, environmental and transportation issues; agency coordination and community outreach; and next steps and actions.

The public has an opportunity to comment on the SDEIS and “participate in the decision making process.” An electronic version of the complete SDEIS (as well as a much shorter executive summary) is available online at www.centralcorridor.org. Copies are available for viewing at Hennepin County, St. Paul and Met Council libraries and at the Central Corridor offices in St. Paul. (Locations include the Southeast, Franklin and Central libraries.)

Comments can also be left by calling the Central Corridor LRT Project Office at 651-602-1645; by email to Kathryn O’Brien at kathryn.obrien@metc.state.mn.us; or by mail to:

Kathryn O’Brien
Central Corridor LRT Project Office
540 Fairview Ave, N., Ste. 200
St. Paul, MN 55104