Virginia, North Carolina ponder SEHSR route

In response to public comment collected last summer, new rail alignments have been developed in two sections in Virginia of the Southeast High Speed Rail project (SEHSR). The two areas affected are in Brunswick County, north of Alberta, Va., between the Nottoway River and Flat Rock Road (project Section D), and south of Alberta, between Millville Road and the Meherrin River (project Section G).

The two alignments are part of the Draft Tier II Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the Richmond, Va. to Raleigh, N.C., portion of the SEHSR route being advanced by the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation (DRPT) and the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT). The two states hope to advance HSR along 162 miles of right-of-way in both states, eventually linking with Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor and extending HSR to Charlotte, N.C.

The new rail alignments will be presented to the public at a Project Update Meeting this Thursday, at the Southside VA Community College, Christanna Campus, 109 Campus Drive, Alberta, Va. 23821. The meeting is an open-house style gathering, with the public invited to stop by any time between 5:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m.

Maps with the new designs are on the project website www.sehsr.org. Comments may be submitted at the Project Update Meeting, on the web site, or by mail to SEHSR Comments, NCDOT Rail Division 1553 MSC, Raleigh, NC 27699-1553. Comments must be submitted by August 15, 2011. The state agencies say more than 1,800 individuals, local governments, and agencies provided comments on the DEIS.

A Project Update Meeting will be held in Raleigh, N.C., in late 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.