From the I-45 Coalition mailing list:
METRO has just announced 2 meetings:
Saturday, July 22nd; from 10 am – 12 pm (noon); Jeff Davis High School, 1101 Quitman
METRO will conduct an open house to provide members of the community an opportunity prior to its public meeting to ask questions regarding information in it’s Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the proposed North Corridor.
Then 2 weeks later…
Saturday, August 5th; an open house from 1 pm to 2 pm; then a Public Hearing starting at 2 pm; Jeff Davis High School, 1101 Quitman
METRO will conduct an open house to provide members of the community an opportunity to ask questions. Then at 2 pm the PUBLIC HEARING will begin regarding the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the proposed North Corridor. The FTA (Federal Transit Administration) will solicit comments relating to environmental issues addressed in the DEIS. They say comments will be accepted through August 14th.
What is this?
METRO has been working on the alignment of how they are going to extend the existing rail line North of the current termination/start point at University of Houston-Downtown. This rail is for the LRT (Light Rail Transit) which has since changed to BRT (Bus Rapid Transit) and will be changing to GRT (Guided Rapid Transit) soon. This line will be going up Fulton (more or less) from the University of Houston to past Crosstimbers.
This is the Public Hearing that is mandated by the federal government in order to receive federal funding. The “environmental issues” deal with how the line placement will affect homes and neighborhoods. As I understand it, the “environmental issues” DO NOT address air pollution, noise pollution, etc. Why not? Good question! Ask that at the meeting.
You can get more information at www.ridemetro.org and go to Metro Solutions and North Corridor. Here are some more links.
http://metrosolutions.org/go/doc/1068/119672/
http://metrosolutions.org/go/doc/1068/112135/
Please remember, this is NOT TxDOT’s (Texas Department of Transportation) meeting and does not directly affect I-45.
TxDOT is still working on their Environmental Studies and Schematic Drawings for I-45. They will be having a similar type meeting in probably 3 to 6 months.
I’m sure I’ll have reminders of these meetings as the dates draw nearer.