Metro Green Line Extension

Draft EIS

Southwest Transitway Draft Environmental Impact Statement

The Hennepin County Regional Railroad Authority (HCRRA) was the project sponsor and Responsible Governmental Unit (RGU) through the completion of the Draft EIS. HCRRA published the Draft EIS and received comments from October 11, 2012 through December 31, 2012. The Metropolitan Council's Southwest LRT Project Office supported HCRRA during the preparation of the Draft EIS. Upon transfer of RGU authority from HCRRA to the Metropolitan Council, HCRRA transferred the comments received on the Draft EIS to the Metropolitan Council for analysis during Preliminary Engineering and development of the Final EIS.

The Draft EIS describes and discusses: 

  1. The purpose and need for the project;
  2. The alternatives considered;
  3. The impacts of those alternatives; and
  4. The agencies and persons consulted.

Getting Started

The Executive Summary [PDF] summarizes key information from the Draft EIS and appendices, and answers frequently asked questions.

The U.S. Department of Transportation's Surface Transportation Board (STB) is a Cooperating Agency on the Southwest Transitway Draft EIS.  In response to questions from the STB's Office of Environmental Analysis regarding potential changes to freight rail facilities and service as described in the Draft EIS, the Federal Transit Administration, Hennepin County Regional Railroad Authority, and Metropolitan Council prepared the following documents.
 
Southwest Transitway DEIS Response to Questions from Surface Transportation Board: Map 1 PDF 915 kB
Southwest Transitway DEIS Response to Questions from Surface Transportation Board: Map 2 PDF 793 kB
Southwest Transitway DEIS Response to Questions from Surface Transportation Board: Map 3 PDF 579 kB
Southwest Transitway DEIS Response to Questions from Surface Transportation Board: Memorandum PDF 170 kB

The Draft EIS was available for public review and comment from October 11 through December 31, 2012. During this time, Hennepin County hosted three public hearings to receive comments on the document. Comments were also received by mail and email. Comments were provided by individuals, organizations and public agencies. 

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Guide to Commenting

Information on how to comment on the Southwest Transitway Draft EIS was published in the Guide to Commenting [PDF]. The Guide was also available in Spanish, Somali, and Hmong translations.

Web document accessibility 

Many of the PDFs on the Metropolitan Council's website are structured to be read properly by screen readers and downloaded as text files. Download the latest version of Adobe Reader for best results. For more information, consult the Council's web accessibility resources.

METRO Green Line Extension

Green Line Extension Project Office
Park Place West Building, Suite 500
6465 Wayzata Boulevard
St. Louis Park, MN 55426

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Construction hotline: 612-373-3933

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