Amended Record of Decision
The FTA issued an Amended Record of Decision (ROD) for the Southwest LRT Project on May 15, 2018. The Amended Record of Decision covers Project modifications as described in the Supplemental Environmental Assessment. The decisions and findings made in the May 2016 Final EIS and the July 2016 Record of Decision remain in effect, except where this Amended ROD expressly alters them.
Supplemental EA/Amended Draft Section 4(f) Evaluation
The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) and the Metropolitan Council published the Southwest LRT Supplemental Environmental Assessment/Amended Draft Section 4(f) Evaluation on February 23, 2018.
A Supplemental Environmental Assessment (SEA) is a federal National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) review, which evaluates the significance and the potential impacts of proposed project changes made after the Record of Decision. Preparation of an SEA includes a public input process. Under the Minnesota Environmental Policy Act (MEPA), this will serve as the state environmental document to evaluate the proposed changes to the project.
The SEA/Amended Draft Section 4(F) Evaluation assesses changes in the Southwest LRT Project since the publication of the Southwest LRT Final Environmental Impact Statement, Record of Decision, and Determination of Adequacy in 2016. The 10 changes assessed in the SEA/Amended Draft Section 4(f) Evaluation include:
- Parcel 322A parking impact near Opus Station (Minnetonka)
- Minnehaha Creek headwall modifications (St. Louis Park)
- Cedar Lake LRT Regional Trail detour (St. Louis Park)
- 31st Street realignment (Minneapolis)
- Grand Rounds Historic District: Kenilworth Lagoon Works Progress Administration (WPA) rustic style retaining walls rehabilitation and landscaping (Minneapolis)
- Right-of-way adjustment near West 21st Street Station (Minneapolis)
- BNSF agreement modifications (corridor protection elements including a barrier between freight rail and light rail tracks in Minneapolis, pursuant to an agreement between the Metropolitan Council and BNSF Railway).
- Bryn Mawr Meadows trail mitigation (Minneapolis)
- Water service to Sharing and Caring Hands (Minneapolis)
- New potential construction laydown areas (St. Louis Park and Minneapolis)
The SEA/Amended Draft Section 4(f) Evaluation and appendices are available as PDF documents:
A printed copy of the SEA/Amended Draft Section 4(f) Evaluation is also available for review at the Southwest LRT Project Office, located in Suite 500 of the Park Place West Building, 6465 Wayzata Boulevard, St. Louis Park, MN 55426. The Project Office is open Monday through Friday between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m.
Comments on the Supplemental EA/Amended Draft Section 4(f) Evaluation
Comments on the SEA/Amended Draft Section 4(f) Evaluation were accepted during the 45-day comment period from February 23 to April 9, 2018. Substantive comments will be responded to in the NEPA and MEPA decision documents.
Community Town Hall Meeting on the SEA/Amended Draft Section 4(f) Evaluation
The Metropolitan Council hosted a community town hall meeting on the Southwest LRT SEA/Amended Draft Section 4(f) Evaluation on March 22, 2018 at Dunwoody College of Technology in Minneapolis. The event provided an opportunity to learn about the impacts of changes in the design of the Southwest LRT Project since the completion of the Final Environmental Impact Statement and the FTA's Record of Decision in 2016, including the proposed construction of a freight rail corridor protection barrier in Minneapolis, and to give feedback on the SEA/Amended Draft Section 4(f) Evaluation. The community town hall meeting materials are available as PDF documents: