The Raleigh City Council will consider a recommendation on the proposed Southeast High Speed Rail Project at its meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 7 at 1 p.m. The meeting will be held in the council chamber at the Avery C. Upchurch Government Complex, located at 222 W. Hargett St.

A total of 27 citizens addressed the City Council last night at a public hearing on the Southeast High Speed Rail Project. More than 200 people attended the public hearing.

On Aug. 3, the City Council received a report and recommendation from its Passenger Rail Task Force regarding the downtown alternatives associated with the North Carolina Department of Transportation's Southeast High Speed Rail Project, which will provide service from Raleigh to Richmond, Va.

Two alternatives routes were evaluated by the task force regarding the approach to Raleigh Union Station from the north. The alternatives under consideration are the Norfolk Southern route via Glenwood Yard on the west side of Capital Boulevard and the CSX route on the east side of Capital Boulevard.

The City’s Passenger Rail Task Force recommended approval of the Norfolk Southern route for the high speed rail service subject to the following conditions:

• An acceptable replacement is provided whenever the closure of an existing street is proposed;

• The design of new public infrastructure improvements are established according to the highest standards of design excellence;

• Appropriate abatements and mitigations are installed to negate noise and vibration acts;

• Any inaccuracies and inconsistencies in adopted plans and policies are corrected;

• Mitigations are provided to ensure the integrity of any impacted historic resource;

• Adjustments are made to the future planning and development options of the project to ensure that they are not lost; and,

• The best available proposals are provided to ensure that the integrity of existing private property that is not relocated is maintained, and those properties that are relocated are placed on sites that preserve their proximity to their clients and customers.

Visit www.raleighnc.gov to view the recommendations of the City's Passenger Rail Task Force and those of City staff. To learn more about the Southeast High Speed Rail Project, visit www.sehsr.org.

The Raleigh City Council appointed the 11-member Passenger Rail Task Force to advise the council on several specific issues related to the future provision of passenger rail service to Raleigh, be it locally, regionally, or long-distance.