About the North Corridor Supplemental Final Environmental Impact Statement (SFEIS) 

The Metropolitan Transit Authority (METRO) of Harris County,Texas, on behalf of the Federal Transit Administration (FTA), is advising agencies and the public of the availability of a Supplemental Final Environmental Impact Statement (SFEIS) and Section 4(f) Evaluation for proposed construction of transit improvements in the North Corridor for review and comment.

In 2006, the METRO Board of Directors selected Bus Rapid Transit (BRT)-Convertible as an interim Locally Preferred Alternative (LPA) with the ultimate goal of implementing Light Rail Transit (LRT) when corridor growth and ridership warranted. A Final EIS (FEIS) was prepared to document this decision and the FTA issued environmental approval for the project in a Record of Decision (ROD) on February 2, 2007. In October 2007, following further analysis of forecasted ridership and costs, the METRO Board of Directors modified the LPA mode and selected LRT as the initial technology for the North Corridor. In November 2007 FTA determined that the modified LPA required the preparation of a SFEIS and the issuance of a new ROD. The SFEIS evaluates the LPA LRT Alternative that extends from the existing METRORail Red Line terminus at the UH-Downtown Station to a terminus adjacent to Northline Commons (the former Northline Mall) near Fulton Street at Deerfield Street against the No Build Alternative.

The alignment for the North Corridor LPA remained the same as described in the December 2006 FEIS.

The proposed LPA will involve the construction of LRT primarily within existing street rights-of-way and would improve mobility, accessibility, and system linkages. The social, economic, and environmental impacts of the proposed project have been analyzed in the SFEIS. The LRT build alternative has the potential to impact land use, single and multi-family residences, businesses, noise and vibration levels, jurisdictional waters of the US, floodplains, cultural resources, and hazardous/regulated materials. Mitigation measures have been proposed for these potential impacts and are identified in the SFEIS.