The following was released by Hennepin County:   

The Hennepin County Regional Railroad Authority has scheduled three public hearings in November to formally gather public comments on the Southwest Light Rail Transit (LRT) Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS).

The Southwest Transitway is a proposed 15-mile light-rail line serving Eden Prairie, Minnetonka, Hopkins, St. Louis Park and Minneapolis. Public comment on the impact statement will inform preliminary engineering on the project, which is scheduled to begin in early 2013. Comments can also be made in writing, or by visiting www.southwesttransitway.org.

The public hearings will each be preceded by an open house, where people can learn more about the Southwest LRT project and the DEIS.

• 4:30 p.m. (4 p.m. Open House) Tuesday, Nov. 13, Hennepin County Government Center, 300 S. Sixth St., Minneapolis.
• 6 p.m. (5 p.m. Open House) Wednesday, Nov. 14, St. Louis Park City Hall, 5005 Minnetonka Blvd., St. Louis Park.
• 6 p.m. (5 p.m. Open House) Thursday, Nov. 29, Eden Prairie City Hall, 8080 Mitchell Road, Eden Prairie.

The DEIS is scheduled for publication in the Federal Register on Friday, Oct. 12; the comment period will be 60 days, extended from the minimum requirement of 45 days due to the Thanksgiving holiday.

The Southwest LRT DEIS will be available online as a searchable document at www.southwesttransitway.org. Hard copies will be available at the Hennepin County 701 Building; Hennepin County Library locations; the city halls along the proposed route and the Southwest LRT Project Office.

Comments can be submitted three different ways:

   ·    Email: Written comments can be submitted to swcorridor@co.hennepin.mn.us.

   ·    U.S. Mail: 701 Fourth Ave. S., Suite 400, Minneapolis, MN 55415

   ·    Public Hearings: Formal testimony at one of the three public hearings.

All comments received on the impact statement will be forwarded to the Metropolitan Council, which will be responsible for responding to the comments during the Final Environmental Impact Statement phase of project development.