The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), in coordination with the Oklahoma Department of Transportation (ODOT), has scheduled a series of 12 open houses for public comments through late March and early April as part of the Texas-Oklahoma Passenger Rail Study (TOPRS), which will evaluate a range of passenger rail service options in an 850-mile corridor from Oklahoma City to south Texas. Of the 12 open houses, two are scheduled to take place in Oklahoma.
A public open house will be held on Monday, March 25th from 6pm to 8pm at the Metro Tech Center, 1900 Springlake Drive, in Oklahoma City; on Tuesday, March 26th from 6pm to 8pm, another public open house will be held at the Ardmore Train Station, 251 East Main Street. Additionally, comments can be submitted online via TXOKRail.org; all public comments must be submitted before April 26th, 2013.
TOPRS will consider the Oklahoma City to south Texas corridor as a whole as well as within three segments: Oklahoma City to Dallas/Fort Worth, Dallas/Fort Worth to San Antonio and San Antonio to Rio Grande Valley/Corpus Christi/Laredo. TOPRS is expected to be completed in 24 months and will document the costs, benefits and impacts of rail service alternatives compared to a no-build alternative via a service-level environmental impact state, or EIS. The EIS will provide a high-level review of rail needs and potential service options in the corridor. The study could conclude with a decision to advance individual projects for more detailed study or a decision against making further investments in passenger rail in the corridor.
For more information, visit the Texas-Oklahoma Passenger Rail Study dedicated web page.