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156 <br /> Alston Avenue to a terminus located next to NCCU. This will require a slight modification of <br /> the alignment for the Alston Avenue station, and will extend the rail line by 0.7 miles. This short <br /> extension of the rail line will reap great benefits by significantly increasing ridership—the <br /> NCCU station is forecast to be the highest volume station in Durham. <br /> The line extension and new NCCU Station will go through an already developed area of <br /> Durham, and will largely follow existing roadways. Negative environmental impacts will be <br /> negligible largely due to the developed, built-out nature of the affected area. As noted in <br /> Appendix A to the Supplemental EA, the NCCU Station Refinement corridor does not include <br /> any jurisdictional waters of the United States, streams, wetlands, riparian buffer zones,ponds, or <br /> key floodplain areas.1 Even the limited undeveloped areas near the NCCU Station Refinement <br /> are "dominated by invasive species."2 The environmental impacts resulting from the NCCU <br /> Station Refinement will be insignificant. <br /> Any minor environmental impacts will be far outweighed by the environmental and <br /> environmental justice benefits of extending the light rail line to the employment and education <br /> center of NCCU. Including a stop next to the historically Black university and the surrounding <br /> neighborhoods of color increase the equitable benefits of the D-O LRT project. Enrollment at <br /> NCCU is more than 8,000, with a mix of graduate and undergraduate students, and the university <br /> employs more than 1,800 faculty and staff 3 With the addition of NCCU, the D-O LRT project <br /> will connect three major universities in the region, all of which serve as key employment and <br /> education hubs. <br /> In turn, connecting NCCU and its corresponding addition of potential ridership will <br /> enhance the air quality and land use benefits we identified in our original comments: the NCCU <br /> Station Refinement will help reduce vehicle-miles traveled and thus reduce harmful local air <br /> pollution, as well as greenhouse gas emissions.4 Similarly, extending the light rail line will <br /> enable more people to be less reliant on personal cars and live closer to school or work. <br /> Reducing car-dependence and instead fostering mixed-use, walkable, and bikeable communities <br /> corresponds to less sprawling development into more rural, undisturbed natural areas. As NCCU <br /> continues to expand—including with the planned addition of a business schools—ridership and <br /> these consequent benefits will likely increase. <br /> We do note that the NCCU Station Refinement will interfere with the Durham-Chapel <br /> Hill-Carrboro Metropolitan Transportation Plan's inclusion of 4-foot bike lanes on Alston <br /> Avenue and Pettigrew Street.6 While disappointing, we understand and appreciate that the <br /> addition of light rail will ultimately enable more alternate modes of transportation throughout the <br /> D-O LRT corridor. Moreover, we are pleased that GoTriangle is committed to offsetting this <br /> 'Appendix A to Supplemental EA: Resources with No Impacts Supporting Documentation(October 2016) at A-6. <br /> 2 Id. at A-6 <br /> 3 Quick Facts,NCCU,lrttp://www nccu.edu/discover/qurc1cthcts c ,(last visited November 27,2016). <br /> 4 SELC Comments on D-O LRT Draft Environmental Impact Statement(October 13,2015),at 2-4. <br /> 5 Supplemental EA,3-10. <br /> 6Id. at 3-8. <br /> 2 <br />