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Council allocates funding to transit corridors

The Metropolitan Council has allocated $12 million in state bonding dollars to accelerate transit improvements in three busy regional corridors.

The Legislature approved $21 million in state bonding for transit capital improvements earlier this year, allocating $8.5 million for Central Corridor light rail transit and $313,000 for improvements at the State Capitol area. In September, the Council allocated the remaining $12 million to:

• Southwest Corridor: $5 million for environmental and preliminary engineering work.
• Rush Line Corridor: $3.4 million for park-and-ride expansion at the Maplewood Mall.
• Cedar Avenue Bus Rapid Transit (BRT): $3.3 million to help acquire property and make roadway improvements for shoulder bus lanes in the corridor.  
• Union Depot: $500,000 for improvements that will help to transform the facility into a multi-modal east metro transit hub.

The $8.5 million for Central Corridor will help pay for activities including preliminary engineering, final design, property acquisition, relocation of public utilities and construction.

“These are the high priority projects out of a long list of transit capital needs,” said Council Chair Peter Bell.

Work moves ahead in the three corridors

The first phase of Cedar Avenue BRT is being implemented. Work on the project was launched by a federal congestion relief grant that helped pay for three new transit stations on Cedar and buses for the new Lakeville transit service. Phase I implementation will continue with the construction of bus shoulders for transit vehicles starting in 2010.

The Southwest Corridor between Minneapolis and Eden Prairie will be an important component of the region’s network of transit corridors, providing probably the highest ridership in the region. The bonding money is needed to continue the necessary work to be eligible for federal New Starts funding. Currently the Hennepin County Regional Rail Authority is considering a recommendation on the locally preferred alternative route for LRT in the corridor.

The park-and-ride at Maplewood Mall is over capacity, with expansion needed to ensure the viability of the stretch of the Rush Line corridor between St. Paul and Forest Lake. And, the Union Depot needs a local match to receive anticipated federal funds.

The Council approved the bonding allocation after seeking the advice and comments of the Counties Transit Improvement Board, composed of Anoka, Dakota, Hennepin, Ramsey and Washington counties. The CTIB partners with the Council on development of a comprehensive regional transit system.