Northstar project wins federal funding

Federal, state and local officials gathered Dec. 11 at the Anoka County Government Center for the signing ceremony of the Full Funding Grant Agreement (FFGA) for Northstar Commuter Rail. The agreement commits $156.8 million in federal matching funds and immediately releases another $97.5 million in state bonding money for Northstar construction and trains.

The signing ceremony featured Gov. Tim Pawlenty, U.S. Deputy Transportation Secretary Thomas J. Barrett, members of Minnesota’s congressional delegation and numerous local officials.

Construction on the vehicle maintenance facility at Big Lake

Construction at the Northstar vehicle maintenance facility in Big Lake began in September.

“Northstar is an important piece of Minnesota’s transportation future,” Pawlenty said. “It will add more transportation capacity in one of the fastest growing areas of the state and get commuters to work and home faster.”

“Minnesota has reached a new milestone today with the signing of the Full Funding Grant Agreement for Northstar,” said Dan Erhart, Chair of the Northstar Corridor Development Authority (NCDA). “Not only is this a day of celebration for those who have kept the project on track, but for Minnesotans who will soon be riding the trains, employers who will have their workers on board and communities along the corridor.”

The funding committed through the FFGA adds to the already significant financial contributions by the state of Minnesota, the regional rail authorities for Anoka, Hennepin, and Sherburne counties, the Metropolitan Council and the Minnesota Twins. It allows the project to award contracts in the coming months for passenger rail cars and construction of stations at Big Lake, Elk River, Anoka, Coon Rapids and downtown Minneapolis.

“Northstar is the Little Engine that Could,” said Met Council Chair Peter Bell. “Its progress shows the power of motivation and positive thinking by folks from the NCDA, state and Metro Council – who believed in the project enough to invest in it and labor over it early on – confident that our federal partners would also step up.”

The 40-mile Northstar Commuter Rail Line is an important element in the Met Council’s long-range transit improvement plan for the region. It calls for the development of a network of bus and rail “transitways” that give transit a travel time advantage over the single-occupant car. The Council’s plan is designed to increase transit ridership 50 percent by 2020, slow the growth in traffic congestion and improve mobility.

The line, which is expected to open in late 2009, will use existing train tracks between Big Lake and downtown Minneapolis. Service will consist of five round trips each week day during rush hours, along with a reverse-commute trip each week day and three round trips each weekend day.

Trains will make the quick trip at speeds of up to 79 mph. Commuters will have a direct connection near the new Twins ballpark to the Hiawatha light-rail transit line and, ultimately, the Central Corridor LRT line.