Timeline announced for seeking input on Central Corridor LRT features

Contact:
Laura Baenen
Central Corridor LRT Project
Communications Manager
651-602-1797
laura.baenen@metc.state.mn.us

St. Paul – Sept. 26, 2007 – A timeline has been set for seeking public input through the first quarter of 2008 on proposed features of the Central Corridor LRT Project.

Getting feedback by next spring is necessary to give consultants time to consider them in their preliminary engineering work that must be submitted to the Federal Transit Administration in less than a year.

Issues were presented last week to the Business Advisory Council (BAC) and Community Advisory Committee (CAC) at their monthly meetings. Key issues (see Issues Matrix - pdf) then will go to the Central Corridor Management Committee, which advises the full Metropolitan Council. The Met Council will have the final say on the decisions. Meeting schedules for all of these bodies are posted at www.centralcorridor.org

Outreach coordinators for the Central Corridor LRT Project also will be holding special meetings and contacting stakeholders for each of these issues.

Issues that must be presented to the public by the end of this year include:

Location of the West Bank station.
Extent of reconstruction of University Avenue.
Ability of the Washington Avenue bridge to bear existing traffic as well as LRT trains.
Whether operation will begin with two-car or three-car trains.
Siting of substations and wayside communication sheds.
System design standards, including baseline criteria for station design, which will include the public art program.

Issues to be presented in the first quarter of 2008 include:

Tunnel versus at street-level operation through the University of Minnesota.
Proposed consolidation of some of the four proposed downtown St. Paul stations.
Choosing for further study one of three Union Depot routes being studied under preliminary engineering.
Potential redevelopment of the Fourth and Cedar block in downtown St. Paul, which would result in a realignment of the LRT line diagonally across this block.
Relocating the site of the Stadium Village station to make way for the new University of Minnesota football stadium.
Location of the East Bank station relative to resolution of whether to build the line in a tunnel or at street level.
Location of the stations at University and Snelling and University and 29th avenues.
Impacts on utilities, especially in downtown St. Paul, which may have to be relocated.
Identifying a site and other requirements for a maintenance and storage facility, if one is required.
Options for track design to minimize vibration impacts.
Clearance issue under the Minnesota Commercial Railway bridge on University Avenue.
Neighborhood and business impacts, including adequate pedestrian crossings, feasibility of barrier fencing to prevent dangerous pedestrian crossings, business access during construction and after the project is complete, vehicular access across and through University Avenue and pedestrian, bicycle and transit access to stations.
Loss of on-street parking after construction, loss of parking during construction and neighborhood parking impacts that may result due to ``hide and ride’’ commuters.

Central Corridor LRT Project
The Central Corridor Light Rail Transit Project linking downtown St. Paul and Minneapolis via Washington and University avenues would be the third in a planned network of rail and bus "transitways" in the Twin Cities. Construction would begin in 2010 on the planned 11-mile Central Corridor line, with service beginning in 2014. The Metropolitan Council would be the grantee of federal funds, which make up 50 percent of the project’s capital cost. The regional government agency is charged with leading the design and building of the line in partnership with the Minnesota Department of Transportation. The Central Corridor Management Committee, which includes the mayors of St. Paul and Minneapolis and commissioners from Ramsey and Hennepin counties, provides advice and oversight.

The Central Corridor LRT Project’s website is www.centralcorridor.org

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