Council Chair talks transportation with local officials
Peter Bell visits with elected officials in Bloomington, Edina, Richfield
ST. PAUL – Dec. 23, 2008 – The slumping economy was front and center at a recent “District Dialogue” hosted by Peter Bell, Metropolitan Council Chair, and Council Member Polly Bowles this month at the Edina Community Center. The dialogue brought together local elected officials from Bloomington, Edina and Richfield to talk about issues of concern to their constituents.
Bell, along with his colleagues on the Metropolitan Council, spent the summer and fall meeting with city, county and state officials in a series of Council District meetings. The top concerns have been transportation investment and highway congestion, followed closely by how the recession will affect transportation planning and funding.
“We have significant concerns about the economy, what will happen in the upcoming Minnesota legislative session and at the federal level. It’s impossible to envision a solution that holds us completely harmless,” said Bell.
Bell said opening the Central Corridor light rail transit line by 2014 is his No. 1 priority, along with moving ahead on the proposed Southwest Corridor between Minneapolis and Eden Prairie. Hennepin County is preparing a Draft Environmental Impact Study for the corridor, which will help identify the locally preferred transit alternative in late 2009.
Bell told officials he’s also pushing for more Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) corridors, similar to what’s being developed on Cedar Avenue and I-35W. Among the corridors that may be studied for BRT include Nicollet Avenue and American Boulevard.
The Council is also looking at expanding local park-and-ride capacity on I-35W and Highway 100. Some possible locations include 82nd and I-35W, 98th and I-35W, Normandale Lakes and Highway 100, and Normandale Village and Highway 100.
Overall, transit ridership is surpassing projections for the year. The ridership goal for 2008 was 78 million rides. At this point, 2008 ridership will be close to 82 million rides. This is the highest Metro Transit ridership since 1981.
In 2008, the Minnesota Legislature approved an historic increase in transportation funding, but it won’t be enough to “fix” congestion throughout the region’s highway system, Bell said.
According to the Council, it would cost some $40 billion to add enough highway capacity to meet expected demand over the next 25 years. To provide perspective, paying those costs with the state gasoline tax alone would add more than $2 per gallon to the cost of fuel.
The Council’s “District Dialogues” coincide with public outreach efforts on the draft update of the 2030 Transportation Policy Plan, a long-range plan for transportation investment in the region that is updated every four years, as required by the federal government.
See the proposed final 2030 Transportation Policy Plan Update. The Council is scheduled to adopt the plan on Jan. 14, 2009.
The Metropolitan Council is the regional planning organization for the seven-county Twin Cities area. The Council runs the regional bus and light rail system, collects and treats wastewater, coordinates regional water resources, plans regional parks and administers funds that provide housing opportunities for low- and moderate-income individuals and families. The Council board is appointed by and serves at the pleasure of the governor.
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