Central Corridor LRT included in president’s budget
A decades-long dream to link St. Paul and Minneapolis by light-rail transit (LRT) moved a step closer to reality Feb. 2 when President Obama included funding for the Central Corridor LRT project in his proposed 2011 budget.
“This signals a high degree of confidence by the federal government in the readiness of the project to begin construction this year,” Metropolitan Council Chair Peter Bell said.
Relocation of utilities in downtown St. Paul, in preparation for construction of Central Corridor LRT, began in 2009.
The president’s Fiscal Year 2011 budget recommends the Central Corridor project for a Full Funding Grant Agreement and first-year funding of $45 million. The Federal Transit Administration is now expected to approve the project’s entry into final design next month, and by fall to award the Full Funding Grant Agreement, committing the federal government to pay 50% of the project’s $956 million cost.
These developments – along with a requested advance commitment of $83.6 million from Ramsey and Hennepin counties and the Counties Transit Improvement Board (CTIB) – would allow heavy construction to begin on schedule this summer and keep the project within budget.
Utility relocation work began last fall along Fourth Street in downtown St. Paul in anticipation of heavy construction beginning late summer 2010.
Three stations added on University Avenue
The project had a $941 million budget before the federal government, the city of St. Paul, CTIB, Ramsey County and the Central Corridor Funders Collaborative, a coalition of local foundations, pledged $15.6 million to add three stations sought by St. Paul and community groups. This development brings to 18 the number of stations to be built.
The 11-mile, which would begin service in 2014, will link downtown St. Paul and downtown Minneapolis along Washington and University avenues. The line would connect with the Hiawatha LRT line at the Metrodome station in Minneapolis and the Northstar commuter rail line at the Target Field station.
The ridership projection is about 41,000 average weekday boardings in 2030. Travel time will be about 40 minutes between the line’s eastern end in front of St. Paul’s Union Depot and the western end at Target Field Station in Minneapolis.
The Metropolitan Council will be the grantee of federal funds. The Council is charged with building the line in partnership with the Minnesota Department of Transportation.