Central Corridor LRT construction surges ahead through November
The opening of a rebuilt skyway in downtown St. Paul is just one sign of construction progress on the Central Corridor light-rail line. As of Nov. 1, construction is 32% complete.
The newly rebuilt skyway over Fifth St. near Cedar in downtown St. Paul reopened on Nov. 1.
The skyway was taken down to make way for demolition of the former Bremer Bank Building, which was on the site of a future LRT station near Fourth and Cedar. The rebuilt skyway spans Fifth St. from the Alliance Bank Center to the St. Paul Athletic Club, restoring a skyway connection to the west end of downtown, including the Xcel Energy Center.
While much remains to be done by the end of November, much also has been accomplished since heavy construction began the first day of spring with roadway removal on University Avenue. Construction milestones include:
- Restoration of the front entrance of the Union Depot was completed last week, allowing Christos restaurant to reopen soon in the depot head house.
- Embedded track is in place over most of a six-block stretch of Fourth Street in downtown St. Paul from Broadway to Minnesota streets.
- Curved track installation began in late October on 12th Street between Robert and Cedar streets.
- A mile of track is in place on the western end of University Avenue in St. Paul.
- The University of Minnesota transitway was rebuilt and reopened before the start of the Minnesota State Fair and the fall semester.
- Structural steel is up at six stations – Union Depot, Capitol East, Snelling Avenue, Fairview Avenue, Raymond Avenue and Westgate.
- Foundation work or platforms are in the ground at the Fourth and Cedar Street, East Bank and West Bank stations.
- Westbound Washington Avenue was rebuilt on the West Bank.
- A flyover, or train bridge, was built over Interstate 35W. The flyover connects Central Corridor tracks with the Hiawatha LRT line between the Cedar-Riverside and Metrodome stations.
Since late summer, extra crews have been working extended hours with two big goals. The first is to finish paving and open four lanes of traffic by Nov. 30 on the western three miles of University Avenue in St. Paul between Emerald Street and Hamline Avenue. The other is to open Fourth Street in downtown St. Paul in its final configuration by Nov. 30.
Other key Nov. 30 goals:
The exterior of the rebuilt skyway will be completed in November.
- Reopen the Robert Street and University Avenue intersection.
- Restore single-lane, two-way traffic on Robert from University to 12th St.
- Restore two-lane westbound traffic on 12th St. between Robert and Cedar.
- In Minneapolis, restore vehicular traffic between Walnut and Oak streets on Washington Avenue.
- Install the first rail on the East Bank.
- Begin rebuilding the north side of the Washington Avenue bridge.
For additional construction updates, see the Central Corridor website.