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Central Corridor LRT Washington Avenue Bridge: Frequently asked questions

June 7, 2010

Background

• Central Corridor LRT will run down the center of Washington Avenue on the East Bank and the West Bank of the University of Minnesota. A transit-pedestrian mall at street level will extend from Walnut Street to Pleasant Avenue.
• CCLRT will cross the Mississippi River on the vehicle deck of the Washington Avenue Bridge. With two LRT tracks on the bridge, one lane in each direction will remain open to vehicles.
• Central Corridor Project Office staff has worked with project partners Hennepin County, Minnesota Department of Transportation and the University of Minnesota on multiple studies of the bridge to determine the best way to ensure it can carry the weight of the trains.
• At Pleasant Avenue, Washington Avenue will be turned into a transit/pedestrian mall. Eastbound cars crossing the bridge from the west will be required to turn onto Pleasant Avenue or East River Road when they get to the East Bank.

 

Q: What is the construction schedule for the bridge?
A: Contractor crews will begin prep work in fall 2010 to retrofit the bridge to accommodate light-rail trains by reconstructing the bridge piers. From early 2011 through November 2012, crews will replace the main vehicle deck, add four trusses and build two tracks and system elements in the center of the vehicle deck. Systems elements are train signal systems, communications and traction power/electrical. 

Q: What will happen to traffic on the bridge during construction?
A: The work will not close the bridge to traffic on an ongoing basis. The contractor will be required to keep one lane of traffic open in each direction while crews work on one side of the bridge at a time.  However, there may be times when the bridge is closed to all traffic during low traffic times and with advance public notice. 

Q:  What improvements have been or will be made to the Washington Avenue bridge?
A: Pedestrian deck:

• Hennepin County improved the columns holding up the outside of the pedestrian deck and made the deck more stationary.

A: Vehicle deck

• Metropolitan Council’s improvements, in cooperation with MnDOT and Hennepin County, will reinforce the lower vehicular deck of the bridge to accommodate LRT, which will also make the bridge redundant. This work will include constructing a new composite deck and adding four trusses.

 

Q: Did Hennepin County's planned structural modifications to the pedestrian deck on the bridge impact plans for Central Corridor LRT? 

A: The pedestrian deck issues were independent of the light rail transit project. Hennepin County became fully aware of the pedestrian deck problem as part of a bridge evaluation report from consultant URS that recommended restricting pedestrian traffic.

The Central Corridor Project Office worked with Hennepin County on the Washington Avenue bridge modifications for LRT. The LRT consultants have been the lead, and in effect, the LRT project “discovered” the problem with the pedestrian deck as part of the overall bridge studies even though it was not a responsibility of the LRT project. Central Corridor engineers worked with the county to design the appropriate modifications. 

Q. What will Washington Avenue look like once light-rail transit tracks are added?
A. Two tracks will be built in the middle of the street. Buses will also operate on the guideway. There will be one outer lane on each side for emergency vehicles and cyclists only. Cars and trucks will not be allowed on the transit-pedestrian mall.

Q. Where will the transit-pedestrian mall be located?
A. Pleasant to Walnut.

Q. Where will the East Bank Station be?
A. The station will be located in the middle of Washington between Harvard and Union streets. The station will be flanked on each end by 20-foot wide amenity zones from Harvard to Walnut and Union to Church streets.

Q. What are the design plans for the mall?
A. Plans for the transit-pedestrian mall include bicycle lanes and bike racks, new bus shelters, tree planters, benches and pervious concrete pavers to minimize the amount of storm water entering the Mississippi River.

Q. What is being done to improve surrounding roads to handle cars and trucks routed off of the transit-pedestrian mall portion of Washington Avenue?
A. In May 2010, contractor crews began preparing roads around the East Bank campus of the University of Minnesota to handle cars and trucks permanently routed off of Washington in spring 2011 when work begins to convert it into a transit-pedestrian mall. This work includes:

• Converting Delaware Street from East River Parkway to Pleasant from a one-way ramp to a two-way road connection, including a new traffic signal at East River Parkway and Delaware
• Constructing turn lanes and installing a new traffic signal at Arlington and Pleasant streets
• Constructing turn lanes and installing a new traffic signal at Harvard and Delaware
• Reconfiguring the intersection of Fulton Street and East River Parkway to provide better east-west traffic flow through campus
• Building a new roadway connection on Beacon Street, which is a one-way street, to provide a two-way street between Union and Walnut
• Constructing a new Harvard roadway link between Beacon and Pillsbury Drive to provide a two-way street between Washington and Pillsbury
• Installing a new traffic signal at Harvard and Beacon
• Modifying the traffic signal and striping at 17th Avenue and 4th Street

This work involves:

• Removing, milling, overlaying the roadway
• Replacing sidewalks, curbs, gutters, retaining walls, landscaping
• Installing rain gardens and storm drainage infiltration systems
• Installing signs, pavement marking, traffic control equipment, etc.
• Installing traffic control signals, interconnections

 

Q. What measures are being taken on Washington Avenue to protect sensitive University labs?
A. The Central Corridor LRT Project has committed to the following environmental mitigation measures on Washington.

• Floating slab treatments approximately 1,450 track feet along Washington to mitigate train-caused vibration transferring into University labs
• Dual split power supply installed along about 3,150 track feet below the overhead catenary system to mitigate train-caused electromagnetic interference to University labs

 

Q. What vehicle, pedestrian and bike traffic changes are planned for Washington between Pleasant and Walnut?

A. Today without LRT: 

• Traffic from northbound Church Street south of Washington can turn onto eastbound or westbound Washington, but cannot continue north on Church. This is a signalized intersection. 

• University vehicles only can cross Washington at Church, both southbound and northbound.

• Traffic from southbound Union can turn onto eastbound or westbound Washington. This is a signalized intersection.

• Traffic can cross Washington at signalized intersections of Harvard and Walnut.

• Pedestrians can cross Washington at signalized intersections at Church, Union and Harvard and at the non-signalized intersection of Walnut and over Washington via the two pedestrian bridges.

With LRT:

• Washington will be closed to general traffic between Pleasant and Walnut. Only buses, emergency vehicles, cyclists and pedestrians will be allowed through this reach.

• Traffic can cross Washington at signalized intersections at Harvard and Walnut.

• Traffic will not be permitted to access Washington from Church or Union.

• Pedestrians can cross Washington at signalized intersections at Church, midblock between Church and Union, at Union, at Harvard, midblock between Harvard and Walnut and at Walnut. They will also be able to cross on the pedestrian bridges.

• 20-foot wide amenity zones for pedestrians will be located in the center of Washington from Harvard to Walnut and Union and Church streets.

• Bikes will be allowed on Washington east of Church, both eastbound and westbound.