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Central Corridor LRT: Frequently asked questions

Topics covered on this page
Bells & horns Budget & funding Business mitigation Bus service Downtown St. Paul Job opportunities Maintenance facility Noise and vibration mitigation Parking	Public involvement Ridership Streetscape and station art Traction power substations and signal bungalows Travel time Union Depot University Avenue University of Minnesota Washington Avenue Bridge (new page)

 

How will the light rail vehicle bells and horns sound?

• Bells and horns are regularly used as warning devices on light rail vehicles. Of these two devices, bells are quieter. Horns in the vicinity of Lowertown in downtown St. Paul would be sounded only in an emergency or other extraordinary situation, such as when maintenance personnel are conducting track work. It is standard operating procedure for light rail vehicles to sound their bells as they enter and depart a station platform to warn waiting passengers that a train is approaching.  Bells are also sounded at all locations where a roadway or bicycle/pedestrian path crosses the tracks regardless of whether the intersection is signalized. This practice is in place on the Hiawatha light rail line.  Where complaints have arisen, negotiations have led to the modification of standard operating procedures to the satisfaction of both the residents and Metro Transit operations staff. 

 

Budget & funding

• The project has a budget up to $941 million. The current financial plan requests 50 percent from the federal government for construction, 30 percent from the new Counties Transit Improvement Board, 10 percent from the state, 7 percent from Ramsey County and 3 percent from Hennepin County.

 

Business mitigation

• What is being done to help businesses survive financially during construction of the Central Corridor LRT line?
  
  The Central Corridor Partnership, an alliance of St. Paul and Midway area business leaders, will be providing assistance to help businesses with marketing strategies and business planning to survive the construction process and let their customers know they are still open. The partnership is developing a business management plan and seeking funding sources.  The Central Corridor LRT Project will be handling construction, which includes providing information about detours, signage, etc. Contact Karri Plowman, director of the Central Corridor Partnership, at karri@saintpaulchamber.com or 651-265-2782.
• The Central Corridor Funders Collaborative and Learning Network seeks to maximize the benefit of the LRT investment for the people and places adjacent to the line by forming multi-sector partnerships focusing on affordable housing, business mitigation and land acquisition for transit-oriented development. The funders collaborative is made up of several foundations. For more information, visit www.centralcorridorfunders.org or contact Jonathan Sage-Martinson, the director, at jbs@centralcorridorfunders.org or 651-280-2384.
• The University Avenue Business Preparation Collaborative will provide one-on-one technical support and provide small business and real estate loans and matching grants to small businesses along University Avenue. Contact Mike Temali, president and chief executive officer of the Neighborhood Development Center, which is part of the University Avenue Business Preparation Collaborative. He is reachable at mtemali@ndc-mn.org or 651-379-8426.

 

 Bus service   

• What will happen to Route 16 once the LRT line begins service? 
  Route 16 service on University Avenue will be reduced from every 10 minutes to every 20 minutes during the rush hour and every 30 minutes during the rest of the day. 
• Aside from reducing Route 16 and eliminating Route 50, are any other bus routes being affected?
  New routes are being added to bring riders north and south of University Avenue to the corridor. Also, the concept for 94 – express service between the two downtowns – is for service every 15 minutes peak. Some Route 94 trips today also serve the Capitol; that branch will be replaced by Central Corridor LRT.
• How will bus transit service to LRT be increased to give the public access to the transit line?
• New Route 83, which will run mainly on Lexington Parkway between West Seventh Street and Rosedale, is proposed as a 30-minute service on weekdays during the peak and midday, but no night service. It is proposed to run every 60 minutes on Saturdays. No Route 83 service is proposed on Sunday.
• New Route 60, which will connect Victoria Street, St. Clair Avenue and Hamline Avenue with University Avenue, is proposed as a 30-minute service that will operate seven days a week.
• Route 67 is proposed to be extended from its current terminal near    University and Fairview avenues to Highland Village. The proposed route would follow Fairview and Ford Parkway to Highland Village. Service on the route extension would run every 30 minutes on weekdays during the peak and midday and every 60 minutes at night. Service is proposed to run every 60 minutes on Saturdays and Sundays.
• How will Central Corridor LRT riders get to the stations?
  On the Hiawatha line, one-third of the riders take one of the 27 connecting bus routes to reach an LRT station, and a 2008 transit survey for the Hiawatha LRT line supports the position that one-half mile is a reasonable walk distance to rail stations.
• Sector study
  The Met Council has committed to beginning a transit sector study of bus service in 2012 two years before LRT revenue service begins and implementing bus service changes concurrent with the start of LRT service in 2014 to retain or improve overall transit service within a half mile of the LRT route.

 

Construction

• How will the public get construction information?
  Details about construction will be available at www.centralcorridor.org and the public will be notified in advance about work, including detours and road closures. Project outreach coordinators began surveying business and property owners in the spring of 2008 for details on their points of access to help engineers design the line and plan construction.
• How will the project mitigate the effects of noise, sound and vibration from LRT trains?
  The engineers are studying mitigation strategies on a case-by-case basis. The Final Environmental Impact Statement will address impacts identified in the Draft Environmental Impact Statement and Supplemental DEIS.   
• When will construction begin and end?
  Heavy construction will begin in 2010 and end in 2013, with passenger service to begin in 2014.

 

Downtown St. Paul

• What will be the route through downtown St. Paul?
  The route will be on a diagonal through the vacant Bremer Bank building from Cedar and Fifth streets to Minnesota and Fourth streets, combining two stations to save costs. The line’s eastern terminus will be in front of Union Depot.

• What will happen to the skyway connection when the Fourth and Cedar Street Station is built where the vacant Bremer Bank building now stands?
  Plans are underway to maintain the skyway, with the understanding that any future development would include vertical connections.

 

Job opportunities

• Are there job opportunities for women-owned and minority-owned businesses with this project?
  Yes. Sixteen Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) firms are working on preliminary engineering.
• The Metropolitan Council’s Office of Diversity has held two mixers for Disadvantaged Business Enterprises and a construction workforce diversity and inclusion mixer. For more information, contact Roderic Southall at Roderic.southall@metc.state.mn.us or 651-602-1415 or see the information on doing business with the Central Corridor project.

 

Maintenance facility

• Where will it be located?
  East of St. Paul’s Union Depot in the vacant Diamond Products building, a former Gillette Co. factory. The original location under the Lafayette freeway bridge was dropped due to several significant problems, including poor soils, contamination and historic preservation concerns. To allay concerns about the new location across the street from condos and lofts, the Central Corridor LRT Project offered to make façade improvements in keeping with the character of the surrounding neighborhood and said it would silence routine use of train horns and bells between the last station at Union Depot and the operation and maintenance facility
  

 

 

Noise and vibration mitigation

• How will noise and vibration impacts be mitigated throughout the corridor?
  Vibration mitigation measures will include installation of concrete floating slabs under the track on a section of Cedar Street in St. Paul to isolate vibration away from buildings. Track crossovers will be relocated in a few places to where they will not affect noise and vibration sensitive or historic buildings. A crossover is a track structure that allows continuous passage for trains between two nearby and generally parallel tracks. In some locations, Metro Transit will modify its practice of activating train horns each time trains meet at grade crossings. Resilient track fasteners will be installed in locations where several sensitive laboratories are located.

 

 

Parking

• What will happen to on-street parking on University Avenue?
  University Avenue will retain 175 of its 1,150 on-street parking spaces after 675 spots are removed to make way for mandatory elements such as the 15 LRT stations, 250 are eliminated to accommodate non-signalized pedestrian crossings, 40 are removed to provide secondary station access, 20 are lost to make room for three-car station platforms and 40 are eliminated to allow space for minimizing traffic lane transitions. Project studies show 560 on-street parking spaces are available on north-south cross streets within a block of the corridor and 15,300 off-street parking spaces are available within one block of University Avenue. A 2006 city of St. Paul study found 25,000 spaces in private lots within one-quarter mile of the 15 LRT stations.
• Corridor-wide and site-specific solutions will offset the loss of parking on University Avenue that will occur when two Central Corridor LRT tracks are constructed, according to a report by the city of St. Paul and the Central Corridor LRT Project. The 560 parking spaces on north-south cross streets within a block of the corridor and the 25,000 spaces in underutilized private lots within a quarter mile of LRT stations could compensate for much of the 975 lost parking spaces, the report concluded. With LRT, 175 parking spaces will remain on University Avenue.
  - See a summary of the parking report (pdf)
  - See the full parking report (pdf)
• Staff from the city of St. Paul and the Central Corridor Project Office will be meeting in 2009 with businesses and property owners in each of 11 critical areas identified along University Avenue to develop a parking mitigation plan.
  

 

 

Public Involvement

• How has the public influenced the project?
  Suggestions from the public led to several project changes including design of an entirely new road surface, sidewalks, curbs and gutters from building façade to building façade on University Avenue, addition of many non-signalized pedestrian crossings and addition of infrastructure for three future stations at Hamline, Victoria and Western on University. See a more complete list of changes to the project as a result of public input.

• What is the purpose of the community outreach staff?
  Their initial responsibility is to engage the public in the preliminary engineering process and share their concerns with project engineers to explore how to resolve potential negative impacts. As the project progresses into construction, the outreach staff will be key in notifying businesses and residents of construction plans, road closures and bus re-routes as well as being a point of contact for construction related emergencies such as power outages.
• How can I comment on the project?
  The outreach program provides many avenues for people to submit comments and concerns. The outreach team forwards your comments and concerns to the engineers.
• Central Corridor email:  centralcorridor@metc.state.mn.us
• Phone line: 651-602-1645
• Attend a public meeting. See the Central Corridor meetings page (updated weekly).
• Who do I call if I have questions?
  Contact one of the community outreach coordinators. See a map of outreach staff's areas of responsibility and contact information.
• Can someone come and talk to my business association, community group or neighborhood organization?
  Absolutely, please contact one of the community outreach staff or submit a speaker request form.

 

Ridership

• What is the projected ridership for the Central Corridor LRT line?
  The current ridership projection is 42,170 average weekday boardings in 2030.

 

Streetscape and Station Art

• University Avenue will be reconstructed from façade to façade with many quality improvements throughout the corridor.
• Design features, such as tactile warning strips, will comply with requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
• New curbs and gutters will address storm water issues.
• Improved signalization and the timing of signalized intersections will improve traffic flow.
• The 15 new LRT stations will be outfitted with security cameras, emergency phones and shelters with radiant heaters, protection from the elements and artwork that reflects the communities around each station.
• Existing trees that have to be removed for construction will be replaced.
• Existing lights and bus shelters will be reinstalled.

 

Traction power substations and signal bungalows

• Community meetings to review proposed locations for 12 traction power substations and 10 signal bungalows led designers to adjust the location of six of these light rail support facilities. The new sites better conceal the substations and signal bungalows from public view and should not hinder future redevelopment.

 

Travel time

• What will be the travel time between the central business districts of the two downtowns?
  39.13 minutes. Travel time between St. Paul’s Union Depot and Minneapolis’ Multimodal station will be about 40 minutes.

 

Union Depot

• Where will LRT trains stop at the Union Depot?
  Central Corridor LRT trains will drop off and pick up passengers in front of Union Depot on Fourth Street between Sibley and Wacouta streets.

 

University Avenue

• To what extent will University Avenue be reconstructed?
  
  • The street surface, curbs and sidewalks will be torn out and reconstructed from building façade to building façade, but the roadbed or subsurface is in good condition and won’t have to be replaced, shortening the construction time and reducing costs.
  • Other quality improvements include the addition of many non-signalized pedestrian crossings as requested by the public for community cohesion and access across University Avenue.
  • Design features, such as tactile warning strips, will comply with requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act
  • New curbs and gutters will address storm water issues.
  • Improved signalization and the timing of signalized intersections will improve traffic flow.
• Will there be stations at Hamline, Victoria and Western?
  Underground foundations will be prepared during construction so stations can be added at these locations more easily and less expensively in the future. The underground work will include running conduits for electrical systems.

 

University of Minnesota

• Where will the LRT line run through campus?
  Central Corridor LRT will run at street level on Washington Avenue, which will become a transit-pedestrian mall, and across the Washington Avenue bridge on the vehicular level. Stations will be on the East Bank at Union Street, the West Bank on Washington Avenue between 19th and Cedar avenues and at Stadium Village.