On Oct. 10, members of the Central Corridor Management Committee received an up-close look at the route that light rail transit would take through campus. The Committee met briefly in the Regent’s Room at the McNamara Alumni Center and then boarded a bus for a tour that followed the proposed LRT route past TCF Bank Stadium, down Washington Avenue and across to the West Bank. The most informative part of the tour may have come when Committee members got off the bus in front of Coffman Union and experienced first-hand the heavy congestion on Washington Avenue during the class break.

The Central Corridor Management Committee is a 13-member panel comprised of representatives of all the project partners including Vice President Kathleen O’Brien. The Committee will provide advice to the Metropolitan Council during the design and construction of the Central Corridor LRT line – including a recommendation of whether LRT should be in a tunnel or at-grade on Washington Avenue.

Posted by Wokie Freeman at 09:20 PM | Permalink

The Minnesota Daily
October 23, 2007

The University wouldn't be the first U.S. university to have a light-rail train on campus.

The Central Corridor Management Committee will be taking lessons from universities that have already put light-rail lines through campuses.

On Nov. 5 and 6, members of the committee will visit the light-rail trains that go through the University of Utah in Salt Lake City and San Diego State University.

Laura Baenen, Central Corridor project spokeswoman, said the committee is interested because it needs to decide whether the part of the Central Corridor slated to go through the University campus should be at street level or in a below-ground tunnel.

"There are pros and cons for both," Baenen said.

The decision, which will probably be made sometime next year, will be based on project cost and Minneapolis' layout, she said. The goal is to have the flattest route possible.

Most lines, light rail or otherwise, go above ground because it's cheaper.

The light-rail station servicing San Diego State University is underground, but the rest of the line is above ground.

Rob Schupp, communications director for the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System, said the station is underground because the university is on top of a hill.

"If the station was at the bottom of the hill, people would have to walk up the hill," he said. "Putting it underground did allow it to be right in the heart of campus."

Sandra Cullen, assistant director of Parking and Transportation Services at the University, is a committee member and will be going on the trip. She said the committee will look at how these lines managed to combine above-and-below-ground light-rail transit in a way beneficial to the universities.

Cullen said the planning process in San Diego was similar to what is going on now in the Twin Cities. The metropolitan council was in charge, but the university played an important role in deciding what would be best for its campus.

The Twin Cities Metropolitan Council is designing and constructing the Central Corridor, but the University is one of six partners helping with the project. The others are Hennepin and Ramsey counties, the Minnesota Department of Transportation, Minneapolis and St. Paul.

Three of the Central Corridor's 16 stations will service the University. There will be one in Stadium Village, and one on the East and West Banks of campus.

Baenen also said the three most expensive aspects of the plan are the possible tunnel near the University, the reconstruction of University Avenue and the final station in St. Paul.

The cost of the Central Corridor is currently estimated at $930 million.

The federal government, which will be funding half the cost of the corridor, is forcing planners to reduce the cost. However, it is also urging them to make the line capable of carrying three-car trains in the future.

"This project will not happen unless the cost is trimmed," Baenen said.

According to the Metropolitan Council, construction should begin in 2010 and the line will be open by 2014. There will be an estimated 38,100 riders every weekday by 2020.

The University of Utah in Salt Lake City has experienced less parking congestion and traffic congestion in the area since the opening of the light rail, according to its Office of Sustainability. Fewer students are commuting in their cars, and more are using public transportation.

Other universities serviced by light rails include Portland State University, the University of Houston and the University of Baltimore.

Posted by Wokie Freeman at 09:54 PM | Permalink

Light rail planners get $30 million surprise - Washington Avenue bridge retrofit's hefty price tag an unexpected complication

Saint Paul Pioneer Press
October 13, 2007

Retrofitting the Washington Avenue Bridge for a planned light-rail line between Minneapolis and St. Paul would not only cost as much as $30 million, but require the bridge's closure for a significant period of time, according to a consultant's preliminary estimates to the Metropolitan Council.

The hefty price tag complicates the much-anticipated $932 million line, which includes several expensive features that could face the chopping block before the line gets built. Metropolitan Council chairman Peter Bell has said the line should cost about $800 million in order to qualify for federal funding.

"Our project engineers are going to look at less expensive options to see if there's a less expensive remediation for the bridge," said Laura Baenen, a spokeswoman for the project.

The 11-mile line would wind through downtown St. Paul, and travel along University Avenue before cutting through the University of Minnesota, over the Washington Avenue Bridge and into downtown Minneapolis. If built, it is expected to be completed in 2014.

A report released to the Pioneer Press just before the Interstate 35W bridge collapsed Aug. 1 said the Washington Avenue Bridge needed to be retrofitted in order to handle the weight of light-rail trains. The consultant, URS Corp., is recommending 5.6 million pounds of steel to strengthen the bridge's load-bearing girders, as well as the columns that hold up the top pedestrian deck of the double-decker bridge.

The work also would make the bridge redundant, eliminating its "fracture critical" status. Fracture critical bridges such as the Washington Avenue and the old I-35W bridges are at risk of total collapse if a key part of the structure fails.

Despite the high price tag, that may not be the main concern in deciding whether to route the Central Corridor line across the Washington Avenue Bridge.

The report says the retrofit "would be more time-consuming than for normal construction of a new bridge or reconstruction of an existing bridge." It also says the bridge would need to be closed to vehicle and pedestrian traffic during construction.

That could inconvenience commuters and pedestrians for some time. The bridge carries close to 20,000 vehicles a day and serves as a vital link for students between the university's East Bank and West Bank campuses.

Central Corridor planners already are looking for ways to cut the project's cost. They have suggested eliminating a $72 million Fourth Street leg in downtown St. Paul to the Union Depot, the $55 million reconstruction of University Avenue or a $155 million tunnel beneath the U campus.

"It sounds like this is one more thing on the table," said Nancy Homans, policy director for St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman.

The city is fighting to keep both the Union Depot extension and the University Avenue work in the project. Officials at the politically powerful university are strongly backing the tunnel.

Officials in Ramsey County, which would pay for a substantial portion of the project's overall cost, are also adamant that the line connect with Union Depot because they see the 1923 Classical Revival building as a future transportation hub.

In addition, federal officials have asked the Met Council, which is spearheading planning for the line, to study whether the line should be built to handle three-car trains rather than the normal two-car trains, which would add to the cost.

Officials at District Energy St. Paul are also hoping the project pays for any needed relocation of the utility's heating and cooling lines, which run beneath the planned line along Cedar and Fourth streets in downtown St. Paul.

"Our costs are accurately estimated at $20 million," said William Mahlum, vice president and general counsel for Ever-Green Energy, a subsidiary of District Energy.

The nearby new I-35W bridge is being built with the capability to handle a light-rail line. Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak lobbied for the capability out of a concern about both the Washington Avenue Bridge's status as an option for crossing the Mississippi River and the cost of the proposed U tunnel.

"When Mayor Rybak first started talking about the issue of making 35W light rail-ready, he was very specifically talking about it as an option for the Central Corridor," spokesman Jeremy Hanson said.

But that option has potential problems.

An altered route is expected to be less heavily trafficked and would lengthen travel times between the two downtowns. It was dismissed during early planning for the line because of those issues. Since commute efficiency and ridership are two key factors in whether the line receives federal funding, it could imperil the project further.

The Washington Avenue Bridge is actually owned by Hennepin County, and Baenen pointed out that any decision about the span would be made in conjunction with officials there.

Posted by Wokie Freeman at 09:15 PM | Permalink

The two University of Minnesota student government groups passed a resolution in September.

The Minnesota Daily
October 9, 2007

While many people agree the Central Corridor Light Rail Transit line will be good for the University, the project has sparked much debate as to whether the tracks should run underground or at-grade.

The Minnesota Student Association, and the Graduate and Professional Student Assembly passed a joint resolution in September recommending the light rail run underground.

Bree Richards, GAPSA vice president for student affairs said the group chose to express its preference now because the project is in preliminary engineering.

"We have to speak up now, otherwise we won't have time," she said.

As primary planner for the Central Corridor project, the Metropolitan Council will have to reach a decision about an underground or at-grade rail line before the completion of preliminary engineering in August.

Construction on the Central Corridor is slated to begin in 2010, and the line should be functional in 2014.

Ross Skattum, MSA vice president, said student safety was a primary concern for him.

"I believe the Central Corridor should go underground because safety is a fundamental aspect of this project and the only way for the light rail to safely traverse the pedestrian and traffic-heavy Washington Avenue," he said.

Putting the Central Corridor line at-grade on Washington Avenue would also add to the congestion and take away parking on Washington Avenue, Skattum said

Kristen Denzer, GAPSA president, said, "With an at-grade train, there's a delayed time for traffic; there's delayed time for crossing the street."

Currently the Metropolitan Council has $930 million as an estimated cost for the project.

"We already know the price has to come down," Laura Baenen, communications manager for the project, said.

If the Central Corridor line was to run underground in a tunnel, the cost would be significantly more than an at-grade station.

The Metropolitan Council is currently in the preliminary engineering stage and has begun to discuss its options. It's started looking at cost, safety issues and ridership estimates, Baenen said.

There are benefits and downsides to both options, and the Metropolitan Council needs to weigh the pros and cons, she said.

"We are trying to look at all angles," she said. "But everyone is tugging this way and that."

One of the benefits of having the light rail at-grade is that it is in plain view, Baenen said, and some people are hesitant about going underground.

She said there is also something to be said for the underground tunnel - it would result in fewer automobile and light-rail accidents.

MSA and GAPSA both hope the Metropolitan Council will take into account the safety of students when making their final decisions.

"Having the light rail at-grade would decrease the safety of all who travel daily on Washington Avenue," Skattum said.

Once the Central Corridor line becomes a reality, it will benefit both students and faculty, Denzer said.

"It just will be a really huge benefit and convenience for students and faculty who live farther away," she said.

Posted by Wokie Freeman at 08:55 PM | Permalink