The University of Minnesota's burden as the lone holdout against the planned 11-mile route of the light-rail line linking St. Paul and Minneapolis will likely be lifted today, when the institution's governing body is expected to endorse a route along Washington Avenue, President Robert Bruininks said Wednesday.

From the Pioneer Press, June 12, 2008

From the Star Tribune, June 12, 2008

From MinnPost.com, June 10, 2008

From the Minnesota Daily, June 4, 2008

Central Corridor planners and the Metropolitan Council held an open house at City Hall, showing off preliminary design plans for the line.

Although the Central Corridor will primarily run through St. Paul, part of the line will extend into Minneapolis, connecting with the existing Hiawatha LRT line.

After a 1-week allowance to get on board the current plan for the Central Corridor, the University of Minnesota president has decided to oppose the plan, according to a letter Bruininks sent to Met Council Chair Peter Bell.

From the Pioneer Press, Tuesday, May 27, 2008

All the local governments involved are board for the proposed route for the roughly 900 million dollar light-rail line between St. Paul and Minneapolis.

And less than a week before Metropolitan Council planners meet Wednesday to vote on it, the school's president again signaled its dissent.

The university is calling on the Metropolitan Council to consider an alternative "northern alignment" route that would run through the Dinkytown area just north of campus.

"The University cannot support any measure that calls for the elimination of the northern alignment from consideration at this time," University President Robert Bruininks wrote in a letter dated May 23 addressed to Peter Bell, chairman of the Metropolitan Council.

The letter was also sent to Gov. Tim Pawlenty, the university's Board of Regents, members of the Central Corridor Management Committee and Ramsey County Commissioner Jim McDonough.

Bell has said previously that delaying the project to study the university's proposal further would risk the $892 million project.

From Minnesota Public Radio, May 19, 2008

The Central Corridor light rail line from Minneapolis to St. Paul has faced two unknowns in recent months: state funding and the line's route through the University of Minnesota.

One of those issues was settled yesterday when lawmakers' approved $70 million for construction.

The university issue will be discussed -- and might also be settled -- on Wednesday.

Minnesota Rep. Jim Oberstar said recently passed federal legislation could resurrect debate over an underground light-rail tunnel through the University of Minnesota.

The U of M and the Metropolitan Council have been squabbling over how to weave the Central Corridor train through campus.

A September deadline for a federal funding application has put pressure on negotiations between the two parties. Oberstar's comments will likely add more fuel to the debate.

If you can't sell someone on the Central Corridor light rail line based purely on the merits, you try a different approach. Backers of the transit line, which would connect Minneapolis to downtown Saint Paul via University Avenue, are doing just that.

With time running out in the 2008 legislative session, Saint Paul Democrat Alice Hausman tried Friday to appeal to Governor Pawlenty's business sense.

From The Minnesota Daily, May 1, 2008