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By Barb Thoman, Executive Director
Southwest light rail will be an extension of the new Green Line.
The Southwest LRT (METRO Green Line Extension) project took a big step forward in December when the Metropolitan Council awarded a $117 million contract to AECOM for advanced design and design assistance during construction. AECOM was also the Metropolitan Council’s engineering services consultant for the Green Line.
The AECOM contract will move the Southwest LRT project from a 30 percent level of detail to 100 percent. Designs are needed for everything from bridges over major roads (of which there are many!) to the location of bike and pedestrian connections and electrical substations.
Project funding is also coming together. Of the $1.65 billion project budget, the Counties Transit Improvement Board, the Hennepin County Regional Railroad Authority, and the state legislature have formally committed $705 million, or 85 percent of the local match. The project still needs a 50 percent match from the Federal Transit Administration (FTA). The Metropolitan Council will submit a federal New Starts grant request in 2016.
Now that the route and station locations are set, station design and public art will be a major focus of community input in 2015. Many of those community meetings will occur next spring and summer. An additional focus of public input in 2015 will be the selection of a design concept for the bridge over the channel between Cedar Lake and Lake of the Isles in Minneapolis. One goal is to create more space for skiers, canoeists, and kayakers under the bridge. All three recently shared design concepts would reduce the number of rows of bridge piers from six to three.
The Southwest Project Office and local communities also will consider how to increase safe and direct access for bicyclists, pedestrians, and people using a wheelchair (or other device) to and from the new stations.
While a lawsuit has been filed to stop or delay Southwest LRT, lawsuits are common with many major transit projects, and often major highway projects. Despite past legal action by Xcel Energy, Minnesota Public Radio, and the University of Minnesota, our region’s first two light rail lines are operating successfully today.
See the project website for more news and upcoming meeting notices.
By Dave Van Hattum, Advocacy Director
Updated: 11/04/14
Photo credit: Allison Osberg
The Twin Cities metro area continues to make important incremental progress toward building a regional system of transitways and strengthening the bus system. Many transformative projects are moving forward—though our region still needs a significant increase in dedicated funding to meet growing demand for transit service and bike/ped connections, and to implement new projects on a reasonable timeline.
Here is a quick rundown of what’s new with transit plans and projects in the Twin Cities this fall:
Light Rail
Green Line Extension (Southwest LRT). After receiving municipal consent from Hennepin County and all cities along the proposed light rail line, this project is moving forward with Phase II environmental testing to determine (and plan for remediation of) any contaminated soils or water near planned project construction sites. There is also extensive work to gather property and title information leading up to acquiring approximately 150 private-properties along the route. Most of these are partial acquisitions, and very few are residential. (Project staff confirm that all of the residential acquisitions are partial and do not involve taking single-family homes.) To-date, $705 million of the $1.65 billion budget is committed from three sources: Counties Transit Improvement Board ($496 million), Hennepin County Regional Rail Authority ($165 million), and the State ($44 million). Though not yet secure, the remaining funds are expected to come primarily from the Federal Transit Administration (half of the $1.65 billion) as well as from the State. Engineering will begin next year, and service is scheduled to open in 2019.
Blue Line Extension (Bottineau LRT). There were two recent milestones for the Blue Line Extension: In late August, the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) approved moving this 13-mile line into the Project Development phase. Then, in late September, the Metropolitan Council chose Kimley-Horn and Associates to engineer the line—from Project Development through construction. Ultimately, the Blue Line Extension is expected to open in 2021.
An open house on November 12 is the next major opportunity for the public to be involved. The event will focus on:
- Planning efforts underway around the proposed line’s four southernmost stations (in North Minneapolis and Golden Valley).
- Ideas for bike, pedestrian and transit connections and development that will help neighborhoods near the stations thrive.
- A related planning initiative for arterial bus rapid transit on Penn Avenue.
Get involved: Attend the open house on Wednesday, November 12, 5:30-8 p.m., at University of Minnesota’s Urban Research and Outreach-Engagement Center (2001 Plymouth Avenue North, Minneapolis).
Future Transit Corridors
Riverview Corridor. A Pre-Project Development (PPD) Study of the Riverview Corridor (between downtown Saint Paul and the MSP Airport) will be completed by December 2015. This study will determine the preferred mode (light rail, bus rapid transit, streetcar, or some combination), as well as the alignment and number of transit stations for this corridor. As is typical with a PPD study, lots of data will be crunched, including ridership projections and capital costs for different options. There also will be opportunities for stakeholder and public input, including the upcoming open house on Nov. 6. Transit improvements for this corridor are expected by 2024.
Get involved: To learn more and show your support for transit improvements in Saint Paul, attend the upcoming open house on Thursday, November 6, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., at Nova Classical Academy (1455 Victoria Way, Saint Paul).
Credit: Ramsey County Regional Railroad Authority
Rush Line Corridor. A PPD Study of the Rush Line Corridor, which travels north from the Saint Paul Union Depot to Forest Lake, is also underway. This study is expected to determine a preferred mode and alignment by summer 2015. Last month, Rush Line planners held a walking tour for residents to gather feedback on the Bruce Vento Trail section (between Larpenteur and Arlington Aves.) and on the East Larpenteur Avenue section of the corridor.
Bus Rapid Transit (BRT)
Gateway BRT. With Washington County’s approval earlier this month, all communities along the corridor officially have signed off on the Locally Preferred Alternative (LPA) for Gateway. The approved LPA, a significant step forward for this transitway, calls for highway BRT in dedicated lanes and a preferred alignment between downtown Saint Paul and Woodbury on Hudson Road (along I-94). Gateway also achieved an important milestone when it was included in the Met. Council’s draft Transportation Policy Plan (TPP) this fall. The Project Development phase will start soon.
Orange Line BRT. The Orange Line will serve riders along I-35W South from downtown Minneapolis to Burnsville. In order to make application to the FTA Small Starts program, the Orange Line recently received a commitment of $2 million from the Met. Council and $6 million from the Counties Transit Improvement Board (CTIB) to complete Project Development and Engineering activities. Another $2 million from the State will go toward the critical transit station at I-35W and Lake Street. The Orange Line is scheduled to open in 2019.
Design illustrations of the Lake Street Station transit bridge and transit plaza being planned in Minneapolis. Credit: Metro Transit
Red Line BRT. The Met. Council has applied to CTIB for nearly $10 million for a new Cedar Grove Transit Station. The new station, in the center of Highway 77, will reduce travel time for bus passengers by 10 minutes on a typical Red Line BRT trip. Construction is expected to begin in spring 2015.
Local and Express Bus
Bus Shelters. Metro Transit recently secured a $3.26 million federal grant to build and enhance up to 140 bus passenger shelters on 19 major bus routes. This work represents an important steeping-stone toward advancing regional transit equity goals.
Metro Transit Service Improvement Plan (SIP). This draft plan to dramatically expand bus service in the metro area was released on October 22. The SIP specifies the proposed new local bus, express bus, and arterial bus rapid transit service that Metro Transit will prioritize when new funding becomes available. The 122 projects it identifies would result in a 29 percent increase in service by 2030, with a majority happening in the next six years. We are thrilled to see planning for this level of growth in the bus system. Learn more in our SIP blog.
Get involved: Metro Transit will host and accept comments at several public meetings Nov. 5-18. We strongly encourage you to attend and to weigh in! See the meeting schedule.
Modern Streetcar
Saint Paul. The Saint Paul City Council approved the Saint Paul Streetcar Feasibility Study over the summer, but has put additional analysis of a streetcar starter line on hold until Ramsey County Regional Railroad Authority completes the Riverview Corridor Study.
Minneapolis. This fall—for the first time—the Met. Council included streetcars in its draft Transportation Policy Plan (TPP) for the metro region. The draft TPP specifically states that if the City of Minneapolis identifies capital funding for the Nicollet-Central Streetcar project, it can be added to the list of regional transit expansion projects and a policy discussion will ensue to specify the source of operating funding. Environmental and design work on this Minneapolis starter line is now underway. An alternatives analysis study is also in progress for streetcar on West Broadway in Minneapolis.
Nicollet-Central Modern Streetcar LPA. Credit: City of Minneapolis.
*This post has been updated to further clarify that the Gateway BRT alignment runs parallel to 1-94, but not on the highway itself.
By Dave Van Hattum, Advocacy Director
Editor’s Note: TLC’s Dave Van Hattum has served as one of two transit representatives on the Transportation Advisory Board since December 2011, and played a significant role in advocating for this greater emphasis on social equity. Thanks to Dave and to all who voted YES.
Walking on Saint Paul's East Side. Credit: Transit for Livable Communities.
On September 17, the region’s Transportation Advisory Board (TAB) took a historic vote to include social equity considerations in its scoring of project funding applications. The new equity points, among points in a number of traditional transportation criteria (usage, age of facility, etc.), do two essential things. One, they give a slight preference to projects (roads, transit, and bicycle/pedestrian) benefitting people of color, people living in poverty, and especially people in racially concentrated areas of poverty. Second, they connect transportation and housing outcomes, by aligning points with efforts by cities and counties to increase the availability of affordable housing.
The TAB, in coordination with the Metropolitan Council, allocates approximately $150 million in flexible (across mode and geography) federal transportation funds every two years through what is called the Regional Solicitation. Because transportation needs in the region far exceed funding available from a variety of sources (see www.MoveMN.org for more info), the selection of projects is very competitive. The 33-member TAB, per federal rules, is made up of a majority of local elected officials (city and county government), as well as appointed citizen, agency, and modal (transit, bike/walk, freight) representatives.
Over the past two years, the Metropolitan Council has undertaken an extensive evaluation of the Regional Solicitation. Led by a consultant team and involving the TAB, the Met. Council, and the Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) to the TAB, the evaluation was designed with two primary objectives:
- better align funding decisions with regional policy
- simplify a complex and costly application process
TLC has long sought to direct a greater share of TAB funding to projects that provide greater access by transit, bicycling, and walking—particularly for those who can’t afford to, or choose not to, own a car. We have also advocated for road repair and retrofit projects rather than mostly building new and bigger facilities. Despite sustained advocacy and a new regional policy emphasis on social equity and sustainability as articulated by Thrive MSP, (the Met. Council’s long-range plan), changing transportation funding priorities was no easy task.
Shifting priorities to leverage improved social equity could be achieved through one of two key policy changes: One, spending an increased share of funds in areas of concentrated poverty or racially concentrated areas of poverty. Or two, keeping the same geographic distribution of funds (which has been closely attended by TAB members for decades), but shifting a greater share of total funding to transit and bike/walk options, which low-income residents and people of color disproportionately rely upon. TLC has long been a champion of both strategies. Ultimately, the historic TAB vote followed the first path. A vote next spring, when specific projects are selected, will determine the split between road, transit, and bicycle/pedestrian investments.
Map: Racially Concentrated Areas of Poverty & Areas of Concentrated Poverty in the Twin Cities region. Credit: Metropolitan Council
Substantive change is never easy. Shifting priorities at TAB required a lot of policy analysis. Trust me: project scoring is a highly detailed, technical endeavor that primarily has been led by engineers on the Technical Advisory Committee to the TAB Policy Board. Achieving a shift in priority also required working from the inside to build a supportive coalition among TAB members, while advocates externally made the case to TAB members to vote for change.
Leadership for change can be attributed to many players: A strong group of reform advocates on TAB, who I helped convene and shared technical expertise with; new and seasoned elected officials appointed to TAB, who knew their “vote for equity” would be on the right side of history; and bold agency voices, who departed from a long history of seeing transportation almost exclusively as an engineering endeavor, to instead embrace that transportation is ultimately about serving people.
Every YES vote for the new equity criteria deserves credit for this victory. Fair housing advocates also played a key role in achieving a scoring system that rewards localities doing their fair share to provide affordable housing. Equity advocates (including our allies at ISAIAH and the Alliance for Metropolitan Stability) contacted TAB members and showed up to provide critical support for this vote. Metropolitan Council staff also contributed key data, shared experiences from other metropolitan regions, and educated TAB members about the equity proposal.
Kenya McKnight speaking last year at a transportation funding rally in the State Capitol Rotunda. Credit: Transit for Livable Communities.
Finally, Kenya McKnight, District D Citizen Representative (and one of only two people of color on the TAB), eloquently, tactfully, and persistently spoke for increasing equitable access in her North Minneapolis community and across the metro region. Despite strong opposition to change, Kenya powerfully conveyed that social equity considerations were appropriate given past disinvestment in low-income communities, and would contribute to better access to opportunity for all residents in our growing, and increasingly diverse, metropolitan region.
Thanks to all!
The ultimate test of this policy change will be seen next spring when a new slate of projects is evaluated and selected for funding. Opponents (NO votes) fear this policy change will shortchange their communities. I believe, and TLC believes, that future allocation of federal transportation dollars should reflect geographical balance, but also tangibly contribute to reducing racial and economic disparities in our region. We will be among the proponents watching closely to ensure that new scoring for social equity considerations results in more equitable distribution of these federal funds.
By Barb Thoman, Executive Director
Post updated: 10/1/14.
Photo Credit: Metro Transit.
The Metropolitan Council’s draft 2040 Transportation Policy Plan (draft TPP), wisely calls for greatly expanding transit, bicycling, and walking options across the region and focusing on more compact, pedestrian-friendly development patterns. The draft TPP, an update of the plan developed in 2009, is out for public comment through Wednesday, October 1, at 5 p.m. TLC urges our members to send comment letters or e-mails to the Met. Council, offering their support for this proposed shift (see our sample comment letter at the bottom of this post). The Council is hearing pretty significant push back from proponents of the spread out, auto-focused, and costly development patterns of the last 50 years.
Demand for travel in the region is undergoing historic change. Young people are driving less and the Baby Boomer generation is starting to retire, both leading to fewer driving trips during peak periods. Ridership on transit is growing even as households in the region make fewer daily trips. Rates of bicycling are up, evidenced from data in the Met. Council’s Travel Behavior Inventory and from TLC’s 2013 Bike/Walk Count Report. The Council’s proposed approach in the draft TPP responds to these trends.
At more than 300 pages, the draft TPP is a long document. Here, we boil it down into thoughts on major topics. If you don’t have a day (!) to read the full plan, we suggest focusing on pages 67-125, which includes Vision and Strategies. Here goes:
- Land use – There is good language in this section (pages 126-148) that calls on cities and counties to prioritize walkable development, better connected streets, a mix of uses, development along transit, and more. This makes good economic and environmental sense and promotes equitable development and access for everyone. In coming years, cities in the metro will be required to update their comprehensive plans to be consistent with the TPPand other Met. Council plans. TLC believes that cities that want to access the funding streams available through the Met. Council (federal transportation, Livable Communities, and others) should be required to plan, zone, and invest in ways consistent with Met. Council plans. The region can no longer afford to subsidize expensive low-density development on farmland and open space at the edge of the region.
- Bicycle and pedestrian system – For ten years TLC has been calling for the identification of a regional bike system (pages 261-273) and it’s included in this plan! We applaud the statement on page 272 that “any new state transportation funding package should include additional funding for bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure…”This is a foundation of the Move MN platform. We would like to see more attention to pedestrian access with a focus on major transit corridors, concentrated areas of poverty, access to schools, and access for seniors.
- Transit – The draft TPP acknowledges the transitway projects that can be completed with the current ¼-cent metro sales tax for transit (Southwest, Bottineau, Gateway, plus Orange Line bus rapid transit (BRT) on 35W). We have concerns about the region’s ability to also maintain existing transit infrastructure, including bus garages and already aging Blue Line rail stations. We also have concerns about counting on larger federal grant awards and expecting state motor-vehicle sales tax revenues for transit to remain steady, given the trend toward less driving.
The increased revenue scenario is on par with what Seattle, Denver, and other peer cities are doing as they continue a rapid build-out of bus and rail across their regions. Additional revenue is essential for: bus system expansion (this requires more than the 1 percent per year proposed on page 234), construction of all arterial BRT lines, building a regional system of transitways in a timely fashion, and a better customer experience (via bus stop safety, comfort, access, and more information). We support the existing Transit Market Area approach to getting the most from regional transit investments by focusing those investments on areas with higher population and employment densities and demand for transit service. We were happy to see the transit chapter acknowledge the state legislative goal to increase the percentage of trips taken on transit—a goal TLC successfully worked on years ago.
Transit Market Areas. Source: Metropolitan Council (PDF).
- Highway system– The draft TPP notes that the Twin Cities region has the eighth largest roadway system in the country and wisely proposes more attention to maintenance and preservation. We would spend even more on maintenance, plus increase the investment percentage for safety projects—including Complete Streets and treatments compliant with the Americans for Disabilities Act—on state, county, and local roads. In addition, we would carefully review the list of 50 proposed “spot capacity expansion” projects to ensure that these projects won’t just move congestion down the road. We support the proposal to add back the bus shoulder lane on I-94 between Minneapolis and Saint Paul (page 183).
Dave Van Hattum, TLC’s Advocacy Director, continues to call for all Met. Council and MnDOT plans—including this one—to have clear and measurable outcomes.
Don’t miss this opportunity to show your support for a new direction at the Council. Comments on the draft TPP are due Wednesday, October 1, at 5 p.m. Submit your comments by e-mail to [email protected].
SAMPLE COMMENT LETTER:
Subject: Comment on draft Transportation Policy Plan
I'm emailing to express my support for the direction the Met. Council has taken in the draft Transportation Policy Plan.
I was very happy to see the call for greatly expanding transit, bicycling, and walking options across the region, as well as a focus on more compact, pedestrian-friendly development patterns. This makes good economic and environmental sense.
Please continue to work on clear and measurable outcomes, but most importantly: Please don't buckle to the proponents of the status quo who want to continue the inequitable and costly policies of the last 50 years. The shift you have proposed will do much more to ensure we have a thriving metro region going forward, with better quality of life and access to opportunity.
By Barb Thoman, Executive Director
In the Twin Cities metro area, six transit projects totaling $36 million are vying for $20 million in available federal funding.
The federal CMAQ program funds projects that reduce traffic congestion and improve air quality. Dollars are allocated through the Metropolitan Council and its Transportation Advisory Board (TAB).
The first three projects listed here received the highest rating in the initial scoring process:
1. Improved bus stations at Lake Street and Interstate 35W to replace the dismal facilities there today. The project would improve facilities for local bus passengers on Lake Street and for express bus passengers connecting at I-35W and Lake Street. Over 30 bus routes connect to these stations. The grant request from Metro Transit is $7 million of a $41 million project cost. The project is estimated to increase use of the I-35W/Lake Street stations by 1,100 riders per day.
Credit: Metro Transit
2. Mall of America Transit Station Renovation and Expansion. This project would improve the Mall of America Transit Station by expanding the facility to serve more bus routes, reconfiguring the site so buses don’t cross the light rail tracks, and improving safety and access for passengers. The grant request is $7 million of a $21 million project cost. Operational savings from the project are estimated to be $1 million annually. The project is estimated to increase use of the MOA station by 1,100 riders per day.
3. Construction of B-Line Bus Rapid Transit from Union Depot in Saint Paul along West 7th Street to the MSP Airport and Mall of America. The project would improve passenger waiting, speed up passenger boarding, provide real-time trip information, and include other improvements. The grant request from Metro Transit is $7 million of a $14 million total project cost. The project is expected to increase ridership by 1,700 riders per day.
Credit: Metro Transit
4. New Southwest LRT Park-and-Ride and Public Plaza. This project includes a new parking structure for 240 vehicles and a new public plaza in Hopkins at Excelsior Boulevard and 8th Avenue serving the Southwest light rail line. The grant request from City of Hopkins is $7 million of a $12.2 million project cost. Service is estimated to serve 234 new daily riders.
5. Bus Service Expansion in Shakopee, Prior Lake, and Scott County. Funding would be used to purchase four buses for a new community-run bus service to connect with Southwest light rail, which is scheduled to open in 2019. The grant request from this city/county proposal is $0.96 million of a $1.2 million project cost. Service is estimated to serve 750 new daily riders.
6. Improvements to Cedar Grove Transit Station. This project would change the configuration of this bus station and add an enclosed walkway to provide a direct bus and passenger connection on Cedar Avenue/Highway 77 in Eagan. The improvements would reduce the travel time on each bus route by 10 minutes and reduce operating needs by one bus per day. The grant request from Metro Transit is $7 million of a $15 million total project cost. Operational savings from the project are estimated to be $400,000 annually. The project is estimated to increase use of the Cedar Grove Station by 150 new riders per day.
Our take: The project implementation year for this round of funding is 2017. With that in mind, TLC would prioritize projects that can be implemented in 2017 or before. Since Southwest LRT will not open until at least 2019, the two corresponding projects (#4 and #5 above) can be considered in the next solicitation. We applaud the Council/TAB for identifying equity considerations as it develops funding recommendations. We continue to be concerned about the need for improved shelters and signage on the bus system as a whole.
While receiving CMAQ funding will be a win for any of the projects on this list, we have to lament that so little funding is available for transit expansion. That is why we are strong supporters of Move MN. We also believe that since the Lake Street station on I-35W increases the capacity of the highway, more of this project should be funded with state and federal highway dollars.
The Transportation Advisory Board will make its CMAQ funding recommendation on May 21 and the Metropolitan Council will act on the recommendation on June 11. Stay tuned.
Public hearings April 10, 16. Public comment deadline April 28.
By Barb Thoman, Executive Director
Where will the 820,000 additional residents expected in the region by 2040 live and work? Will new homes and jobs be well served by transit and walking or will they be in locations served only by driving? Will new jobs and housing help to revitalize areas that need redevelopment or will they be located at the region’s edge consuming farmland and open space?
The answers to these and other questions will be greatly influenced by the Metropolitan Council’s new regional development plan, called Thrive MSP, which will replace the Regional Framework plan adopted in 2004. A recently released draft of Thrive MSP is out for public comment through the end of April.
Transit for Livable Communities and our allies have been following the process to develop Thrive MSP for some time. During the public engagement process for development of the draft plan, TLC has emphasized that Thrive should:
- Identify priority housing and job growth centers and establish zoning and density requirements for those centers, making them eligible for Council funding and services if they meet those requirements. (Seattle has modeled this approach.)
- Target the majority of new development to areas well served by existing and planned transit and areas with infrastructure already in place. Specific language in the Thrive MSP plan should allow the Council, when necessary, to require local communities through their local comprehensive plans to align planning and investment with the new regional goals.
- Identify very specific implementation strategies and performance measures.
We strongly support the plan’s intent to invest in and reduce the region’s racially concentrated areas of poverty. We disagree with the continued call for additional highway expansion. Thrive MSP should help achieve Minnesota’s goal to reduce climate change by setting and measuring goals for the percent of trips by transit, bicycling, and walking in our region; more compact development and higher densities will maximize the full potential of transit and bike/ped connections. Overall, we feel the lack of specificity in the draft makes it difficult to imagine how the plan’s important goals of sustainability, equity, prosperity, stewardship, and livability will be achieved. As we have outlined previously, other regions have created plans that go much farther in defining regional centers and maximizing investments. As a regional body, the Metropolitan Council needs to act boldly.
Weigh in:
Here is a draft of the comment letter TLC will be submitting. We urge you to submit your own letter. You also have the opportunity to testify about the plan at one of two upcoming public hearings:
- April 10, 5 PM, F.T. Heywood Office Building, Minneapolis
- April 16, 5 PM, Met. Council Chambers, Saint Paul
Given the importance of the plan and how long it will likely be in effect, the time to weigh in is now.
Important numbers from Thrive:
- By 2040 the region is expected to add 824,000 new residents, increasing the region’s population to 3.67 million.
- Nearly 60 percent of the projected population increase by 2040 will be people over 65.
- The Council sets some development density expectations, but these are still very low (20 residential units per acre for the urban center, 5 for suburban).
- Per the draft plan, only half of expected growth will be in the urban center, urban cities, and inner suburban areas. The remainder is expected to be at densities of only 3-5 units per acre—in this context, moderate or high-frequency transit is not cost effective.
- Priority growth areas are not identified. The plan does identify 42 higher density centers.
For more on this topic, see our previous blogs in the Thrive MSP series:
By Barb Thoman, Executive Director
January 31 is the Metropolitan Council’s application deadline for $6 million in funding for bike infrastructure, sidewalks, traffic calming, safe routes for people with disabilities, and other projects under the federal Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP) that it administers. The money is for capital projects in the seven-county metro area for construction in 2017. The maximum grant award for any one project is $1 million. Grants are available to local and tribal governments, regional transportation authorities, transit and natural resource/public land agencies, schools and school districts, local education agencies, and other units of government overseeing transportation or recreational trails.
The Met. Council has been funding these types of projects for over 20 years, but this is the first process under the renamed and consolidated federal program as part of the law, MAP-21, passed by Congress in 2012. Despite increasing demand for bicycle and pedestrian facilities, Congress reduced the amount available for this vital program by 30 percent.
To give you an idea of what was funded in the last round, here are four of the eight projects for 2016:
- A bike/ped trail within Crystal and New Hope being developed by Three Rivers Park District
- A bicycle and pedestrian trail being developed by the City of Hastings
- A complete streets reconstruction of 6th Avenue North in Minneapolis
- A roadside parking area connecting to a trail in Ramsey
Once the Metropolitan Council adopts Thrive MSP 2014, the region’s new development plan, the Council will revisit the focus of the Transportation Alternative Program as well as its other federal transportation funding programs.
Coming off the lessons learned from Bike Walk Twin Cities, the federal program that TLC has been administering since 2006, TLC would like to see greater focus of these investments on filling key gaps in off-and on-road systems, more complete streets projects connecting to transit and key community destinations, and investment in bike/walk centers in underserved communities.
We would also like to see revisions to state and county cost-participation policies so that these bicycle and pedestrian projects vital to safety, equity, and access for everyone don’t require special funding but become a part of every transportation project.
In the meantime, we encourage you to continue to push locally for planning and community engagement so your city and county have shovel-ready projects to propose in upcoming funding rounds. We also encourage significant local funding for these vital nonmotorized projects, which improve health and provide access for everyone..
More information on the solicitation for Transportation Alternatives projects.
By Dave Van Hattum, Senior Policy Advocate
With planning underway in a number of areas around the metro, our region is gradually moving toward a true system of transit, bicycling, and walking. Given recent increases in ridership, growing demand from people of all ages in our core cities and first ring suburbs, and the high cost of transportation for working families, it is essential that we continue to accelerate the build out of these options in the Twin Cities. Here are the latest developments and upcoming opportunities to get involved:
Light Rail Green Line LRT.The Metropolitan Council has just announced that Green Line light rail transit service will launch on Saturday, June 14, 2014! A formal ceremony is planned for 9 AM, followed by festivities from 10 AM to 6 PM and free rides all weekend. TLC is involved in planning celebration activities at the Raymond Ave. Station. Stay tuned for more details and ways to be involved.
Southwest LRT. Three studies are currently underway to inform next steps in Southwest LRT project planning. These studies will assess: 1) freight re-route alternatives, 2) impacts to water, and 3) impacts on landscaping. Outside consultants are conducting the first two studies, while the Met Council is completing the landscaping study. Two recent public meetings about these studies attracted hundreds of community members. Unfortunately, attendees voiced a strident standoff between Minneapolis and St. Louis Park. TLC remains supportive of the project overall on the Kenilworth alignment with light rail in a shallow tunnel or at ground level if a safe, cost effective, freight re-route can be deigned. We believe it is imperative that Minneapolis and St. Louis Park reach an agreeable solution and keep this project moving forward. Draft study results are expected in late January, with another opportunity for public comment. Met Council staff is still hopeful that the Met Council could reach a decision on the alignment and seek municipal consent from cities along the line in the first quarter of 2014. Noticeably, this project was not included in Governor Dayton’s 2014 bonding proposal. Rather, the Governor directed the Met Council to assess other financing options, including an increased metro-area sales tax.
Early this month, TLC joined hundreds of community members at the Southwest LRT meetings in Minneapolis and St. Louis Park.
Bottineau LRT. Last week, the Counties Transit Improvement Board (CTIB) approved funding for Bottineau LRT project development. Combined with money from the Hennepin County Regional Railroad Authority, this $27.6 million commitment from CTIB allows project leaders to move Bottineau LRT forward. Pending approval from the federal government, preliminary design and engineering work could begin later this year.
Future Transit Corridors
Gateway Corridor. The Gateway Corridor Commission is considering two route alignments for bus rapid transit (BRT) or light rail transit (LRT) through Oakdale, Lake Elmo, and Woodbury. Local planners want the BRT buses to travel in dedicated lanes, which would both improve travel time and preserve the future option of LRT. MnDOT and the Met Council have proposed BRT on highway shoulders as a far less costly option. As with other transitways being planned around the region, increased funding (beyond the current ¼-cent sales tax) is needed to build the best project for the long-term. In a related development, the McKnight Foundation recently awarded a grant to East Metro Strong, a public-private partnership that will focus on transit-oriented economic development in the Gateway Corridor and elsewhere in Ramsey, Washington, and Dakota counties.
Get involved: Open House, Thursday, Feb. 6, 5-7 PM, Globe University, Woodbury.
The two alignments, called D1 and D2, being considered for the Gateway Corridor will be the focus of an open house on Feb. 6. The public is invited to learn more and provide input on these alternatives.
Red Rock Corridor. The Red Rock Corridor Commission has selected BRT as the preferred transit mode for this 30-mile corridor from Hastings to Saint Paul and Minneapolis (with a possible future extension to Red Wing). The new transit station in Newport, which broke ground last November, will provide a key foundation for expanded transit service in this corridor.
Get involved: Public Hearing, Thursday, Jan. 23, 4 PM, Cottage Grove City Hall.
Midtown Corridor (Minneapolis). On February 12, the Midtown Corridor Policy Advisory Committee is expected to recommend a locally preferred alternative for transit improvements in the Midtown Corridor. The three alternatives under consideration are 1) Lake Street rapid bus, 2) a Midtown Greenway streetcar, or 3) a combination of both, with an extension of the rapid bus route to the Green Line at University and Snelling Aves.
Get involved: Public Meeting, Wednesday, Feb. 12, 8:30-10:30 AM, Colin Powell Center, Minneapolis.
Bus Rapid Transit
Red Line BRT. Open since last June, the Red Line runs between Apple Valley and the Mall of America (where it connects with the Blue Line LRT). A planned improvement near Eagan’s Cedar Grove Station has the potential to speed up the BRT line’s travel time by about 9 minutes round-trip. The plan, which features an enclosed 300-foot pedestrian walkway from the existing park-and-ride to a new stop in the center median on Cedar Ave./Hwy. 77, was approved this month by the Dakota County Regional Railroad Authority. MnDOT, the Met Council, and the Federal Highway Administration also will need to sign off before the project moves forward.
Snelling BRT (Saint Paul). Governor Dayton’s 2014 bonding proposal includes the final $10 million needed for the capital cost of rapid bus service between the 46th St. Blue Line (Hiawatha) LRT Station and the Rosedale Shopping Center. New buses would travel on Ford Parkway and Snelling Ave. with a key connection to the Green Line at University Ave. In addition, the project includes improved stations, shelters, and traffic signal systems. If capital funding is secured this session, Snelling rapid bus could open in 2015.
Get involved: Open House, Thursday, Jan. 23, 6-8 PM, Roseville Library.
Orange Line (35W South) BRT. Governor Dayton also has proposed $7 million in G.O. bonding for the Orange Line, in particular for design and right-of-way for a Lake Street Station in the highway median. This station is needed to replace the current setup, which prevents buses from taking full advantage of the MnPass (free-flow) lanes and has passengers climbing steep steps and waiting along the busy freeway to board.
Highway Transitway Corridors Study. A longer-term study, to be completed by the Met Council this spring, is assessing the potential for bus rapid transit on eight highway corridors: 212, 169, 65, 36, I-94, I-394, 35E N and 35E S.
Streetcar
Saint Paul Streetcar. Saint Paul’s Citywide Streetcar Feasibility Study recommends a four-mile starter line from East 7th St. at Arcade to West 7th St. at Randolph. The recently completed study estimated this modern streetcar would attract over $134 million in development and ideally would eventually be connected by BRT or LRT to the MSP International Airport.
Get involved: Public Hearing, Friday, Jan. 24, 8:30 AM, Saint Paul City Hall (basement level).
Minneapolis Streetcar. The City of Minneapolis is currently working with the Met Council and the Federal Transit Administration to complete an Environmental Assessment (EA) for the Nicollet-Central streetcar project—identified in 2013 as the city’s first modern streetcar line. Watch for the release of, and opportunity to comment on, the EA later this fall.
Local and Express Bus
Metro Transit Bus Service Improvement Program (SIP). Metro Transit has begun a study to determine priorities for improvements to local and express bus service over the next ten to fifteen years. The SIP process is the time to think big, to put forward bold ideas not constrained by today’s limited funding. TLC encourages you to let Metro Transit know what would make riding the bus better or more convenient for you.According to Metro Transit General Manager Brian Lamb, the primary themes identified thus far include faster travel speeds, improved core urban bus routes, expanded urban crosstown routes, more suburb-to-suburb bus connections, and more express service. Improved amenities on buses and at stops (better signage, lighting, shelters, etc.) are also under consideration. Public input will inform a draft plan this spring 2014, with additional public engagement to follow. A final plan is expected by the end of summer. See our recent interview with Metro Transit for more details.
Get involved: Fill out the SIP survey online or email [email protected]. Comment deadline: Friday, Feb. 28.
Bike/Walk Network
Saint Paul Bikeways Plan. On Tuesday, the City of Saint Paul announced a draft bikeways plan that would more than double Saint Paul’s bicycling network of on-street, off-street and designated bike boulevard routes (from 144 miles to 358 miles). The 20-30 year plan includes the creation of a 1.7-mile off-street bicycle loop downtown and completing an approximately 30-mile “Grand Round” route around the city. After public input, a final plan is expected in June.
Get involved: Open Houses, 6-8 PM, Feb. 11, 13, 18 and 20. See details here.
By Dave Van Hattum, Senior Policy Advocate
Good transit and bikeable, walkable neighborhoods are increasingly important to a metro region’s economic future. It’s a key reason to stay tuned in to the progress on Thrive MSP 2040—the Metropolitan Council’s long-range development plan for the Twin Cities region. Thrive MSP 2040 will set the direction and guidelines for where and how future housing and job growth occurs throughout the metro. And, as we’ve blogged in the past (here, here, and here), this plan should ensure that there will be synergy between development and transportation investments.
Less than three years ago, the Met. Council predicted that population growth in the Twin Cities region would boost the demand for vehicle travel substantially in the next 20 years. Recent changes in market forces, however, instead reflect growing demand for more transit, walking, and bicycling and reduced demand for driving. In combination with demographic shifts toward an older and more diverse population, this new reality compels the Council to move in a new direction.
Credit: Met Council Travel Behavior Inventory Summary (see the complete infographic here).
When the previous long-range development plan was crafted, it encouraged 70 percent housing and job growth to developing/rural parts of the region and only 30 percent development in Minneapolis, Saint Paul, and 63 surrounding suburbs—that means that most development was targeted to agricultural land and open space.
With our partners in the Coalition for a Strong Region, TLC has been advocating for a more sustainable, equitable, and affordable plan that targets the majority of new development inside Minneapolis, Saint Paul, and these closer suburbs. Specifically, TLC has pushed for 70 percent growth inside this zone and only 30 percent growth outward to developing/rural portions of the region.
The updated local growth forecasts (for each city) that the Met. Council released this fall signal a major shift in this direction—projecting 55 percent of future housing growth in Minneapolis, Saint Paul, and 63 surrounding suburbs through 2040.
Credit: Metropolitan Council.
TLC welcomes the change, but hopes that portion will increase to 70 percent, and that specific regional and local growth centers—for housing/jobs and industrial development—will be identified in the plan. It is hard to target development in a cost-effective way when you simply identify all of a city as the target. We believe specific regional locations should have the right zoning to accommodate the growth, as well as existing and proposed high-frequency transit service. Thinly spreading our limited financial resources—federal, state, and regional—is not going to achieve the results we need. Instead, resources should be targeted to specific locations if they are going to make a difference.
Seattle, Portland, and other regions show why it’s important to identify centers in the plan: More development inside the beltway, rather than on the region’s outer edge, not only encourages the use of new transit investments, but also protects resources, reduces greenhouse gas emissions, and contributes to a thriving region.
The current draft of Thrive MSP policy directions signals a change in strategy for regional growth, but doesn’t yet set standards for results or emphasize transit and active transportation explicitly. It’s easy for TLC to get behind a more sustainable vision, but higher goals, more specifics, and performance measures are essential if Thrive MSP is to have any significant effect on the regional policy plans or local comprehensive plans that follow.
This is perhaps most crucial with regard to the Thrive MSP goals that emphasize racial equity, reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, and water protection.Particularly given the extensive racial disparities in our region, theCouncil’s main charge of promoting “orderly and economical development” must include equitable access to opportunity. And, if we are serious about sustainability, the region can’t afford not to take action against climate change. Both of these outcomes are served by focusing limited transportation resources on transit expansion, and by leveraging market forces to achieve more compact development.
As a draft of the full Thrive MSP plan is released in early 2014 and as progress on regional policy plans—Transportation, Housing, Water Resources, and Regional Parks— is made, we encourage readers to advocate for:
- Specific, multi-modal performance measures tied to each of the plan’s goals
- Identification of regional centers for housing/job growth and for industrial jobs
- Regional investments that reflect the new priorities described above, and
- Specific language in the Thrive MSP plan that will allow the Council, when necessary, to require local communities through their local comprehensive plans to align planning and investment with the new regional goals.
Weigh in at the Thrive MSP public open house scheduled for Thursday, November 14, 5-7 PM, at the Metropolitan Council Chambers (390 N. Robert Street) in Saint Paul!
By Barb Thoman, Executive Director
Southwest LRT cleared another hurdle yesterday, with the Southwest Corridor Management Committe voting 15-1 in favor of the recommended plan for the line.
We were glad to see the vote yesterday to move
forward with Southwest LRT. The Southwest Corridor Management Committee
includes representatives from the communities along the line. The sole “no”
vote, from Minneapolis, emphasized concerns about preserving the water quality
of the City of Lakes and about whether the freight re-route options have been
explored fully. Even with these concerns, it’s clear that the region’s leaders,
including those in Minneapolis, support advancing transit and preserving
bicycle and pedestrian access in the corridor.
TLC’s priority is building out regional systems of
transit, bicycling, and walking. These networks greatly increase access to jobs
and quality of life for the region’s growing population. They create connected
communities less burdened by air pollution and more likely to be healthy. As we
look at projects and progress, therefore, we are focusing attention on the
effect on the whole system, multimodal access, and impacts on disadvantaged
populations and our environment.
The system:
As
TLC made clear last summer, our region needs to keep Southwest LRT (SWLRT) project
costs at a level that preserves our chances for federal funding and that does
not adversely affect the build out of the rest of the regional transit system. We
are pleased that the SWLRT project office’s proposed project budget of $1.55
billion still is competitive with other LRT projects around the US with which
our region will complete for federal funding. This budget includes ending the
LRT line at the Southwest Station (as TLC recommended in the DEIS process years
ago), while ensuring important bus connections and express bus service from
Eden Prairie and adjoining counties. A full funding grant agreement application
to FTA is planned for spring 2014. We can’t afford additional delay in
finalizing the alignment, stations, and other details, and also securing
municipal consent from all five cities along the line. This project is
competing directly for federal funds with two projects in Maryland and one in
San Diego.
The SWLRT project still needs a state commitment of
10 percent of the project cost and CTIB must also approve 30 percent of the project
cost. The decision yesterday avoids taking property in St. Louis Park or in
Minneapolis and is cheaper than the current estimates for freight re-route.
Looking to the build-out of the full system, however, the issue bigger than the
SWLRT project cost is that our region still lags in overall funding for
transit, bicycling, and walking. To fully build out the regional plan (for LRT,
BRT, bus, bicycling, walking, and streetcars) in fifteen years requires an
increase of 3/4-cent in the regional sales tax for transit. Securing this funding
will require support from across the region and likely will come only when the
legislature approves new funding for transportation statewide.
Multimodal
access: There must be commitment to maintaining bike/ped access in the
corridor as well as improving bike/ped access to stations. Shallow tunnels for
LRT in the Kenilworth Corridor allow for retention of bike/ped trails at grade from
just north of the West Lake Street Station to Cedar Lake Parkway. Additionally,
yesterday’s decision included the approval of an amendment
to maintain the "character and alignment" of the existing
Kenilworth trails. The northern tunnel eliminates the 21st Street
Station, which was projected to have very low ridership and minimal bus service.
Shallow tunnels for LRT in the Kenilworth Corridor allow for retention of bike/ped trails at grade from just north of the West Lake Street Station to Cedar Lake Parkway.
TLC has long pushed for charging a low daily fee for parking at transit stations along this line and at other LRT stations in the system. The region continues to spend a lot of money on parking at transit stations, including 3400 spaces for this project at a cost of more than $25,000 per space. Parking fees would more fully capture the costs of driving, encourage access to stations by transit, bicycling, and walking, and provide funding for bicycle and pedestrian access and costs related to transit-oriented-development. Parking fees would also better balance supply and demand as transit ridership increases. We believe the premium service provided by LRT justifies charging for parking, and that it may make sense to expand parking charges to park-and-rides regionwide sometime in the future. Transit agencies in other regions do charge for parking including RTA in Denver, SEPTA in Philadelphia, and BART in San Francisco, among others.
Disadvantaged populations: As with Central Corridor LRT, it is imperative to ensure that affordable housing in proximity to the line is a priority as part of future transit-oriented development. We support the plan to shift Canadian Pacific-owned freight tracks to the north side of the LRT tracks, as this strengthens transit-oriented development potential in Hopkins and St. Louis Park. As we stated in our comment letter on the SDEIS, we support locating the light rail maintenance base in Hopkins rather than in Eden Prairie. A Hopkins location provides better access from an operations standpoint and provides greater access to jobs at the facility.
Environment & Health: There are concerns that the SWLRT alignment might affect water resources in the Kenilworth Corridor. We are very encouraged by the fact that the watershed district has been participating in the process of evaluating the shallow tunnel option and approves of them. We agree with Minneapolis that all necessary precautions must be taken to ensure no harm to water resources, during construction and operation of the project. We also want to emphasize that the build-out of a regional system of transit, bicycling, and walking contributes to improved air quality, less run off from paved surfaces, retention of open space, and it fosters active transportation. These investments speak directly to our need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The Metropolitan Council is expected to vote on the recommended plan for SWLRT on October 16 (3:00). We urge the Council to keep Southwest LRT moving forward while also working with residents and leaders from Minneapolis and other cities along the line to address remaining questions and concerns about this vital project. The Council will need to seek municipal consent for the project by the end of the year.
Tonight, a public open house will give community members an opportunity to ask questions and share their input on the recommended plan for SWLRT in Minneapolis. Find more information on our events calendar.
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