Public update meetings

Feb. 5, 8-9:30 a.m.
Central Corridor Project Offic
540 Fairview Ave. N., Ste. 200

Feb. 6, 6-7:30 p.m.
Galtier Plaza, 380 Jackson St.

Listening sessions

Feb. 6, noon-2 p.m.
Weisman Art Museum
333 East River Road

Feb. 7, 5:30-7:30 p.m., Metro Transit offices
560 6th Ave. N.

Feb. 11, 5:30-7:30 p.m.
Metropolitan Council chambers
390 N. Robert St., St. Paul.

At the end of this month, the Metropolitan Council will make some big decisions about the design of the Central Corridor Light Rail Transit (LRT) line, which, once completed, will run between downtown Minneapolis and St. Paul.

The “scoping decisions” will influence not only how the line will make its way, but how much it will cost. The Met Council has long said it must drastically reduce the cost of the project — a number that increased in January by $42 million, when the Federal Transit Authority (FTA) requested that the Met Council increase its contingency fund to $172 million. The current estimate for the total project is $990 million — $150 million more than the $840 million cost-effectiveness ceiling set by the FTA — a requirement that must be met before the FTA will match funds to cover half the cost, says the Met Council.

In anticipation of the Feb. 27 decision, the Met Council is hosting a series of “listening sessions” about the project. The sessions follow an ongoing series of update meetings, at which Central Corridor representatives present designs and information about the project to the public. The last of these update meetings will take place during the first week of February in St. Paul (see sidebar). The subsequent listening sessions represent more formal hearings before the Central Corridor Management Committee (CCMC), which advises the full Met Council on the project.

The $990 million estimate does not include some possible aspects of the project, however. “If all features desired by the project and stakeholders were incorporated into the project, they would drive the cost up to $1.25 billion,” states a January release from Laura Baenen, communications manager for the Central Corridor LRT Project.

Those features include a possible tunnel beneath the university campus, which the university supports but the Met Council says will be too costly, especially given the extra $110–$130 million necessary to extend it to “get around” the new football stadium.
The Met Council prefers a street-level crossing along Washington Avenue, which it says would shave as much as $148 million off the project.

The reconstruction of University Avenue may cost less than expected, said Baenen — as much as $24–$27 million less.

last revised: February 4, 2008

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