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Urban Partnership Agreement (UPA) efforts begin to yield progress

2009 deadlines on horizon for transit, technology projects

By the end of this year, commuter bus drivers on Cedar Avenue traveling between Lakeville and the Mall of America will be navigating the road’s narrow shoulders and bypassing congestion with the help of new technology developed at the University of Minnesota.

The innovative lane guidance system is the first of its kind in the world. It is one of a series of projects to ease congestion, through enhanced transit options and other commuting incentives in the I-35W and Cedar Avenue corridors, that will be completed in 2009.

The projects, funded with approximately $183.5 million from the federal Urban Partnership Agreement (UPA) and local matching funds, involve several innovative concepts never before used in the United States. Among the UPA projects are the following:

• Advancing park-and-ride components of bus rapid transit (BRT) along Cedar Avenue in Dakota County, including building new transit stations and park-and-ride facilities.
• Adding a second bus lane on two downtown Minneapolis streets to speed operations.
• Converting existing high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes and constructing new high-occupancy toll (HOT) lanes to accommodate dynamically priced tolling during congested periods.
• Adding transit-related advantages along stretches of the corridors.  
• Installing technology to provide priority for transit and information for commuters in the corridor.

 

The Metropolitan Council (which operates Metro Transit) and the Minnesota Department of Transportation (Mn/DOT), as the local urban partners and recipients of the UPA grant funding, have partnered with other agencies to implement the projects. Partners include the City of Minneapolis, the Minnesota Valley Transit Authority (MVTA), Dakota County and the University of Minnesota.

New bus lane cuts time from commute

One UPA transit project is already in place. A new bus-only turn lane for northbound buses at Cedar Avenue and Highway 62 opened in November. The lane allows buses to bypass the diamond interchange, cutting several minutes off the trip during congested periods.

Several other projects are in the queue for the early months of 2009:

• Utility, light and traffic signal work will continue throughout the winter on Second Avenue S. and Marquette Avenue in downtown Minneapolis. Street construction will resume in the spring. This project, drawing the largest portion of the UPA grant funds, will completely rebuild the avenues from 12th Street S. to First Street S. Two lanes will be designated for buses, traveling in the opposite direction of the two lanes of regular traffic.
• Mn/DOT will begin installing signs along I-35W to alert motorists to HOT lane pricing, speeds, travel times, and incidents ahead within their lane. The signs will also indicate whether lanes are open or otherwise restricted.
• Work will begin in 2009 on the three transit stations that will be constructed in the Cedar Avenue Corridor Transitway – the Cedar Grove park-and-ride, an expanded Apple Valley Transit Station park-and-ride, and a park-and-ride at Cedar and 179th Street in Lakeville.

 

Helping bus drivers navigate a narrow shoulder

The enhanced transit options planned for the corridor along Cedar Avenue between the Mall of America and Lakeville include some of the more innovative aspects of the project. Among them is the lane-guidance system for buses. This project was a cornerstone element that made Minnesota’s project package attractive to federal funders, according to Craig Lamothe, manager of UPA transit projects for the Council.

The guidance system is a safety feature for individual transit operators to navigate the narrow shoulders along Cedar Avenue. The MVTA, working with the University of Minnesota, will equip 10 buses with the technology that will help drivers stay in the center of the shoulders, particularly when the weather affects visibility, such as when it’s dark or raining.

Currently, it is up to each operator to determine whether he or she is comfortable using the shoulder. Lamothe said some passengers have expressed frustration when drivers don’t use the shoulders, and this project will provide an opportunity to enhance the confidence of each operator and show value to commuters who choose to use transit.

Federal officials are watching the project closely.

“This is the first demonstration,” said Lamothe. “We’re anxious to see if it works in this fleet, and the rest of the country.” Lamothe noted that this technology could be especially useful in older cities implementing bus-only shoulders, where lane space is limited and lanes are generally narrower than those in the Twin Cities metropolitan area.

County assesses impacts of Cedar Avenue Transitway

Several of the UPA projects will be integrated with BRT in the Cedar Avenue Corridor. Dakota County officials recently closed the comment period for the Environmental Assessment Worksheet (EAW) for the Cedar Avenue Corridor Transitway improvements.

The EAW provides a full examination of the social, economic and environmental impacts of a project, and proposed mitigation strategies for those impacts. The next step is for state and federal agencies to review and endorse the assessment, including the public commentary. In addition, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency will review the assessment and determine if a more in-depth examination of impacts, called an Environmental Impact Statement, is necessary.

Residents and business owners recognize the value of the congestion-reduction efforts, said Sam O’Connell, transit specialist for Dakota County. Their greatest concerns involve potential station locations and how roadway improvements might affect traffic access to Cedar Avenue.

The County will address these issues in the final design for the project, O’Connell said.

“We (now) have a better understanding of what bus rapid transit is and a better understanding of how to implement transit-related resources in the community,” O’Connell said. She noted that with a robust network of different transit services, it’s important to understand the full range of needs along the corridor and allocate the resources appropriately to give residents the greatest benefit.

Speeding toward a 2009 deadline

UPA projects must be completed by September 2009. A few aspects of the agreement have received short extensions through December.

In addition, related projects, such as roadway construction on Cedar Avenue, will continue beyond 2009.

The Twin Cities metropolitan area was one of only five regions nationwide to win competitive funding from the U.S. Department of Transportation as part of the UPA program. Winning regions proposed innovative congestion reduction strategies involving the four “Ts” – tolling, transit, telecommuting and technology.