Hearings set before formal action on Central Corridor preliminary design plans

Contact: Laura Baenen
Central Corridor LRT Project
Communications Manager
651-602-1797 office
612-269-4365 cell
Laura.baenen@metc.state.mn.us

St. Paul – May 15, 2008 – As required by state law, local governments will hold public comment hearings May 29 through June 17 on schematic drawings for the Central Corridor LRT Project before they take formal action on them in July.

This is known as the municipal consent process. These hearings will deal only with the content of the preliminary design plans, which show the general dimensions and location of the light rail alignment, including approximate station locations and a plan for disability access.

The hearings won’t revisit decisions that were made earlier, such as the number of stations, and no actions will be taken at these hearings. Decisions regarding issues such as public art, station design and streetscape will be the focus of future meetings.

The public will be able to ask questions and get answers informally from project staff at open houses one hour before each public comment hearing where staff will present the same brief overview. If members of the public attend a hearing outside of their jurisdiction, their comments will be forwarded to their home jurisdiction.

Hearing schedule

May 29, 5-7 p.m. - Minnesota Department of Transportation and the Hennepin and Ramsey counties’ regional railroad authorities joint public hearing, Goodwill/Easter Seals, 553 Fairview Ave. N., St. Paul. Open house at 4 p.m.
June 3, 1:30-3:30 p.m. - City of Minneapolis, City Council chambers, Room 317, City Hall, 350 S. 5th St., Minneapolis. Start time marks the beginning of the one-hour open house. Open house at 12:30 p.m.
June 4, 5:30-7:30 p.m. - City of St. Paul, City Hall Council Chambers, 15 W. Kellogg Blvd., St. Paul. Open house at 4:30 p.m.
June 5, 5-7 p.m. - Ramsey County, Lao Family Center, 320 W. University Ave., St. Paul. Open house at 4 p.m.
June 17, 1:30-3:30 p.m. - Hennepin County, Hennepin County Government Center, A-2400, 300 S. 6th St., Minneapolis. Open house at 12:30 p.m.

How to submit comments in writing

Besides speaking at the hearings, the public may submit written comments focused on the plans’ technical details to both their city and county contacts listed below, by the date indicated:

City of St. Paul (accepted up to June 12)
Allen Lovejoy
1500 CHA, 25 W. Fourth St.
St. Paul, MN 55102
Email: Centralcorridor@ci.stpaul.mn.us

Ramsey County (accepted up to June 12)
Art Coulson
RCGC-West, Ste. 6560, 50 W. Kellogg Blvd.
St. Paul, MN 55124
Email: comments@regionalrail.org
Comment line: 651-266-2776.

City of Minneapolis (accepted up to June 9)
Kelly Moriarity
309 2nd Ave. S., Rm 300
Minneapolis, MN 55401
Email: Kelly.moriarity@ci.minneapolis.mn.us

Hennepin County (accepted up to June 23)
Joe Scala
417 N. 5th St., Ste. 333
Minneapolis, MN 55401
Email: joseph.scala@co.hennepin.mn.us

The Minnesota Department of Transportation is also taking comments up to June 12 through Carissa Ptacek at the Central Corridor Project Office, 540 Fairview Ave. N., St. Paul, MN 55104 or email Carissa.ptacek@dot.state.mn.us

About the plans

Five of the seven plans are broken into geographic areas, and the final two plans cover the entire 11-mile corridor. By geographic region, the first five plans show the location of the track, roads, turn lanes, sidewalks, curbs and gutters, bus stops, crosswalks, proposed on-street parking spaces, traffic signals, station platform locations and existing conditions to give readers a before-and-after comparison. Of the latter two plans, one shows the typical station platform types and layout of equipment on each. The second one shows the electrical and communications components.

The plans are available for viewing online.

A Citizens Guide to reading the plans is available online (pdf). Copies of the Citizens Guide are available at the listed locations with the plans.

Where to see the plans

In St. Paul

Metropolitan Council library, 390 N. Robert St.
Central Corridor LRT Project office, 540 Fairview Ave. N., Ste. 200
MnDOT’s Transportation Building library, 395 John Ireland Blvd.
Hamline-Midway Library, 1558 W. Minnehaha Ave.
Merriam Park Library, 1831 Marshall Ave.
Rice Street Library, 1011 Rice St.
Rondo Community Library, 461 N. Dale St.
St. Paul Central Library, 90 W. 4th St.
St. Anthony Park Branch Library, 2245 W. Como Ave.

In Minneapolis

Franklin Library, 1314 E. Franklin Ave.
Minneapolis Central Library, 300 Nicollet Mall
Southeast Library, 1222 4th St. SE

Questions and requests for alternative formats and assistance reading the plans may be directed to the Central Corridor LRT Project office. An outreach staffer will provide assistance. The public comment line is 651-602-1645, and the email address is Centralcorridor@metc.state.mn.us

Central Corridor LRT Project

The Central Corridor Light Rail Transit Project linking downtown St. Paul and downtown Minneapolis via Washington and University avenues would be the fourth in a planned network of rail and bus ``transitways’’ in the Twin Cities. Construction would begin in 2010 on the planned 11-mile Central Corridor line, with service beginning in 2014. The line would connect with the Hiawatha LRT line at the Metrodome station in Minneapolis and the Northstar commuter rail line, which will begin operation in late 2009, at the new Downtown Minneapolis multimodal station. The Metropolitan Council would be the grantee of federal funds. The regional government agency is charged with leading the design and building of the line in partnership with the Minnesota Department of Transportation. The Central Corridor Management Committee, which includes the mayors of St. Paul and Minneapolis and commissioners from Ramsey and Hennepin counties, provides advice and oversight.

The Central Corridor LRT Project Website is www.centralcorridor.org

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