Also recommended: Hopkins maintenance base, Eden Prairie route adjustments
Building shallow tunnels for light rail along the preferred route in Minneapolis is the most cost-effective solution and best long-term investment for the region, METRO Southwest LRT (Green Line Extension) planners said today. The recommendation, which will be considered by the Southwest Corridor Management Committee on Wednesday, was published today on the project’s website.
The project’s new cost estimate is $1.56 billion, up from the earlier $1.25 billion estimate that did not include any cost to address the location of freight rail in the corridor. In 2011, the Federal Transit Administration directed the Metropolitan Council to study options to keep freight rail in the LRT route through the Kenilworth neighborhood of Minneapolis in addition to studying how to reroute freight trains to St. Louis Park, adding the cost of dealing with freight rail to the LRT project.
“This really became two projects in one: build a light rail line and include the cost of any freight rail adjustments,” said Mark Fuhrmann, who leads LRT project development for the Metropolitan Council. “With the recommendation to put light rail in shallow tunnels, no homes or businesses will be acquired, and the Kenilworth Trail will stay within the corridor and be preserved for the long term. The shallow tunnel option is the best option because it ensures conditions in the Kenilworth neighborhood will be the most similar to existing conditions today.”
Had staff recommended relocating freight trains to St. Louis Park, tunnels would not be needed for light rail in Kenilworth because there would be enough space to build LRT tracks at ground level.
“But that would mean 220-plus LRT trains operating daily through Kenilworth, a significant visual impact that is largely avoided with shallow tunnels,” Fuhrmann said. “It is 20 seconds per train that light rail trains would be aboveground between the two tunnels. In 2014, design staff will work with the city, park board and surrounding community on ways to screen the LRT trains. We will work to develop a strategy to re-vegetate the corridor that removes hundreds of buckthorn and volunteer trees through Kenilworth.”
Project partners and the railroads spent a decade and a half studying various freight rail reroutes. Delaying a decision to reopen and re-study these eliminated freight rail reroutes would add an approximately $50 million each year, Fuhrmann said.
Members of the Corridor Management Committee and the Metropolitan Council will review the draft staff recommendations tomorrow (Oct. 2) and provide feedback before staff finalize their recommendations and the Council acts on Oct. 9.
As recommended by the Corridor Management Committee, planners also recommend building a maintenance facility in Hopkins where it would ensure efficient operations due to its location midway on the Southwest Corridor, translating into over half a million dollars in operational savings each year for years to come. That is because the Hopkins’ location provides more efficient means for train operator shift scheduling. With a Hopkins site recommendation, planners said they will work with local officials to address the loss of land from the tax base by identifying potential sites for transit-oriented development in the city.
Also recommended are elimination of the 21st Street Station in Minneapolis and Mitchell Road Station in Eden Prairie.
Adjusting the route through Eden Prairie by building the tracks south of the original plan will bring light rail trains closer to the town center. The line would end at Southwest Station, with SouthWest Transit remaining there, planners also recommended. Ending the line at Southwest Station trims $75 million to $80 million in project costs with minimal impact to ridership.
“This meets the city of Eden Prairie’s desire for a town center station in line with the city’s comprehensive plan and provides a multimodal connection between local buses, express buses and LRT,” Fuhrmann said.
Besides the big three issues of freight rail location, the location of the operations and maintenance facility and adjustments to the Eden Prairie alignment, the new cost estimate of $1.56 billion includes the staff recommended $100 million to $150 million in adjustments to other technical issues, which had smaller cost adjustments. This revised budget does not include the cost for locally requested betterments but allows for local partners to identify non-project sources to fund them.
If approved by the Council, project staffers plan to submit LRT plans in mid-October to the five cities and Hennepin County for municipal consent by late 2013. The timetable is needed to keep the project on schedule to finish engineering designs in 2014 so initial construction can begin in 2015 and the line can begin service by the end of 2018.
Background
The Federal Transit Administration, which will pay for half the project, had directed engineers to study concepts for keeping freight rail traffic in Kenilworth where LRT tracks will be built, which is known as co-location, and for relocating freight rail traffic to St. Louis Park. Project staff began studying various concepts in January, meeting with technical staff from the cities, county, Minnesota Department of Transportation, Three Rivers Park District and the freight railroads.
On May 28, the project office announced six concepts for keeping freight rail traffic in Kenilworth and two engineering concepts to relocate freight rail traffic to St. Louis Park. Either a co-location concept or a relocation concept must be chosen to make room for LRT tracks through Kenilworth.
Over the summer, Council staff held 15 open houses related to Southwest LRT, which were attended by more than 2,000 people. Roughly 1,100 comments, suggestions and critiques have been received, reviewed and analyzed.
At two July open houses, planners focused on the two tunnel concepts and the relocation concept that avoids acquiring part of St. Louis Park High School’s football field based on public input that identified these three as the most viable of the eight options.
“Today’s draft staff recommendations reflect the public feedback to minimize property acquisitions and make the best regional investment for the long term, not the least expensive one,” Fuhrmann said.
Next steps
Updated October 10, 2013:
The Corridor Management Committee received and reviewed the staff recommendations at its 9:30 a.m. Oct. 2 meeting at the St. Louis Park Recreation Center, Banquet Room, 2nd floor, 3700 Monterey Dr., in St. Louis Park.
The Metropolitan Council's Transportation Committee will meet October 14 at 4:00 p.m. to consider the Southwest LRT Project's recommended scope and budget. The meeting will be held in the Metropolitan Council Chambers at 390 Robert Street North, St. Paul.
The full Metropolitan Council will meet October 16 at 3:00 p.m. to consider the Southwest LRT Project's recommended scope and budget. The meeting will be held in the Metropolitan Council Chambers at 390 Robert Street North, St. Paul.