HighLight Heading
June 2007
Special Research Conference Issue: Concurrent Sessions
Transitway development in the Twin Cities
With the success of the Hiawatha light-rail transit (LRT) line, transit is fast becoming a hot local transportation option, whether it is by LRT, bus, busway, bus rapid transit (BRT), or commuter rail. A standing-room-only crowd packed into a concurrent session to find out the latest about burgeoning plans for transit in the Twin Cities and beyond. Posters with project information and maps lined the back of the room.
Mark Furhmann, deputy general manager of Metro Transit, began the session about transitway corridor development with a presentation on the Hiawatha LRT Before and After Study. His broad overview of the 3-year-old, 12-mile line covered ridership, customer demographics, operating productivity, traffic, special events, economic development, and transitway funding.
A simulation of new development newar the planned hub for the Northstar Commuter Rail in Minneapolis
Hiawatha LRT average weekday ridership last year exceeded the forecast 19,600 by 44 percent, according to Furhmann. In fact, the average weekday ridership of 28,147 in 2006 exceeded the 24,300 forecast for the year 2020. Moreover, transit ridership in the Hiawatha transit corridor, which includes 27 bus lines and the LRT, increased about 44 percent from 2003 to 2006. Experts also are predicting population and employment increases in that area over the next few years.
Furhmann also detailed the impact LRT has had on economic development in the area, citing statistics and forecasts about thousands of new housing units and other permitted building activity in the corridor, from downtown Minneapolis to the Mall of America in Bloomington. “When they saw the first test trains in early 2004, there was a flood of development applications in the corridor,” he said. “The developers finally believed after 30-plus years of debate that the trains are actually going to start serving passengers in Hiawatha.”
Furhmann concluded his presentation with a high-quality video illustration of planned development for and around Minneapolis Downtown Station, the main terminal for the Northstar Commuter Rail, a project he is directing. He credited the Hiawatha LRT project for prompting more transit funding, specifically $97.5 million for Northstar and $120 million from the Motor Vehicle Sales Tax (MVST) amendment. “Hiawatha’s success has helped our policymakers think positively about funding additional transitways here in the region,” he concluded.
Next, Kathryn Fischer, director of the Ramsey County Regional Rail Authority (RCRRA), and Marthand Nookala, public works administrator for Hennepin County and deputy executive director of the Hennepin County Regional Railroad Authority (HCRRA), outlined extensive transit plans for the east and west metro areas of the Twin Cities.
Fischer placed the work within the context of the Metropolitan Council’s transit master plan, which is being prepared and will set priorities for all of the area’s major transit projects. “Much of our work involves intergovernmental coordination,” she said. “We do so much work with other governmental organizations, community groups, and consulting firms.”
A key organization driving transit development in the Twin Cities is a seven-county joint-powers group, the Metro Transitways Development Board. “Their goal is to get more projects done faster,” Fischer said.
Fischer next described the Central Corridor, which is expected to serve 43,000 riders each day and feature 11 miles of light rail between the Hiawatha Line in downtown Minneapolis and a revamped Union Depot in downtown St. Paul via University Avenue. Union Depot, the proposed transit hub of the east metro, has yet to be redeveloped, but negotiations are under way to acquire the property and relocate several businesses, including the U.S. Postal Service mail-handling facility.
The Union Depot plan calls for a multimodal transit hub for Metro Transit buses and LRT, Amtrak, Jefferson and Greyhound bus services, and eventually for other transit corridors—which may include commuter rail—such as the Rush Line (to Hinckley), Interstate 94 (to St. Croix County, Wisconsin), Red Rock (to Hastings), and Robert Street (to Rosemount). A high-speed rail line to Chicago is also a possibility someday.
Nookala listed several transit projects west of the Mississippi that feed downtown Minneapolis, including Northstar Commuter Rail, Hiawatha LRT, and Central Corridor LRT, as well as Bottineau Corridor (to Osseo along Highway 81), Interstate 394 (to Minnetonka), Cedar Avenue Corridor (from the Mall of America to Lakeville), Interstate 35W BRT (to Lakeville), and Southwest Corridor (to Eden Prairie).
Nookala also discussed Hennepin County efforts to develop transit projects in partnership with agencies in other jurisdictions. He specifically cited the importance of research conducted with the assistance of CTS and the Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs to evaluate the impact of transitway projects and create a data library for use in further project planning and evaluation.