HighLight Heading
July 2008
Special Research Conference Issue: Plenary Sessions
Minnesota UPA project builds on previous success, partnerships
Arlene McCarthy
Bernie Arseneau
Following the keynote presentation by David Horner, two local leaders discussed the Minneapolis UPA project: Arlene McCarthy, director of metropolitan transportation services with the Metropolitan Council, and Bernie Arseneau, director of Mn/DOT's Office of Traffic, Safety and Operations.
"In general, UPA is going to be fabulous for Minnesota," McCarthy said. The project implements a new approach— priced shoulder lanes—to squeeze capacity out of the right-of-way and deliver multimodal improvements. The project will receive $133 million from the UPA along with $50 million in local match funds from the state legislature and Met Council.
"This is an unprecedented effort at the federal level," McCarthy explained. "They set policies and goals, and then left it to the locals. The decision-making process was difficult and competitive, which prompted risk taking and creativity."
Earlier projects that received federal support—the I-394 MnPASS toll lane and the Hiawatha light-rail transit line— demonstrated that Minnesota was up to the task, McCarthy said. The partnerships forged for those projects and others were a key factor in the selection. For example, today there are more than 250 miles of bus shoulder lanes in the Twin Cities thanks to "the visionary thinking years ago of Mn/DOT, Metro Transit, the State Patrol, and the legislature," she said. The UPA proposal blends those two concepts—tolling and shoulder lanes— and "takes them to the next generation of shoulder pricing," she concluded.
Attendees view research posters during a break between conference sessions.
Arseneau echoed McCarthy's emphasis on partnerships. The project is "founded on Minnesota's history of working through partnerships to deliver challenging initiatives," he said. Many agencies played a role in shaping Minnesota's UPA plan, including transit, counties, cities, the University of Minnesota, the Federal Highway Administration local division, and the private sector. Partners came together at two workshops (facilitated by CTS) to brainstorm and identify candidates for a proposal. In the end, the partners selected the I-35W corridor north and south of Minneapolis in order to have a project scope suitable to obtain measurable data. Both sections will receive transit enhancements while the southern stretch will also include congestion pricing, creating an in-field lab to measure the effects of both. Work is moving forward at a "great pace" to meet the September 30, 2009, completion date, he said.
The centerpiece of the project is a priced dynamic shoulder lane—the first in the world. "The project is using real estate that is already there…to move as much traffic as we can," Arseneau said. Changeable message signs above all five lanes will provide real-time information to warn motorists of incidents, provide access for emergency vehicles, and help clear crashes more quickly. "If there is a crash," he said, "we have a safer situation than on a multilane road with shoulders."
Although the work is focused on I-35W, the plan is to apply findings from the project to other areas of the Twin Cities. "That's why the evaluation data are so important," Arseneau concluded.
A lively question-and-answer session followed, moderated by Robert Johns, CTS director. Brian Lamb, general manager of Metro Transit and a member of the CTS Executive Committee, rose to offer final comments. A unique feature of Minnesota's project is that the shoulder lane and transit fares will be priced dynamically in the corridor, thus using "the total transportation system to influence behavior in a way that hasn't been done before," Lamb said. "We're in a great experiment, one we will succeed in and that will pay great dividends...as we move forward in the next generation of transportation in the ever-growing metro area."
For more about the Minneapolis project, see www.dot.state.mn.us/funding/upa.