Central Corridor (Minnesota) - History

History

The line's opening will mark the return of rail to the corridor, as a streetcar line along University Avenue was the first of four "interurban" streetcar connections between Minneapolis and St. Paul, and directly led to the merger creating the Twin City Rapid Transit system that served the region. That line existed from 1890 until it was paved over in 1953. The old tracks remained beneath the center median pavement until 2012, when they were excavated and removed for the new line. The old streetcar made frequent stops and had a center-of-street right-of-way. It was one of four lines termed "interurban" because they ran between the downtowns of Minneapolis and Saint Paul. The others ran along Como Avenue, Selby Avenue and Lake Street, and West 7th Street in Saint Paul as well as several streets in Minneapolis.

Within a generation of the last streetcar lines being removed in the Twin Cities, planners began thinking of returning to rail. In 1972, the Regional Fixed Guideway Study for the Metropolitan Transit Commission (the forerunner of today's Metro Transit) proposed a $1.3 billion 37- or 57-mile (sources differ) heavy-rail rapid transit system, but the then-separate Metropolitan Council disagreed with that idea – refusing to even look at the plan – and continuing political battles meant that it was never implemented. The Met Council had its own plans for bus rapid transit in the metropolitan region. Another system using smaller people movers was proposed in the 1975 Small Vehicle Fixed Guideway Study and gained the most traction with the Saint Paul city council, but was eventually dropped in 1980. In the 1980s, light rail was proposed as an alternative, and several possible corridors were identified, including the Central Corridor line which had a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) drawn up in 1982. However, it took another two decades before the Hiawatha light rail line began operation on June 26, 2004, just over 50 years since the last regular-service streetcar ran on June 19, 1954 under the old Twin City Lines.

Though a 2003 study commissioned by the Central Corridor Coordinating Committee placed the cost at US$840 million, current estimates place the cost of the light rail line at about US$920 million. Current projections expect final engineering planning to finish by 2010; the line will take about three years to build and should be operational by 2014.

On June 6, 2006, the light rail option was endorsed by the Central Corridor Coordinating Committee. The Metropolitan Council gave final approval to this decision on June 28, 2006, and is currently working on advance utility relocation while waiting for the final federal approval to enter final design and major construction.

The existing Hiawatha Line has exceeded ridership predictions, as is the case with many other light rail lines constructed in the U.S. during the last decade. This led to some delays for the Central Corridor project because local transit officials were forced to retool ridership models before submitting projections to the Federal Transit Administration (FTA). The Metropolitan Council, which operates Metro Transit, submitted numbers showing that a light rail line would carry 43,000 passengers daily by the year 2030. The FTA agreed that the line would be cost-effective at this level, a key requirement for obtaining federal funding.

In April 2008, Governor Tim Pawlenty initially vetoed $70 million in funding for the Central Corridor project, along with other items, from the state budget. The funding was part of a state-local package of $227 million necessary to get federal transportation funds, and the future of the project was in doubt until May 18, 2008, when a revised bonding bill including the $70 million for the Central Corridor was passed in the Legislature and signed into law by the governor.

In August 2009 the Central Corridor project received a Record of Decision from the Federal Transit Administration. The FTA found the project to have fully and accurately completed its environmental documentation with the publication of the Final Environmental Impact statement earlier in the summer, thus clearing the project for final design.

The first construction began in late 2010, including work in downtown St. Paul and near the University of Minnesota campus. By November 2011, construction was about 32% complete, including most heavy construction such as the installation of track segments, a new bridge, partial completion of stations, a rebuilt skyway in St. Paul and the construction of Central Corridor facilities at St. Paul Union Station.

By October 2012, construction was 74% complete.