Light-rail line’s high costs draw warning

01/25/2008

Planners continue their work as the governor says he wants the price scaled back to $840 million.


By JIM FOTI,
Star Tribune
Last update: January 24, 2008


Saying that state money for the Central Corridor light-rail line "could easily be transferred to projects of at least equal importance to Minnesota," Gov. Tim Pawlenty has issued another warning about costs and criticized the lack of consensus among planners of the 11-mile line.

The light-rail line's planners have been trying to trim the price of the project, but the University of Minnesota wants a tunnel through campus and Ramsey County commissioners still hope for a terminal behind Union Depot.

In a letter Tuesday, Pawlenty told the mayors of Minneapolis and St. Paul, the Hennepin and Ramsey county boards, and the president of the University of Minnesota that an agreement on the line's many elements, as well as local funding commitments, "are a prerequisite to my support and the project moving forward."

Pawlenty has included $70 million for the line in his bonding proposal, half of the state government's expected contribution.

Echoing comments he made last week, the governor said the project needed to be scaled back to $840 million, not the $1.25 billion that it would cost if all stakeholders got their wishes. The line, which the Metropolitan Council hopes to have running in 2014, would connect the downtowns of Minneapolis and St. Paul and travel mainly along University Avenue.

Questioned about the $840 million figure at Wednesday's meeting of the Central Corridor Management Committee, Met Council Chairman Peter Bell said it was "more than back of the envelope and far from a precise calculation." The number is thought to be one that would yield a "cost-effectiveness index" that federal officials would approve.

Planners could approve a more expensive project, Bell said, but state and local sources would then have to provide more money.

Less rebuilding, more stoplights

Bell and other members of the management committee heard about several options for the line Wednesday, including:

Repaving University Avenue instead of doing a complete street reconstruction. This would save $24 million to $27 million.

Adding six stoplights along University and removing one. Because the tracks will run down the middle of the street, left turns will only be allowed at intersections with signals.

Running the line through the northern part of the University of Minnesota campus instead of along Washington Avenue. The option is being studied and, if approved, would delay the project by a year.

Altering the location of two stations. The one at Rice Street would be moved to the east side of the intersection, closer to the State Capitol, while the West Bank station would be shifted west to allow for pedestrian access from Cedar Avenue.

Bell says all decisions must be made by Feb. 27 if the project is to stay on schedule.