Central Corridor half done

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The Metropolitan Council says construction of the Central Corridor light rail line connecting downtown Minneapolis and St. Paul is now half done, and will be 75 per cent finished by the end of the year. The project is on target to finish on time and within budget.Laura Baenen is the Communications Manager for the project and she talked with KFAI’s Terry Carter on The Takeaway. [Audio below] Continue Reading

Central Corridor will change bus routes up and down the line, across Minneapolis, St. Paul

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A series of public meetings that ended in mid-March launched discussion of changes to bus routes in the Twin Cities, which will take effect in 2014 with the opening of the Central Corridor light rail line. A 98-page Existing Conditions Report looks at about two dozen existing routes, their current ridership, speed and scheduling, and at deficiencies in the bus system, particularly in substandard frequency on some lines and on lack of north-south connecting routes.The report calls for more frequent service, especially on evenings and weekends. It also notes the need for some north-south bus service between Snelling and Dale in St. Paul, because standards call for bus lines to be no more than one mile apart, and the current Snelling and Dale buses are two miles apart. One way to fund increased north-south bus service would be by cutting frequency of bus service on University Avenue itself.The study focuses directly on routes 2, 3, 6, 8, 16, 21, 50, 53, 62, 63, 65, 67, 84, 87, 94, 134, and 144, with some information on routes 46, 61, 68, 70, 74, and 272.Comparing the Central Corridor LRT, which will be called the “Green Line,” to the existing Hiawatha light rail, the report concluded:Connecting bus service will be much more critical to the success of the Green Line than has been the case with the Hiawatha or “Blue” Line. Continue Reading