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May 21, 2008 6:30 pm US/Central
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Key Vote On Light Rail Route Delayed For A Week
ST. PAUL (AP) ―
A key vote on the route for the Central Corridor light rail project was put off for a week Wednesday to give the University of Minnesota more time.
University officials and Twin Cities local governments disagree on what route the rail line should take. The school has been holding out for a northern route through Dinkytown, because of concerns about traffic and safety, while all the other governmental units involved want to run the tracks down Washington Avenue through the heart of the Minneapolis campus.
Central Corridor decision makers had been due to vote on the route Wednesday.
But at the urging of Gov. Tim Pawlenty's office, Metropolitan Council Chairman Peter Bell asked the other members of the panel to give the university another week to get on board. Bell said university President Robert Bruininks called Pawlenty Tuesday night and was "very concerned" about the vote.
The other members of the panel -- including St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman, Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak and commissioners from Hennepin and Ramsey counties -- agreed to the delay.
The university's own study on the two routes concluded the Dinkytown route would fail a key benchmark to qualify for federal funding.
After the meeting, university Vice President Kathleen O'Brien said the school appreciates being given the extra time so Bruininks, senior officials and regents can digest the findings of the new study.
"Right now the university needs to take a step back and say, 'What are the benefits and risks involved?"' O'Brien said.
According to the report, obtained by the St. Paul Pioneer Press, the university's preferred northern route would cost less to build but would attract several thousand fewer riders than the Washington Avenue route. With fewer riders, the report says, the Dinkytown route would fail a complex formula used to determine eligibility for federal funding.
If all goes as planned, the 11-mile light rail line connecting downtowns Minneapolis and St. Paul would open in 2014 and carry up to 41,000 people per day by 2030.
(© 2008 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)