Alternatives Analysis Summary Report

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Alternatives Analysis Summary Report Alternatives Analysis Summary Report Hennepin County Regional Railroad Authority Minnesota May 2013 TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 1 ALTERNATIVES ANALYSIS 5 Alternatives Analysis Study 5 D2 Investigation 10 LPA Selection 13 NEXT STEPS 24 APPENDICES 24 BottineauTransitway Alternatives Analysis Summary Report INTRODUCTION WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THIS REPORT? FIGURE 1: TWIN CITIES REGIONAL TRANSITWAY SYSTEM This report summarizes the Alternatives Analysis (AA) evaluation process and recommendations for the Bot- Northstar Line continued tineau Transitway The report describes which transit Northstar Line modes, facilities, and alignments were studied and 94 why decisions were made to discontinue study of some alternatives and recommend further study of others It also describes the major steps in the decision process 94 35W 35E and who was involved 694 94 94 694 This report describes the steps leading to 694 the selection of a Locally Preferred Alter- 35W Proposed Bottineau 35E native (LPA) for the Bottineau Transitway. Minneapolis Transitway 694 The LPA is the transitway alternative that 394 Green Line St. Paul 94 the corridor’s cities, Hennepin County, 494 Blue Line (Central) and the Metropolitan Council recommend (Hiawatha) Green Line 494 for construction. (Southwest) The LPA responds to the five needs that prompted study of the Bottineau Transit- 494 way: growing travel demand, increasing traffic congestion, people who depend on 35W 35E 77 transit, limited transit service and reverse Line Orange (I-35W) commute opportunities, and regional Red Line growth objectives. (Cedar) Downtown Minneapolis Inset 94 Blue Line (LRT) 35W 55 Green Line (LRT) Orange Line (BRT) WHAT IS THE BOTTINEAU TRANSITWAY? Red Line (BRT) Transit Stations 94 The Bottineau Transitway is a proposed project that Northstar Line (commuter rail) 35W Regional Multimodal Hub will provide for transit improvements in the highly trav- Miles eled northwest area of the Twin Cities The Bottineau 0 1 2 4 6 Transitway is located in Hennepin County, Minnesota, extending approximately 13 miles from downtown Min- neapolis to the northwest serving North Minneapolis and the suburbs of Golden Valley, Robbinsdale, Crys- transit (LRT) on the Blue Line (Hiawatha) and Green tal, Brooklyn Park, and Maple Grove The transitway Line (Central Corridor and the planned Southwest investment is anticipated to serve a broader area to line), bus rapid transit (BRT) on the Red Line (Cedar the northwest, including the communities of Dayton, Avenue) and Orange Line (I-35W South), the Northstar Rogers, and Hassan Township (Hassan Township was commuter rail, and express bus routes (Figure 1) The annexed into the City of Rogers on January 1, 2012 Bottineau Transitway also will maintain or enhance lo- Future reference to Rogers in this document includes cal and express bus service throughout the corridor Hassan Township ) Transportation and land use studies along the Bottin- The Bottineau Transitway will connect North Minne- eau Corridor began in 1988 with the Hennepin Coun- apolis and the region’s northwest suburbs with the ty Comprehensive LRT System Plan The Bottineau region’s system of transitways that consist of light rail (Northwest) Transitway has consistently been included 1 Alternatives Analysis Summary Report BottineauTransitway in regional transportation system plans In 2008, the the Bottineau Transitway through the FTA New Starts Bottineau corridor was one of 29 corridors analyzed program for their potential for commuter rail or LRT/BRT invest- ments in the Metropolitan Council’s Transit Master WHO PARTICIPATED IN THE LPA SELECTION Study The study concluded that the Bottineau corridor PROCESS? should continue to be advanced toward implementa- The Hennepin County Regional Railroad Authority tion. This conclusion is reflected in the region’s current (HCRRA), in consultation with the Metropolitan Council long-range transportation plan, the 2030 Transporta- and the FTA, is serving as the local lead agency for the tion Policy Plan (adopted in 2010), which identifies the Bottineau Transitway AA Throughout the AA process, Bottineau Transitway as one of the transit corridors to there has been active engagement with the public and be developed by 2030 as LRT, Busway, Highway BRT, project advisory committees Some of the most active or Commuter Rail local agency partners participate on the project com- WHAT IS AN ALTERNATIVES ANALYSIS? mittees described below (Figure 2) An AA is a federal process for the local evaluation of FIGURE 2: AA STUDY PARTNERS the costs, benefits, and impacts of transit alternatives designed to address mobility problems and other lo- cally-identified objectives in a transportation corridor. It is used to identify the investment strategy to be ad- vanced for more focused study and development For AA studies which may result in the local selection of a project eligible for Federal Transit Administration (FTA) New Starts or Small Starts funding, the AA fur- ther serves as the process for developing the technical information necessary to support a project’s entry into New Starts preliminary engineering The AA process concludes with the selection of a locally preferred al- ternative (LPA) that is amended into the regional long range plan WHAT IS A LOCALLY PREFERRED ALTERNATIVE? Advise, Review, and Communicate Committee The LPA is the transitway alternative that the corridor’s h (ARCC): ARCC members are technical staff from cities, counties, and the Metropolitan Council recom- agencies convened to advise on project develop- mend for construction. The LPA specifies both the type ment The ARCC provides advice regarding local of transit that will be used (mode) and the location governmental perspectives, issues of concern, (alignment) Other elements of the project, including technical methodologies, and study process de- termini and final station locations, are established tails The ARCC is comprised of staff from Hennepin formally during subsequent engineering based on ad- County, the cities of Brooklyn Park, Crystal, Golden ditional information, including opening year travel de- Valley, New Hope, Maple Grove, Minneapolis, Os- mand forecasts The selection of an LPA tells the FTA seo, and Robbinsdale; Maple Grove Transit; the which alternative local agencies expect to be the most competitive in achieving support at the local, regional, and federal levels. Identification of an LPA is a critical step to pursue federal funding The selection of an LPA for the Bottineau Transitway and amendment of it into the region’s long-range transportation plan marks the end of the AA process Concluding the AA process al- lows the project to pursue federal funding under the federal SAFETEA-LU transportation program It is ex- pected that the region will pursue federal funding for BottineauTransitway Alternatives Analysis Summary Report 2 Metropolitan Council, Metro Transit, MnDOT; the FIGURE 3: EVALUATION CRITERIA FOR BOTTINEAU Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board; and proj- TRANSITWAY PROJECT ect consultants h Community Advisory Committee (CAC): Members represent communities, businesses, and institu- tions in the Bottineau Transitway study area CAC members provide a conduit for integrating the val- ues and perspectives of citizens, communities, businesses and institutions into the study process h Policy Advisory Committee (PAC): PAC members are elected officials, key policy leaders for partici- pating agencies, business leaders, and institutional leaders, convened to review project development progress and advise progress toward identifying an LPA Members of the public participated through attendance at public meetings and hearings at several points dur- ing the process as discussed later in this report WHAT CRITERIA WERE USED TO MAKE DECISIONS? Three sets of evaluation criteria form the frame- work for decisions leading to the selection of an LPA (Figure 3): h The Bottineau Transitway purpose and need, and goals and objectives (local criteria); h The Metropolitan Council transitway capital invest- ment criteria, discussed in the Metropolitan Coun- cil’s Regional Transitway Guidelines (regional crite- ria); and During its course, the AA Study success- h The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) New Starts fully engaged stakeholders through public project justification criteria (national criteria) meetings, open houses, presentations, The purpose of the Bottineau Transitway is stated as email, website visits, and phone calls. follows: The purpose of the Bottineau Transitway Nearly 1,000 stakeholders attended meet- is to provide transit service which will satisfy the ings or submitted comments during this long-term regional mobility and accessibility needs time. for businesses and the traveling public. Five fac- tors contribute to the need for the project: growing A large number of transit modes and align- travel demand, increasing traffic congestion, people ments were considered early in the AA who depend on transit, limited transit service to sub- Study. Those with the potential to address urban destinations (reverse commute opportunities) the project needs, goals, and objectives and time-efficient transit options, and regional objec- were evaluated in detail. Four LRT alterna- tives for growth stated in the Regional Development tives and one BRT alternative were ad- Framework vanced for further consideration. 3 Alternatives Analysis Summary Report BottineauTransitway The Bottineau Transitway project goals and objectives They serve as a framework to develop and then are shown in Table 1 These were
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