Plans for Central Corridor
won Metropolitan Council approval September 3, putting the project
in contention for needed federal funding. Under the best-case scenario
construction on the light rail line would start in 2010, with operations
starting in 2014. The line will connect downtown Minneapolis and
St. Paul, and will connect to the Hiawatha light rail line.
Three public hearings were
held in August to hear comments on the light rail plans and a supplemental
draft environmental impact statement (SDEIS). One key concern is
how accessible trains and light rail stations will be for persons
with disabilities. Even though plans for the $892 million project
have been submitted to the federal government public comments will
continue to be requested and accepted through 2009, according to
Laura Baenen, communications manager of the Central Corridor LRT
Project. To access the Met Council website, go to www.centralcorridor.org Transportation community advisory committees are held monthly, and
anybody can submit questions or comments. The comment line is 651-602
1645; the email is central corridor@metc.mn.us
The concerns for people
with disabilities include how accessible the train itself will
be to people who use wheelchairs, white canes, service animals
and people who have ambulatory difficulties. It’s more
then just to safely navigate on and off the cars and around all of
the LRT stations. It’s also, just as important getting to and
from the LRT stations and bus stops safely. Concerns that people with
disabilities might have to climb over mounds of snow at bus stops,
that’s a barrier to somebody who uses a wheelchair or has a difficulty
with mobility and cannot board the bus at such a location. When asked
about access to all parts of a station at all times as well as safe
access to and from stations and bus stops, Baenen said that if “at
all times means at all times that we can foresee and expect right
now, then yes.”
More specific plans
need to be done on station and street crossing plans. Currently
there’s no mechanism for an audio device,
although that is still being studied.
One safety measure will protect private use of user codes. Ticket vending
machines will be fitted with a translucent green cover for privacy
and safety to obscure the view of anybody who may attempt to watch
the use of private codes.
For consistency, Baenen
said the ticket vending machines will be in the similar locations
at each station. Machines will be ADA compliant and should be accessible
for all users. While the design of each station will not be identical,
the location of ticket vending machines will be. The station design
will benefit not only people with disabilities, but people who
are elderly and people who are newcomers to the Twin Cities as
well as infrequent LRT users.”
Baenen said transit police will patrol trains like at the Hiawatha
stations. Security cameras and accessible emergency phones will be
at each station; to satisfy safety and security issues.
Questions center on getting to the stations, many of which will be
in the middle of University Avenue. People will have to cross bus lanes
to access the LRT stop at a signalized crossing with an audible device.
The risk for everyone
is to cross any lanes of traffic at any time of day. I’m
aware of only one audible pedestrian signal, at the intersection
of Hamp-den and University avenues.
It is always a safety
risk for anybody to cross at signal intersections and pedestrian
walkways with the concentration of traffic on University ave. Many
people with disabilities have been struck by motorists who didn’t see the pedestrian or wasn’t
pay attention and violated the law. People on foot have the right
of way by law to cross safely at signal intersections and crosswalks.
And nobody should be at risk of injury or worse at a signal intersections.
People with disabilities and older adults, because of the time
limations are at a higher risk attempting to get to the opposite
side of the street.
A stretch of the Central
Corridor where there are questions about pedestrian safety is the
proposed pedestrian mall between Pleasant Avenue, near the covered
Washington Avenue Bridge, to Oak Street on the East Bank campus
of the University of Minnesota. In the July issue of Making Tracks,
a publication of the Metropolitan Council, proposed changes to
Washington Avenue were described. University of Minnesota president
Robert Bruininks stated, “…Regents
for the University of Minnesota have approved a memorandum of understanding
(MOU) on $27 million in traffic mitigation, including $11.1 million
for converting Washington Avenue into a transit/pedestrian mall.
The MOU also includes $5.1 million for East Bank campus area street
connections and funding for modifying some intersections.”
Another question that needs answers is the of loss of on-street parking
allowing private motorist access to businesses, on the rail line. University
Avenue will lose all but 195 of about 1,000 parking spaces. The City
of St. Paul is working with businesses and the Metropolitan Council
to resolve the issue.
Information on parking, street
crossings and station designs can be found at www.centralcorridor.org or www.metrocouncil.org The
City of St. Paul web site provides parking information at www.stpaul.gov/ Look
for the link to Central Corridor. U-Plan, a program of the advocacy
group University UNITED, has done its own versions of the Central
Corridor University Avenue maps. Some users think those maps are
clearer and easier to use than the ones provided by Met Council.
Find them, by intersection, at www.u-plan.org ![end of story]()
