Minneapolis City Council Agenda
Special Meeting
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
1:00 p.m. – Room 317 City Hall
NOTE: All cellular telephones and electronic devices to be switched to a non-audible function during Council and Committee meetings.
Council President Johnson, Vice President Lilligren, Majority Leader Schiff, Minority Leader Gordon, Council Members Reich, Hofstede, Samuels, Goodman, Glidden, Tuthill, Quincy, Colvin Roy and Hodges
(Majority vote of all members, 7; 2/3 vote of all members, 9)
1. Roll Call.
2. Adoption of the agenda.
3. Referral of petitions, communications, and reports of the City officers to proper committees and departments.
REPORT OF STANDING COMMITTEE
Transportation & Public Works
T&PW agenda of 9/25/2012 (Item 22)
1. 35W Transit Access Project:
Passage of Resolution supporting specific project elements in the 35W Transit Access Project. (subject to prior T&PW Committee approval)
Mayor’s Ltr Calling Special Council Mtg
Adjournment
Additional Information:
Most Recent Design Plan: hennc113114_lyt – 28th ramp
Most recent Powerpoint of Plan: 35W LAKE 9-13-12 Final
Updates 9/28/12:
Here is a link to the final resolution:
http://www.minneapolismn.gov/www/groups/public/@clerk/documents/webcontent/wcms1p-098875.pdf
Here is the newsletter statement on the project by Councilperson Elizabeth Glidden:
Transit Access project at 35W/Lake Moves Forward
This week, the City Council moves forward with one of the biggest transit investments in the region, the 35W Lake Transit Access Project. With this project, we move forward with a critical missing piece to Bus Rapid Transit implementation, connecting Lakeville to downtown Minneapolis along 35W: a multi-modal transit station at 35W/Lake.
A prior version of this project did not include a transit station, expanded the freeway, and had a total cost of $500 million and growing. In 2007, I was proud to co-author a resolution that said “no†to the freeway expansion project and refocused the project on transit at 35W/Lake.
The project includes, as the highest priority, a transit station at 35W/Lake that will connect riders to bus rapid transit on 35W, connect to bus transit on Lake Street, and connect to the Midtown Greenway where we hope streetcars will run in the future. Other project components include a southbound exit to Lake Street and a northbound exit to 28th Street.
With the Southbound exit, more direct access to Lake Street and surrounding destinations will be provided; this missing movement to the South Minneapolis commercial area has been desired by small business owners and neighbors for years, and will reduce existing cut through traffic in the neighborhoods. The 28th Street ramp will reduce traffic from the 31st Street exit by 25%, increasing livability for neighbors in the area and providing more direct access for traffic to the hospitals and large employers. Unlike the previous versions of the 35W Lake project, these elements cost less (a total of $114 million), are a smaller profile, and meet a cost-benefit project analysis individually and as a whole.
The project approved today is a different project than the one proposed before the 2007 City resolution prioritizing transit. It costs less, it focuses on missing movements that left out South Minneapolis commercial areas when 35W was constructed, and it reiterates that transit is our number one priority.