Bottineau Boulevard

The Northwest - Bottineau Boulevard Transitway is a transit corridor in the Minneapolis-St. Paul Metro area that runs from downtown Minneapolis roughly along County Road 81 to Osseo/Rogers. It is likely to become the fourth LRT corridor in the Twin Cities region, after the operational Hiawatha Line, the Central Corridor line currently in preliminary engineering, and the Southwest Transitway line currently in planning.

Transit Mode

The Northwest Corridor was proposed as a Tier I transitway, for rapid development, in the Metropolitan Council's 2030 Transportation Policy Plan, published in 2004. [cite web|url=http://www.metrocouncil.org/planning/transportation/TPP/2004/summary.htm |title=2030 Transportation Policy Plan |accessdate=2008-04-17 |date=2004-12-15 |format=html |publisher=Metropolitan Council] In a region with no operational light rail lines, ridership numbers appeared too low to justify the expense of light rail in this corridor. The line was fast-tracked for development into a busway, and much of the work was completed to receive federal funding for construction of a busway. [cite web|url=http://www.bottineaupartnership.org/improving/LRTv.BRT.php |title=LRT v. BRT |accessdate=2007-04-22 |date=2007-03-13 |format=html |publisher=Bottineau Boulevard Partnership]

Though this corridor was advanced by the Metropolitan Council for development as a Busway, the success of the Hiawatha Line and lobbying by Hennepin County commissioner Mike Opat forced the mode choice to be re-evaluated. In March of 2007, the Bottineau Partnership resolved to conduct an alternatives analysis rather than simply building the busway. Hennepin County has now commissioned a full Alternatives Analysis, which should be complete by mid-2009. [cite web|url=http://www.hennepin.us/portal/site/HCInternet/menuitem.3f94db53874f9b6f68ce1e10b1466498/?vgnextoid=a09ee86c5c9f7110VgnVCM10000049114689RCRD |title=Bottineau Corridor |accessdate=2008-04-17 |format=html |publisher=Hennepin County Railroad Authority]

The recent creation of the Counties Transit Improvement Board, which controls a new dedicated transit tax for the Twin Cities region, Has created a strong new push for light rail corridor development. According to the legislation enacting the Counties Transit Improvement Board, in order for a project to receive CTIB funding, it must be part of the Metropolitan Council's long-term transit plan; new planning documents released April 11, 2008 by the Metropolitan Council indicate that the Bottineau Corridor is a strong prospect for LRT, with numbers supporting LRT development. [cite web|url=http://www.metrocouncil.org/directions/transit/transit2008/TransitMasterStudyApr08.htm |title=Council Unveils Transit Study |accessdate=2008-04-17 |date=2007-04-11 |format=html |publisher=Metropolitan Council] Ridership predictions for the corridor, though lower than those for either the Central or Southwest corridors, are much higher than estimates before the opening of the Hiawatha Line.

References

External links

* [http://www.bottineaupartnership.org Bottineau Partnership]
* [http://www.metrotransit.org/improvingTransit/bottineauBRT/index.asp Metro Transit]
* [http://www.metrocouncil.org/transportation/NWCorridor/nwcorridor.htm Metropolitan Council Website]