Light rail recommended for Cedar Avenue Posted 11/17/00 by Dan Gearino Staff Writer A consultant hired by Dakota County is recommending that a light rail transit line be built along Cedar Avenue from the Mall of America to 157th Street in Apple Valley. The steep capital cost of the proposed light rail line, $395 million, leads County Board Chair Mike Turner to think that a dedicated busway might be more appropriate. A busway along Cedar, with a capital cost of $93 million, was also studied by the consultant but not recommended. ìWe have to look at what our return on the investment will be,î Turner said. Gene Franchett, a Dakota County planner, said that the capital cost of light rail is daunting, but the annual maintenance is less than that of a busway, so the light rail line would be more cost effective over the life of the transitway. ìThe front-end is more intense, but it has staying power,î he said of light rail. The consultantís recommendation is the result of the yearlong Cedar Avenue Corridor Transit Study, paid for by a $500,000 grant from the state Legislature. The proposed transitway would begin at the Mall of America where it would connect with the Hiawatha light rail line, then follow Cedar Avenue across the Minnesota River into Dakota County, making stops at Highway 13 in Eagan (Cedarvale), Cliff Road in Eagan, Palomino Drive in Apple Valley, 140th Street in Apple Valley and 157th Street in Apple Valley (Apple Valley Transit Center). The consultant, Parsons Transportation Group, also studied an alternative route that would cross the river on Cedar, cross over to Nicols Road near Cedarvale, follow Nicols until re-joining Cedar near I-35E, cross over to Galaxie Avenue just south of Palomino Drive, then re-join Cedar south of County Road 42 just before the 157th Street stop. The consultant prefers the Cedar route to the Nicols-Galaxie alternative. While the alternative would cost slightly less, it would have lower ridership as well as the potential difficulty of acquiring right-of-way. The Cedar route, with spaces between and on each side of the road lanes, has no such right-of-way difficulty. It is unlikely that the entire transitway would be implemented at once. A probable first phase would go between the Mall of America and Cedarvale. The Cedarvale area is currently being redeveloped by the city of Eagan with a transitway in mind. The new development will be an example of ìsmart growth,î walkable with a mix of residential and commercial and easy access to transit. The Cedar Avenue bridge over the Minnesota River presents a difficulty for the light rail proposal. A rail crossing would have to be added to the bridge, a major component of the cost. A busway could be constructed with a modification of the existing surface of the bridge. Turner said that a rail bridge was supposed to be a component of the bridge when it was built in the early 1980s, but the project went over budget and only the freeway lanes were completed. The County Board will soon have the opportunity to further pursue the transitway. Turner said he would like to solve a few lingering traffic problems before focusing on Cedar. He named easing congestion on County Road 42 as a high priority. ìWe should be looking ahead, but weíre always playing catch-up,î he said. Turner said that Dakota County leaders will be keeping a close eye on the Hiawatha light rail line to help determine what to do with Cedar. According to the consultant, a Cedar light rail line would have a daily ridership of 23,064. This number assumes the redevelopment of the Cedarvale and other ìtransit-supportiveî developments near the line. If the line was constructed, the city of Apple Valley would be expected to create several transit-supportive developments, areas that would be more densely populated than the rest of the city. Without such housing, the city wouldnít be able to support light rail, said Kathy Broder, Apple Valley assistant planner. Like the county, Apple Valley is open to the idea of the transitway, but concerned about cost. If the transitway is ever built, a substantial portion of the cost would likely be assumed by the state and federal governments. ©Thisweek Newspapers