Blue Line Extension Project Takes Another Step, Route Approved
A committee of stakeholders approved big-picture route designs for the Bottineau Blue Line Extension LRT project.
The Blue Line Corridor Management Committee approved a Sept. 14 resolution in support of the track alignment.
The committee includes city and county elected officials from along the line, as well as other community representatives and the chair of the Metropolitan Council.
“Brooklyn Park is definitely excited for this project,” said Brooklyn Park City Council Member XP Lee. “This is just a really great project that a lot of people are excited for.”
Project officials have been working to redesign the route since 2020.
In earlier designs, the vast majority of the track was engineered to run in a Burlington Northern Santa Fe fright rail corridor. However, BNSF refused to negotiate with the project office.
As a result, the route was redesigned to run on County Road 81, also known as Bottineau Boulevard.
The 13.4-miles of track will connect Target Field in Minneapolis with the northwest suburbs.
Engineers have planned for 12 stops in Minneapolis, Robbinsdale, Crystal and Brooklyn Park. The line terminates in Brooklyn Park near Target’s Northern Campus.
Project officials expect to have an updated cost estimate for the project in 2024. Previous estimates put the cost at $1.5 billion.
Based on current estimates, design work for the line should wrap up by 2025. Construction is expected to start in either 2026 or 2027. The line would then open for service in 2030.
A committee of stakeholders approved big-picture route designs for the Bottineau Blue Line Extension LRT project.
Crystal Says ‘No’
Only Crystal Mayor Jim Adams voted against the proposed route.
“In this process, as far as trying to regain and be engaged in this process, to rebuild that trust, I don’t think we’ve made any progress,” Adams said. “If I were to guess, I’d say we’ve gone the other direction.”
He said he was concerned about safety issues with the rail line.
He added that potential disruptions to traffic caused by construction could be avoided with a bus rapid transit line.
“I don’t think we’ve addressed that, specifically what these safety concerns are,” Adams said. “The traffic problems don’t exist today.”
Noting the significant pushback to the project in Robbinsdale, Mayor Bill Blonigan voted in favor of the route.
“Robbinsdale is supportive as a community, I believe,” Blonigan said. “There is a very big contingent of people that are vocally against this. People that ran on having an LRT won in our last election.”
Project officials expect to ask the cities along the line for formal approval through a process laid out in state law called municipal consent in 2024.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said the city would need “promises and guarantees” from the project office before granting consent.
See also: Met Council Approves $75M Grant for Blue Line Extension
