Minnesotas Urban Partnership Agreement

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Minnesotas Urban Partnership Agreement
The Urban Partnership Agreement Minnesota has
been awarded 133.3 million through the US
Department of Transportations Urban Partnership
Agreement (UPA) program to reduce traffic
congestion in the Twin Cities. Minnesota is
required to provide a local match of 55.2
million. Money will be used to tackle congestion
on I-35W primarily between downtown Minneapolis
and the southern suburbs. Additional transit
service and park and rides will also be developed
on I-35W in the northern suburbs and on Highway
77. A coalition led by the Metropolitan Council
and the Minnesota Department of Transportation
applied for the funding in April 2007. Minnesota
is one of five states selected by the US DOT to
receive UPA funding. Minnesota intends to
construct transit improvements, install an
additional HOT lane, implement the use of dynamic
shoulders, expand traffic management systems and
promote telecommuting.

• UPA Timeline
• The UPA agreement with the US DOT requires that
  the project be operational by September 30, 2009,
  with the exception of the Downtown Minneapolis
  Transit Lanes, which have a deadline of December
  31, 2009, and the HOT lane in the area of the
  Crosstown, which will be completed in fall 2010.
  Legislative approval for tolling on I-35W is
  required before the UPA federal funds are
  released to Minnesota. Extensive planning, design
  and construction needs to be done in a short
  timeframe to make the system operational by the
  2009 deadline.
• The Downtown Minneapolis transit lanes require
  two construction seasons to complete both
  Marquette Avenue and 2nd Avenue. The first
  construction season (2008) needs to be completed
  before the Republican National Convention in
  September 2008. Delays in the project start time
  would increase the cost of the project and
  require both avenues to be closed simultaneously.
• Minnesota needs to begin work on right-of-way
  acquisition and design for park-and-ride lots and
  Cedar Avenue stations to meet the September 30,
  2009 deadline.
• The priced dynamic shoulder lanes and the HOT
  lane technology require two construction seasons
  to complete.

• Transit Improvements on I-35W and Highway 77
• UPA funding will be used to provide additional
  transit service on the I-35W and Highway 77
  corridors from Minneapolis to the southern
  suburbs.
• Accelerate bus rapid transit The UPA project
  will establish a shared BRT/HOT lane on
  I-35W from Minneapolis to Burnsville, and will
  accelerate portions of the Cedar Avenue
  Transitway by constructing online stations and
  utilizing existing bus shoulders on Highway
  77/Cedar Avenue.
• Expand express bus and park-and-ride facilities
  on I-35W and Highway 77 New or expanded park
  and ride facilities on I-35W in both the north
  and south suburbs, and on Hwy 77. Additional bus
  service will then be provided to these park and
  rides.
• Provide transit advantages at Highway 77 and
  Highway 62 interchange Improve transit access
  from northbound Highway 77 to westbound Highway
  62 bus shoulder. This improvement connects the
  Highway 77 BRT to I-35W.
• Provide advanced traveler information for
  park-and-ride facilities Real time congestion
  conditions, parking availability and bus arrival
  information will be provided.
• Install transit driver guidance system A lane
  guidance system developed by the University of
  Minnesota that allows buses to more safely
  navigate on bus-only shoulders or narrow lanes
  will be utilized.

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Minnesotas Urban Partnership Agreement

• Tolling/Congestion Pricing on I-35W
• The I-394 MnPASS lanes, opened in May 2005, have
  developed technology for congestion pricing that
  has been accepted by the general public. The UPA
  project will expand MnPASS to the I-35W corridor.

• Convert I-35W HOV lanes to MnPASS HOT lanes
• Convert the existing HOV lanes to I-35W MnPASS
  HOT lanes from Burnsville Parkway to I-494. (red
  line)
• Upon reconstruction of the Crosstown Project,
  open a new I-35W MnPASS HOT lane from I-494 to
  46th Street. (blue line)
• Implement a system of Priced Dynamic Shoulder
  Lanes
• From 46th Street to downtown Minneapolis,
  replace current bus-only shoulders with priced
  dynamic shoulder lanes, which will allow buses to
  travel at free-flow freeway speeds instead of the
  current 35 mph limit on bus-only shoulders. The
  priced dynamic shoulder lanes will be used during
  peak periods and will operate as shared BRT/HOT
  lanes. (green line)

Downtown Minneapolis Transit Lanes The UPA will
expand the single bus lanes to two bus lanes on
both Marquette and 2nd Avenues. This will more
than triple bus throughput and reduce bus travel
time through the 16-block downtown area by 10
minutes. (purple circle)

• Technology for Arterial Traffic Management
• Cameras and instrumentation on arterial roadways
  connecting to the I-35W and Highway 77 corridors
  will improve traffic flow and provide traveler
  information for motorists. Transit signal
  priority on arterial roadways connecting to the
  I-35W and Highway 77 corridors will provide an
  advantage for transit and help maintain transit
  schedules.
• Telecommuting
• The goal of the UPA telecommuting strategy is to
  recruit partners (local employers) and increase
  the number of telecommuting workers by 500
  individuals.
• September 12, 2007