Freight Rail and LRT: Where to From Here?

This past Friday, the Met Council received the go ahead for the Southwest Light Rail project to enter into preliminary engineering. This is an important step for the project and one which will help to further resolve the freight rail situation facing the city of St. Louis Park.

One of the requirements for the Met Council to enter into this engineering phase is that they must include an analysis of the impacts of relocating the TC&W freight rail in the SWLRT's Environmental Impact Statement.

A letter from the Federal Transit Administration to the council states:

"(The council must) analyze the impacts of relocating the Twin Cities & Western freight line, which currently operates on a segment of the planned Southwest LRT route, in the project's Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). Because the freight rail's relocation is necessary for (Met Council) to implement the project as planned, the cost and scope of the freight line relocation must be included in SWLRT's project scope and budget regardless of the funding sources that may be identified to pay for the work. This must be completed prior to seeking entry into Final Design and securing the Full Funding Grant for the project."

Chris Weyer, the SWLRT project director, provided this statement:

"Earlier this afternoon, the Metropolitan Council received a letter from the Federal Transit Administration granting the Southwest Light Rail Transit project entry into the Preliminary Engineering (PE) phase. This is the first of several 'gates' that the project will need to progress through before receiving federal funding and beginning construction. While this approval represents a significant step forward, much work remains to be done. The PE phase is expected to last about two years at which time the project will be well positioned to seek the next critical milestone, Final Design. When complete, the Southwest LRT line will directly connect with the Central Corridor LRT line, and the two will operate together as the Green Line providing one seat rides from Eden Prairie to St. Paul.

This is an important and exciting milestone for the Southwest LRT project. The Southwest LRT Project Office (SWPO) looks forward to continuing to work closely with all of you in moving this regionally important project forward."

Sincerely,
Chris Weyer
SWLRT Project Director

All of this is actually really good news for the freight rail situation we are all facing, because the FTA has mandated that the Met Council must now take on the responsibility of both cost and scope for any mitigation for the MN&S reroute. This in essence gets the freight rail issue moved into the SWLRT Program Management Office, where I have always felt it should reside. The SWLRT PMO has the needed expertise and resources in terms of program management, engineering, and technical and financial analysts who can provide the detailed oversight and estimates needed to professionally manage such an important issue.

We now have a crystal clear direction from the FTA. This decision will ultimately be a very good move for all constituent interests and for the project team involved. And we now have an agency in the Met Council that is charged with leading both programs forward to successful entry into final design on an aggressive schedule.

There's a favorite quote of mine by Sir Winston Churchill that comes to mind: "Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen." 

As we all move forward with this issue, both the community and the Met Council need to be mindful of the Primer Minister's thought. Only by collectively having the courage to speak and listen, respectively, will we all be successful in our endeavors.