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Bottineau Transitway Scoping Process

The Hennepin County Regional Railroad Authority (HCRRA) and the Metropolitan Council initiated the Bottineau Transitway Scoping Process in January, 2012. This represents the initial stage in the development of an Environmental Impact Statement, or EIS, for construction of a proposed transitway from Minneapolis to either Brooklyn Park or Maple Grove.

In Crystal, the transitway is proposed to be located within the BNSF Railroad right-of-way along Bottineau Boulevard, with a proposed station location at or near Bass Lake Road.

The HCRRA and Metropolitan Council were seeking comments from the public during the scoping phase in three main areas:

°         The purpose and need for the project;
°         The various alignment alternatives that should be studied in the EIS; and
°         Any project impacts or benefits that should be evaluated in the EIS.

The public was invited to submit comments on the scoping phase by February 17^th. There will be more opportunities in the future for citizen input on the transitway project. An overview of the project can be found at www.bottineautransitway.org. 

The Crystal City Council just adopted a resolution that contained the city’s formal comments and forwarded that resolution to the lead agencies. The resolution offered comments on alignments that should or should not go forward for further study and the reasons behind the city’s preferences. It also included our comments on how the community and our neighborhoods might be impacted by noise and vibration, possible conflicts with vehicular traffic, pedestrian safety and access to the station, station area parking, and so on.

Click on the “Scoping Comments Resolution” to view the City of Crystal’s official comments on this phase of the Bottineau Transitway Project.

Scoping Booklet
Scoping Comments Resolution

 

On April 23, 2012, the Bottineau Transitway Policy Advisory Committee recommended that the four light rail transit (LRT) alternatives (ACD1, ACD2, BCD1 and BCD2) should move forward for further evaluation in the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS). The Committee recommended that the bus rapid transit (BRT) mode not move forward for further study. In essence, approved by the Hennepin County Railroad Authority on May 8, the scoping phase of the transitway study will come to a close and usher in the next phase: determining the Locally Preferred Alternative (LPA) alignment from the choices mentioned above.