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From YouTube: Chamber Forum: METRO Orange Line Bus Rapid Transit
Description
The Bloomington Chamber of Commerce Public Affairs Committee invites you to hear from representatives from Metro Transit, Metropolitan Council, the City of Bloomington and the business community on the METRO Orange Line Bus Rapid Transit (BRT). This project will use roadway improvements, upgraded transit stations, and improved bus service to provide fast, frequent and reliable transit service along I-35W. The 16-mile corridor is the most heavily-traveled express bus corridor in the region, with about 14,000 daily rides. A proposed station for Penn/American Blvd. is being considered which could impact businesses in and around the preferred station and route.
A
Good
morning,
everyone,
my
name,
is
maureen
scanlon
faler.
I
am
president
of
the
bloomington
chamber
of
commerce,
and
I
would
like
to
welcome
all
of
you
here
this
morning,
for
what
I
feel
is
a
very
important
project,
not
only
as
it
relates
to
the
city
of
bloomington
but
to
the
area,
the
south,
south
metro
area
as
a
whole.
A
We
have
a
great
panel
here
this
morning
and
I
personally
want
to
thank
steve,
christina
tim
and
glenn,
for
taking
the
time
this
morning
to
come
and
spend
with
the
chamber
to
really
give
us
what
the
plan
is
from
a
local
and
regional
level.
So
thank
you
very
much
for
for
coming
and
spending
some
time
with
us
this
morning.
A
I
would
like
to
announce
that
this
is
a
form
that
is
put
on
by
our
public
affairs
committee.
We
do
have
several
of
our
committee
members
here.
So
if
you
could
just
please
raise
your
hand,
we
have
robert
freeman,
we
have
larry
lee,
we
have
ken
vinci
and
wayne,
thank
you
so
much
and
for
supporting
public
affairs.
I
would
now
like
to
turn
it
over
to
our
moderator.
Our
very
distinguished
moderator
will
shroer.
A
He
really
has
been
instrumental
on
transit
for
the
chamber.
That
has
been
a
number
one
priority
for
the
minneapolis
regional
chamber,
which
we
are
an
affiliate
of
and
well
you
have
done
tremendous
work
for
the
organization
you
have
set
the
stage
for
us
to
continue,
and
I
don't
think
we
would
be
here
today
overall
as
it
relates
to
transit,
without
all
your
guidance
and
help.
So
I'd
like
to
turn
it
over
to
will.
Thank
you
very
much.
B
Thank
you
maureen.
While
I
didn't
expect
all
of
that,
I'm
only
going
over
to
st
paul
so
not
very
far
and
I'll
still
be
here
and
my
role
here
this
morning
is
really
very
minimal.
You're
interested
in
what
our
guests
have
to
say.
So
I
will
just
briefly
move
them
along
and
then
I'll
help
organize
the
questions
and
point
to
people
and
conceivably.
B
I
may
exercise
the
moderator's
prerogative
and
ask
a
pointed
question
if
I
think
someone
else
isn't
doing
so
we're
going
to
start
with
christina
morrison
to
give
us
the
metro,
transit's
proposed
plan
and
approach
to
this
vital
project,
then
we'll
hear
from
the
city
and
then
we'll
come
back
to
met
council
council
member,
steve
elkins
to
give
us
the
sort
of
the
broader
perspective.
And
then
I
think
the
main
goal
is
to
really
have
a
conversation
around
this.
So
without
further
ado,
christina.
C
Well,
thanks
for
having
us,
I'm
christina
morrison,
I'm
with
metro,
transit's,
vrt
bus,
rapid
transit
project,
new
office
bus,
rapid
transit
is
an
area
of
growth
for
metro
transit,
so
we're
embarking
on
a
bunch
of
different
projects.
One
of
our
main
projects
right
now
is
the
metro
orange
line
that
comes
to
this
area,
so
I
want
to
start
really
with
kind
of
the
regional
picture.
This
is
a
map
of
our
metro
system.
C
Okay,
I
have
a
pointer-
and
this
obviously
is
the
orange
line.
Don't
worry
we'll
zoom
in,
I
can't
see
it
either,
but
you
can
kind
of
see
how
the
orange
one
fits
in
with
sort
of
the
entire
package
so
that
people
can
not
only
get
to
this
area
but
also
get
from
this
area
to
get
to
jobs
across
the
region.
So
we
started
things
off
with
the
blue
line,
the
hiawatha
line
in
2004.
C
Last
year
we
opened
the
region's
first
bus,
rapid
transit
line
on
cedar
avenue
in
eagan
apple
valley,
the
red
line
june
14th,
we're
opening
the
green
line
central
quarter
to
st
paul
and
then
southwest
lrt,
which
will
be
the
green
line.
Extension
will
be,
it
is
currently
in
engineering
and
then
the
orange
line
sort
of
falling
into
place
within
the
next
five
years
or
so
so
you
can
kind
of
see
how
relatively
quickly
in
10
to
15
years,
maybe
not
as
quickly
as
we
all
want.
C
But
we've
started
to
build
this
kind
of
network
of
of
frequent
reliable
kind
of
transit
ways,
and
these
I
should
just
point
out
on
the
right.
These
are
some
images
of
our
branding.
So
the
idea
is
that,
whether
it's
a
bus
or
a
train,
you
have
a
consistent
branding,
consistent
message
for
people
that
they
can
go
to
the
system.
They
can.
C
C
So,
looking
at
the
orange
line,
specifically
we're
looking
at
11
stations
between
minneapolis
richfield
bloomington
and
are
connecting
actually
down
to
burnsville,
we
are
looking
at
all
day,
frequent,
bi-directional
service.
So
very
much
like
the
light
rail.
You
should
be
able
to
walk
up
to
a
platform,
expect
that
there's
going
to
be
a
bus
or
a
train
or
a
bus.
Sorry,
not
a
train
and
one
of
the
things
that
will
help.
C
You
know
that
is
that
we'll
have
real-time
information
on
the
platform,
so
there
will
be
a
sign
that
says
you
know
next
bus
three
minutes
two
minutes,
so
it
kind
of
counts
down
and
gives
you
that
confidence
that
that
you
know
that
your
bus
is
on
time,
especially
with
some
of
the
weather
we've
had
this
year.
We
know
that
that's
really
important.
C
We
also
are
making
a
lot
of
accessibility
improvements,
so
some
of
our
stations
today
aren't
fully
accessible
and
we
know
that
that's
a
growing
issue
as
we
try
to
get
really
transit
to
reach
all
audiences,
we're
looking
at
a
new
park
and
ride
in
the
vicinity
of
american
boulevard.
We
have
a
very
popular
parking
right
over
here
at
south
bloomington
transit
center
just
across
the
street.
It's
completely
full,
so
we're
looking
at
as
part
of
this
project.
Expanding
our
parking
capacity
and
2019,
as
I
mentioned,
is
kind
of
our
our
year
of
opening.
C
So
this
is
the
area
I
want
to
focus
on
today.
I
think
there's
been
a
lot
of
discussion
and
interest
in
kind
of
the
the
area
between
76th
street
richfield
at
american
boulevard,
so
we're
really
going
to
zoom
in
now
and
talk
a
little
bit
about
that.
So
we
started
our
planning
this.
This
phase
of
our
planning
there's
been
previous
work
done
on
the
interchange,
but
in
2013
we
started
by
sort
of
plugging
into
mndot's
process
for
the
494
35w
interchange
and
what
they're
doing
is
looking
at
kind
of
the
broader
interchange
layout.
C
What
the
phasing
will
be,
how
the
local
ramps
will
connect
things
like
that,
and
so
we
really
found
that
that
was
a
good
opportunity
to
insert
to
talk
about
how
we
insert
a
transit
station
into
this
area
in
a
in
a
more
coordinated
way,
and
so
the
american
boulevard
station
has
been
part
of
the
484
discussion.
It's
also
part
of
the
orange
line
as
a
whole.
C
So
when
we
started
looking
at
this
area,
I
think,
probably
for
years
decades,
maybe
it's
always
been
assumed
that
the
station
would
be
in
the
center
of
35w
and
if
you've,
driven
on
35w
north
through
the
46th
street
area.
You'll
know
that
there's
a
station
that
was
built
there
as
part
of
the
crosstown
commons
project,
and
so
that
was
sort
of
a
an
opportunity.
The
street
was
being
opened
up
and
replaced
and
to
drop
a
station
in
the
center
and
reconfigure
it
around,
and
so
that
has
always
really
been
the
vision
for
american
boulevard.
C
C
The
route
535,
which
is
sort
of
our
precursor
to
brt
and
the
reason
we
do
that
is
because
this
area
has
such
tremendous
ridership
people,
both
people
using
the
park
and
ride
and
people
walking
up
to
these
destinations
and,
coming
from
you
know,
a
lot
of
the
housing
up
in
richfield
and
then
obviously
best
buy
being
a
huge
draw
for
people
coming
south,
north
and
south,
from
minneapolis
and
from
the
burnsville
area,
and
then
all
the
retail
and
commercial
destinations
within
south
town.
C
C
But
once
you
start
thinking
about
that-
and
this
is
you
know,
kind
of
one
of
those
ideas
that
we
put
on
the
table.
We
wanted
to
really
study
it
and
we
were
kind
of
surprised
by
the
results,
so
obviously
the
most
direct
route,
the
route
that
that
keeps
the
bus
in
the
freeway
is
going
to
have
the
best
travel
time.
C
But
when
we
started
looking
at
other
things,
access
to
destinations
how
people
connect
to
local
bus
service
to
get
to
where
they're
going,
how
we
operate
transit
in
this
area.
So
one
of
the
big
challenges
that
we
have
is
merging
from
the
center
to
the
side
on
35w,
and
this
really
eliminates
that
because
it
keeps
us
on
the
side,
if
you,
if
you
look
here,
we're
we're
on
the
side
at
98th
street
coming
out
of
the
transit
center.
C
We
come
up
here
up
to
82nd
and
then
we're
on
the
bus
shoulder
again
up
to
66,
which
is
also
on
the
the
shoulder,
so
we
started
looking
at.
Can
you
even?
Can
you
make
this
merge
from
the
center
to
66th
street
and
the
answer
from
our
street
operations
was
no,
they
said.
Well,
you
can
just
cut
out
the
station
at
66th
street
you're
like
okay.
C
So
as
you
start
to
think
about
this,
the
station's
role,
it's
really
critical,
I
think,
to
think
about
the
destinations
and
also
how
the
orange
line
is
going
to
operate
long
term.
C
C
This
actually
kind
of
straightens
out
the
grid
and
allows
us
to
run
better
service
on
76th
street
and
better
service
on
american,
because
now
we
don't
have
to
sort
of
bend
everything
to
down
to
a
station
here,
and
that
saves
us
about
a
bus
a
day.
So
there's
real
operating
costs
that
are
are
part
of
that
bike
and
pedestrian
connections.
One
of
the
things
that
we've
assumed
as
part
of
this
study
is
at
a
minimum
having
a
sidewalk
and
a
trail
connection
to
help
people
get
between
these
two
areas.
C
You
know
if
you're
working
at
best
buy,
you
can
come
down
and
have
lunch
at
south
town
do
some
shopping.
So
we
think
that
that's
an
important
part
of
this,
this
concept
and
then
cost
estimates
when
we
started
looking
at
the
cost
of
opening
up
a
freeway,
widening
it
65
or
70
feet,
the
costs
are
considerable,
not
just
for
changing
the
shape
of
the
main
line,
but
also
for
redoing
the
access
sort
of
around
that
main
line.
We're
doing
bridge
work,
knox
avenue.
The
costs
are
much
more
focused
in
this
area.
C
Looking
at
the
underpass
with
the
bridging
and
494,
as
well
as
obviously
the
acquisition
of
of
the
private
property
here,
but
this
is
all
at
grade,
so
we're
building
stations
that
are
much
more
they're
they're
much
less
capital
intensive,
rather
than
a
two-story
station
in
the
middle
of
three-way.
So
the
costs
are
actually
similar.
C
Let
you
guys
talk
more
about
development,
but
so
this
is
kind
of
where
we're
at
today.
Looking
at
the
snacks
avenue
alignment,
we're
proposing
two
stations,
one
on
the
bloomington
side,
one
on
the
richfield
side
and
that
we
would
explore
these
areas
for
a
park
and
ride
facility,
like
I
said,
maybe
about
500
cars-
is
what
we're
looking
at
and
using
a
lot
of
the
basic
sort
of
existing
infrastructure,
and
these
on
the
right
side
are
just
kind
of
ideas
of
what
a
next
avenue
station
could
look
like
so
up
here.
C
C
They
all
look
like
this,
but
cleveland
has
a
relatively
new
brt
system
that
sort
of
becoming
a
model
for
for
the
way
it's
emulating,
rail
and
and
improving
ridership,
so
lots
of
different
kind
of
design
options.
That's
the
the
sort
of
thing
we'll
be
looking
at
in
the
next
year,
or
so
I
think.
That's
all
so
we'll
we'll
take
questions.
I
think
after
yeah.
D
Okay,
I'm
tim
bussing
council
member
here
in
the
city
of
bloomington
and
happy
to
be
here
for
the
record
this
year
during
lent
I'm
giving
up
winter.
That's
what
I'm
giving
up.
I
was
going
to
give
up
swearing,
but
honestly
didn't
even
make
it
halfway
here
this
morning
and
and
had
missed
there
we're
getting
it
there.
We
go
back
in
college,
my
housemates
and
I
every
year
for
lent.
We
would
give
up
cheap
beer.
D
And
my
mom
didn't
find
that
as
amusing
as
what
we
did,
so
we
decided
to
back
off
on
that
a
little
bit.
But
again,
thank
you.
All
for
being
here,
do
really
appreciate
it.
It's
an
important
discussion
and
I'm
glad
you're
here
to
take
part
in
it.
D
My
job
this
morning
is
to
kind
of
get
the
big
picture,
look
at
things
and
we'll
start
pretty
high
on
the
on
the
the
in
the
in
the
with
a
look
and
then
kind
of
winnow
down
to
the
pen,
american
district,
and
so
as
we
we
go
through
this.
D
Everyone
has
seen
you've
seen
across
the
metropolitan
area,
cities
that
don't
actively
plan
for
the
future
and
for
for
renewing
themselves
tend
to
decline,
and
I
think
that's
you
can
see
many
many
examples
across
the
metro
area
across
minnesota
across
the
country
and
that's
the
case.
So
that's
how
high
we
are
starting
is
with
our
mission
statement
and
I'm
also
going
to
start
with
our
a
figure
from
our
comp
plan.
Our
imagine
bloomington
2025
plan
this.
D
It
summarizes
a
few
of
bloomington's
key
strategic
directions
and
as
we
build
and
renew
the
community-
and
there
are
two
strategic
directions
that
I
really
want
you
to
pay
attention
to,
because
they're
very
germane
to
our
discussion
today.
The
first
is
up
here,
encourage
transit
ways
and
then
guide
most
growth
to
key
growth
nodes,
so
encourage
transit
waves.
Obviously
the
the
transit
ways
that
were
identified
in
this
plan.
D
We
are
we're
halfway
there
we
have
the
red
line,
brt
that
was
identified
as
well
as
the
blue
line
or
the
the
hiawatha
line
lrt
in
the
future.
We
have
the
american
boulevard,
arterial,
bus,
rapid
transit
and
the
orange
line
bus,
rapid
transit.
So
we're
about
halfway
there
in
terms
of
encouraging
transit
ways
to
guide
most
growth
in
the
key
growth
nodes.
Bloomington
has
identified
three
specific
areas
that
will
probably
that
over
the
next
20
years
will
be
the
majority
of
the
growth
within
the
city
of
bloomington.
D
It's
obviously
our
south
loop
district,
the
pen,
american
district
and
the
normandale
lakes
district
and
you'll
notice.
Those
three
districts
are
served
by
significant
transportation
investments,
either
past
or
potential
future
transportation
investments,
certainly
in
the
south
loop
by
the
airport,
by
the
freeways
by
lrt
an
incredible
investment
there.
But
definitely,
as
you
make
your
way
west
there
are.
There
are
significant
investments
in
each
of
those
specified
growth
nodes
within
the
city
of
bloomington.
D
This
lonely
looking
slide
is
actually
the
the
freeways
that
serve
the
city
of
bloomington.
Take
everything
else
out.
That's
what
the
freeways
look
like
and
they
first
looked
at
this
and
thought
it
was
a
lonely
little
slide,
but
actually
it
kind
of
shows
it
really
well,
because
it
almost
looks
like
veins
carrying
blood,
and
that
actually
is
the
truth.
D
It
is
very
important
and
has
always
been
very
important
to
bloomington
another
four
freeways
that
serve
bloomington,
whether
it's
169,
494,
35w
or
cedar,
avenue
and
bloomington
obviously
been
blessed
by
the
proximity
to
those
freeways
and
has
really
benefited
from
it,
and
the
the
significant
federal
and
state
investment
that
has
been
made
in
those
in
those
roadways
and
bloomington's,
early
leaders
and
council
member
elkins,
probably
not
as
early
but
he's,
certainly
in
that
list
of
folks
saw
the
benefits
and
the
importance
of
those
of
those
roadways
and
and
how
to
take
advantage
of
them.
D
In
a
lot
of
cities.
You'll
see
single-family
homes
lining
the
freeways
bloomington
specifically
zoned,
most
of
this
area
as
commercial
development,
and
it
certainly
paid
off
it.
The
proactive
planning
allowed
the
city
to
to
capture
a
lot
of
the
transportation
investment.
It's
the
reason
that
the
bloomington
tax
base
is
as
diverse
and
successful
as
it
is
today,
so
it's
long-range
planning
it's
it's
folks
who
were
on
the
city
council
long
before
I
was
looking
at
this
in
such
a
way
that
could
could
make
a
difference,
make
a
difference.
D
Another
huge
investment
is
obviously
minneapolis,
saint
paul
international
airport.
An
enormous
investment
from
both
the
federal
and
state
governments
and
and
enormous
benefit
to
have
an
international
airport
right
at
our
doorstep
is,
is
something
that
we
really
can't.
You
can't
overstage
just
the
importance
of
it
and
again.
Bloomington
leaders
were
smart
enough
to
take
advantage
of
this
investment.
The
the
south
loop
district,
which
is
just
to
the
south
of
the
airport
in
the
mall
of
america
in
this
area.
D
Here
it
was,
it
was
planned
and
it
was
zoned
and
it
was
looked
looked
at
in
such
a
way
to
maximize
this
investment
in
the
airport.
D
Bloomington
has
an
enormous
hospitality
industry,
enormous
hospitality
industry
in
part
because
of
the
planning
that
went
on
in
this
area
and
its
proximity
to
the
airport,
you
think
about
all
the
air
all
of
the
restaurants,
the
hotels,
the
destinations
in
bloomington
that
are
close
proximity
to
the
airport,
now
think
about
those
compared
to
what
you
see
in
richfield
in
minneapolis.
D
There's,
no
comparison,
bloomington
leaders
long
ago
made
that
decision
that
that
was
the
way
to
invest
and
to
to
leverage
that
federal
investment
and
and
the
plans
have
certainly
paid
off
over
the
years.
D
Another
example
is
the
lrt
investment
bloomington
we
like
to
say
the
bloomington
is
one
of
the
two
cities
in
the
in
the
state
of
minnesota
right
now
that
actually
are
served
by
lrt
and
people
tend
to
forget
about
that.
They
think
of
the
lrt
as
minneapolis
serving
comes
all
the
way
to
the
mall
of
america
and
and
and
as
a
reminder
that
was
a
4-3
vote
on
the
bloomington
city
council
years
ago.
D
D
It
was
certainly
the
decision
that
should
have
been
made,
but
that
was
a
contentious
decision
and
a
contentious
argument
on
the
the
city
council
for
for
a
long
while,
again
federal
state
funding,
enormous
investment,
no
city
money
involved-
and
it
is
it's
certainly
paying
off
the
the
city-
looked
at
it
again
as
an
investment
and
a
way
to
plan
around
and
something
to
to
leverage
to
to
the
highest
benefit,
and
it
is
paying
off
the
city
council.
D
Not
too
long
ago
we
approved
840
units
of
leonard
apartments
that
are
very
close
to
bloomington
central
station.
They
will
start
construction
on,
I
believe,
half
those
later
this
summer
we
also
have
bloomington
central
station.
Mcguff
has
received
approval
to
build
this
302
room
hotel
at
bloomington.
Central
station
again
is
going
to
start
later
this
year
and
even
a
step
back.
The
reflections
which
were
condos
built
close
to
bloomington
central
station
and
came
online
just
as
the
condo
market
kind
of
fell
off
the
table
and
it's
been
impressive.
D
It's
it
does
make
a
difference
wherever
you
go
chicago
new
york,
washington
or
for
that
matter,
between
minneapolis
and
st
paul,
where
transit
development
is
taking
place,
retail
and
and
residential
development
followed,
if
you've
traveled
at
all
on
university
avenue
between
minneapolis
and
st
paul.
The
change
is
startling.
The
the
amount
of
change
in
anticipation
of
the
green
line,
lrt
is
startling
and
impressive.
The
investment
is
is
certainly
following
the
the
transit
as
it
has
in
the
past
and
really
as
it
will,
certainly
in
the
future.
D
So
now
we
get
to
the
orange
line
brt
and
it
it's
another
significant
transportation,
investment,
that's
going
to
benefit
bloomington
and
just
like
the
freeways
and
the
airport
and
the
green
or
the
blue
line,
lrt
the
orange
line.
Brt
is
going
to
attract
development
and
we
have
to
be
ready
for
it.
But
in
addition
to
attracting
development,
it's
going
to
include
improved
mobility
for
bloomington
residents.
D
That
is
it's
a
massive
barrier,
north
south
bicycle
travel-
and
this
will
give
us
an
opportunity
to
to
make
that
connection,
and
then
it
will
improve
access
to
employees
from
bloomington
businesses
as
well.
So
this
is
it
it's
certainly
a
big
picture,
it's
a
regional
benefit,
but
it
will.
It
will
benefit
bloomington
businesses
and
residents
as
well
and
and
we
we
really
are
looking
in
that
way,
I'm
going
to
turn
it
over
now
to
glenn
markengard.
F
F
F
This
is
farther
in
the
future
and
would
connect
our
very
dense
employment
corridor
in
bloomington,
with
transit,
specifically
north
south
transit,
so
connecting
to
the
existing
blue
line,
lrt
the
existing
red
line,
brt
future
orange
line
brt
and
future
green
line
lrt
so
once
in
place,
bloomington
will
have
excellent
access
to
transit.
F
So
these
three
really
significant
investments
all
converge
at
the
penn
american
area
and
council
member
bussey
talked
about
how
bloomington
in
the
past
has
built
on
these
transportation
investments,
we've
capitalized
on
them
through
planning
and
zoning,
and
we're
planning
to
do
the
same
thing
in
the
pan-american
area.
F
Just
in
january,
the
city
council
adopted
the
pen
american
district
plan
and
again
capitalizing
on
those
transportation
investments.
So
some
of
the
key
features
of
the
plan,
higher
development
intensities,
more
diversified
mix
of
land
uses.
F
So
high
intensity
development
is
not
new
to
the
area.
It's
wanted
to
be
in
this
area
for
some
time.
A
good
example
of
that
is
the
southpointe
office
tower
a
successful
15-story
class.
A
office
building,
certainly
the
best
buy,
is
another
example,
I
believe
there's
over
a
million
and
a
half
square
feet
of
office,
and
then
the
meridian
crossings
development,
again
a
class,
a
office
building
right
at
the
intersection
of
494
and
35w.
F
So
the
markets
wanted
to
be
here
in
the
past
without
transit
and
we
think
with
transit.
That
would
just
strengthen
quite
a
bit.
A
very
good
example
of
our
vision
for
the
area
is
the
genesee
development
which
I'm
sure
you've
all
seen
on
penn
avenue,
234
units
of
rental
housing,
ground
floor,
retail,
14,
000
square
feet.
F
F
They
are
apartments
they're,
all
rentals,
a
few
of
them
are
town
homes,
two-story
town
homes,
most
are
one-story
apartments,
but
they're
all
all
for
rent
and
then
coming
soon
is
additional
development
right
on
the
corner
of
penn
american.
This
is
the
home,
suites
or
home
two
suites
by
hilton.
F
This
is
five-story
hotel,
108
rooms
on
the
ground
level.
It
would
have
an
affiliated,
200
seat,
restaurant
and
then
adding
another
9
000
square
feet
of
retail
uses.
This
is
the
same
development
group
that
developed
genesee
next
door
and
then
they
also
coming
this
year.
The
fresh
time
grocery.
This
is
a
28
000
square
foot
grocery
store
fresh
time
is
new
to
the
twin
cities
market.
This
will
be
the
first
twin
cities,
location
and
they
chose
the
pen
american
district.
F
And
we
know
there's
continued
market
interest
beyond
these
developments.
We
continue
to
meet
with
developers,
and
we
also
know
that
there
is
strong
interest
from
residents
of
the
neighborhood
we've
heard
from
several
residents
that
are
very
excited
about
the
vision
excited
about
the
future
for
this
area.
F
F
So
we
understand
that
transit
investments
could
easily
be
made
in
other
cities,
we're
very
happy
to
have
metro,
transit
and
metropolitan
council
as
a
partner
in
mndot,
and
one
of
the
reasons
that
they
are
attracted
to
bloomington,
I
think,
is
the
fact
that
we
have
a
compelling
vision
in
place
and
they
know
that
if
they
make
that
investment,
the
city
will
take
advantage
of
it,
so
that
I'll
turn
it
over
to
steve
elkins.
Our
metropolitan
council
representative.
H
H
Since
you
know
the
late
1990s,
when
you
know
first
started
started
working
on
this.
Neil
peterson
former
mayor
of
bloomington
was
our
met.
Council
representative,
I
was
a
a
planning
commissioner
in
bloomington.
It
wasn't
even
on
the
city
council
yet
and
was
a
member
of
the
met
council
transportation
advisory
board.
So
we
get
this
going
in
in
2019
as
we
plan
it
will
have
been
over
20
years
that
I've
been
working
on
this
project.
H
You
know
both
the
land
use
site
and
the
transportation
side
by
the
time
it
gets
done
and
from
the
met
council
point
of
view,
we're
just
redoing
all
of
our
regional
planning
documents.
This
year
we
just
released
the
the
first
public
comment.
Draft
of
the
overall
regional
blueprint
document
called
thrive,
2040.,
and
you
can
review
that
on
on
the
met
council's
website
and
the
public
comment
period
for
that
extends
into
I
think
late
april.
H
H
The
highway
plans
for
this
area
and
the
land
use
plans
for
this
area,
and
it's
all
coming
together
at
the
same
time
right
now.
This
is
also
a
very
cost
effective
investment
for
us.
So
you
know.
Rough
estimates
for
southwest
lrt,
for
example,
are
around
1.5
billion
dollars
are
projected.
You
know,
capital
cost
to
finish.
Building
out.
The
orange
line
is
a
150
million
dollars,
so
one
tenth
of
that
and
for
that
investment
between
the
ridership
that
we're
projecting
for
the
orange
line
and
the
existing
express
bus
service
in
35
w.
H
So
I
I
see
this
as
a
a
model,
for
you
know,
leveraging
investments
in
cost
effective
transit
for
the
the
benefit
of
the
whole
region
and
for
the
the
city
of
bloomington
in
particular.
H
So
and
that's
pretty
much
what
I
want
to
say
when
we
want
to
leave
a
lot
of
you
know
time
for
questions
here.
But
that's
the
big
thing
for
me
is
that
I
I
think
that
this
is
a
a
really
good
case,
study
for
effective
coordination
of
investment
in
in
transportation
and
redevelopment,
actually
that
this
afternoon
I've
got
to
go
to
one
of
my
many
working
groups.
We
have
a
joint
working
group
of
the
members
of
the
met
council,
transportation
policy
plan,
work
group
and
the
met
council
thrive.
H
B
Let's
open
it
up
and
have
a
conversation,
I'm
just
going
to
stand
here
and
point
and
why
don't
you
start
ken
hi.
G
Well,
thank
you
all
for
coming.
I
really
appreciate
you
being
here
today
and
I'm
ken
with
cross
anderson.
We
own
the
southtown
shopping
center
and
that
includes
the
lucky
13
pad
site
and
the
mitsubishi
pad
site
kind
of
to
the
east
of
south
town
proper
and
we've
been
real
involved
with
you
know,
metro
transit
regarding
this
project
and
even
with
that
steve
mentions
that
it
goes
back.
You
know,
20
years
overall
about
summit
planning.
G
When
you
talk
about
the
cause
and
and
that's
where
you
know
things
kind
of
get
thrown
around,
and
nobody
really
knows
where
it's
at-
and
I
think
that's
what's
happening
here
and
we
feel
like
we're
in
a
way
being
railroaded
on
this
project.
Reading
the
tea
leaves
and
all
that
type
of
stuff,
and
I
still
want
to
just
throw
out
there.
You
know
the
option
is
to
still
have
your
transit
stations
on
both
sides
on
american
boulevard
and
over
on
the
best
buy
side,
but
utilize
penn
avenue,
which
is
already
there.
G
The
bridge
was
redone,
you
know
back
in
the
early
2000s
and
you
know
it
may
take
a
little
bit
longer.
But
it's
not
going
to
be
the
30
million
dollars
for
the
transit
out
transit
only
and
I
still
don't
know
you
know
if
that
includes
the
cost,
to
try
and
get
under
494,
and
you
know
all
the
other
costs.
G
It
doesn't
include
costs
to
condemnate
our
land
again
very
expensive
land
for
the
region,
and
you
know,
there's
there's
a
lot
of
additional
costs,
whereas
you
already
have
a
a
route
to
get
to
the
other
side,
and
I
would
say,
the
taxpayers.
You
know
you
know
if
you're
saying
30,
you
know
you're
probably
talking
you
know
60
or
70
million
dollars.
So
it's
kind
of
a
confusion
on
what
this
all
means
and
what,
where
the
status
is
that
yeah?
I
think.
C
So
we've
talked
a
lot
about
sort
of
what
this
might
look
like:
the
idea
of
going
under
494
and
the
engineers
actually
working
on
the
interchange,
design,
we're
able
to
develop
a
layout
that
actually
was
shown
in
glenn's,
but
we'll
do
one
no.
This
is
this
is
good,
we'll.
C
And
they
assumed
a
certain
grade
that
that
gives
you
that
300
foot
distance,
we
could
go
steeper
than
that
and
have
a
shorter
distance
for
sort
of
an
underpass
and
we're
calling
it
kind
of
an
at
great
underpass
which,
if
you
think
about
I
know,
we've
talked
about
american
boulevard
under
77,
as
maybe
I
don't
know
where
jim
gates
is
he's.
I
know
we've
talked
about
that
as
kind
of
a
similar
situation
where
the
street
is
american.
C
Talking
american
billboard
under
highway
77.,
so
in
case
people
are
sort
of
familiar
with
that
area.
So
that's
kind
of
what
I
mean
when
I
say
at
grade
underpass.
Obviously
this
would
have
more
grade
as
it
goes
under
the
bridge.
It
would
dip
down
and
then
come
back
up
on
the
richfield
side.
C
But
I
think
that
there's
a
lot
of
different
ways
that
we
could
do
that.
We
we've
talked
a
little
bit
with
cross
anderson
about
a
situation
where
we've
done
that
in
st
paul
behind
the
capitol
and
it's
actually
built
today,
and
they
did
it
with
a
series
of
sort
of
terraced,
the
sidewalks
and
the
retaining
walls.
So
it
doesn't
actually
feel
like
a
trench,
it's
more
it's
more
open
than
that.
That's
something
that
we
can.
We
can
go
out
and
look
at
it's
a
similar
grade
to
what
knox
avenue
could
be.
C
We
also,
I
think,
are-
are
trying
to
think
really
kind
of
out
of
the
box
on
how
you
integrate
the
development
and
the
potentially
the
parking
structure
with
this
underpass.
So
you
know
at
target
field
we've
built
on-ramp
to
the
freeway
underneath
target
field
and
underneath
the
parking
ramp
and
it's
a
very
seamless
situation
for
pedestrians
crossing
third
avenue,
but
it's
also
functional
from
a
transportation
perspective.
So
I
think,
there's
a
lot
of
different
ways.
C
We
can
address
the
the
sort
of
the
issues
of
of
bisecting
the
site
with
something
that
actually
maybe
brings
it
together,
whether
it's
using
sort
of
the
building
over
the
top
of
that
to
connect
development
on
both
sides
or
whether
it's
using
pedestrian,
bridging
things
like
that.
So
I
think
that
I
think
that
this
is
it's
sort
of
more
of
a
design
design
issue.
We.
C
We
have
talked
about
penn
avenue
today
between.
Yes,
oh
good,
thank
you.
So
today
between
98th
street
and
6th
or
76th
street,
we
go
through
14
traffic
lights
on
penn
avenue,
and
you
can,
I'm
sure,
you've
all
done
it
at
rush
hour.
Try
to
get
sort
of
down
or
up
that
stretch
and
really
what
that
translates
to
is
delay
and
a
lack
of
reliability
for
our
buses.
C
C
Also,
we
talked
about
oh
on
this
sheet.
You'll
see
the
cost
estimates.
Those
do
include
all
of
the
bridging
underpass
relocating
a
storm
sewer.
That's
under
knox
avenue
alignment,
the
42-inch
storm
sewer.
Is
that
right,
water
main
sorry,
not
an
engineer.
C
This
does
not
include
this.
30
million
does
not
include
right-of-way
costs.
So,
as
you
mentioned
that
that's
a
significant
item,
the
36
million
also
does
not
include
right-of-way
costs,
so
the,
as
I
said
before,
sort
of
the
idea
of
of
pushing
the
putting
the
station
in
the
middle
and
expanding
outwards
also
has
significant
impacts
to
to
property.
So
just
a
couple,
a
couple
things
I
don't
know:
if
other
people
want
to
jump
in
or
other
things
to
add,
you
know.
H
On
the
handout
it
points
out
that
the
the
travel
to
estimated
travel
time
with
either
the
online
or
the
knox
avenue
alignment
through
here
is
about
half
what
it
is
with
the
currently
with
the
pan
avenue
alignment.
J
Regardless
of
the
the
total
cost
ends
up
being
who's
paying
for
what.
H
I
can
address
that,
because
staff
put
together
the
numbers
for
me
so
for
the
capital
cost,
the
assumption
is
that
would
about
half
of
it
would
be
funded
with
a
a
federal
small
starts
grant.
So
small
starts
is
a
funding
program
for
transit
projects
that
are
less
than
about
200
million.
I
think
yeah,
and
so
this
with
it
at
150
million.
This
falls
within
that
category.
It's
much
less
over
subscribed
than
the
new
starts
program.
H
That's
used
to
fund
rail
transit
projects,
so
we
think
our
prospects
of
getting
that
grant
are
are
very
good
and,
in
fact,
in
the
federal
transit
administration's
grant
criteria
for
this
program.
The
economic
development
potential
is
a
big
chunk
of
the
the
points
awarded
for
in
awarding
these
grants,
and
so
our
partnership
with
the
city
to
you
know
in
put
the
pen
american
district
plan
into
place.
Put
the
associated
zoning
into
a
into
place
is
actually
a
big
part
of
our
application
to
the
federal
government
to
receive
that
grant.
H
30
percent
of
the
capital
funding
would
come
from
the
county's
transportation
improvement
board.
That's
the
body
that
administers
the
quarter
cent
sales
tax
in
the
region,
anticipating
ten
percent
of
the
the
funding
coming
from
hennepin
and
dakota
counties,
and
then
the
state
and
and
met
council
would
be
the
remaining
ten
percent
of
of
the
capital.
So
it's
the
mix
is
typical
of
transit
projects
in
the
region,
including
rail
transit,
in
terms
of
the
funding
sources
and
then,
in
terms
of
operating
about
half
met
council.
H
I
H
For
for
bus
transit
in
the
region,
maybe.
C
Yeah,
so,
what's
typically
done
in
other
transit
projects,
so
central
quarter
of
the
green
line
is
a
good
example.
Is
that
the
city
of
st
paul
chose
to
do
street
skate
improvement
improvements
and
some
utility
relocation
at
the
same
time,
obviously
there's
a
cost
savings
at
in
coordinating
construction,
and
that
was
sort
of
an
elective
by
the
city
and
and
timed
for
construction.
But
as
far
as
the
actual,
you
know,
the
957
million
light
rail
project.
The
city
did
not
have
a
share
in
that.
C
So
it's
really
it's
it's
more
of
up
to
sort
of
the
municipality.
Do
you
want
to
have
enhancements
that
are
done
at
a
similar
time?.
D
And
I
think
that's
a
fair
representation,
the
the
obviously
the
construction
the
operation
will
be
with
with
the
c-tip,
transit
and
fare
boxes,
and
so
on.
I
think,
from
a
city
perspective,
we'd,
look
at
in
enhancements
improvements,
whether
it's
trying
to
expand
and
improve
on
bus
shelters
or
trying
to
do
street
skate
improvements
or
so
on.
D
It's
so
far
out
right
now,
I
don't
think
we
really
don't
have
a
grip
on
exactly
what
that
would
be,
and
those
are
all
options
for
the
future.
It's
not
a
specific
dollar
amount
that
we
have
earmarked
right
now
that
it's
going
to
happen,
it's
likely
that
or
it
that
it
could,
but
it
would
be
the
decision
of
the
council
if
and
when
this
is
constructed.
K
K
Of
what
christine
is
talking
about
about
a
project
that
might
make
sense
to
do
in
coordination?
There's
a
stormwater
issue
right
at
knox
and
american
boulevard,
and
it
might
make
sense
for
the
city
to
address
that
at
the
same
time
that
the
work
is
being
done
for
the
transit.
So
that's
a
great
example
of
the
kind
of
opportunity
that
it
creates
for
city
improvements
in
the
back.
E
Phil
griffith
I've
represented
a
number
of
the
landowners
in
the
district
and
some
of
whom
are
in
the
room.
One
of
the
questions.
I
asked
the
city
council
when
they
adopted
the
development
moratorium
on
the
district
is,
and
this
can
also
go
to
that
council
met
transit.
Has
there
been
any
study
to
demonstrate
that
this?
You
know
what
apparently,
based
on
the
public
comments
the
minimum
density
zoning?
The
mandatory
two
stories
that
come
in
the
district?
E
E
J
E
Have
not
seen
any
statement
that
there's
going
to
be
a
market
study
either
as
part
of
the
environmental
review
process
or
otherwise
to
demonstrate
that
these
fairly
prescriptive
zoning
requirements
that
are
by
everybody's
statement
necessary
for
the
transit
oriented
development
actually
will
result
in
in
development
that
isn't
subsidized
heavily
by
the
public
authorities.
I'm
going
to
just
take
one
more
minute
to
analogize
to
a
study
in
the
mid
90s
and
council
member
elkins
may
remember
this.
The
builders
association
challenged
the
vet
council's
underlying
assumptions
about
available
buildable
land
and
the
two
parties.
E
The
council
had
one
number
the
builders
had
another,
but
when
you
started
to
strip
away
wetlands
and
erodible
soils
and
steep
slopes
and
sensitive
ag
land,
there
was
actually
a
lot
less
supply
and
I
think,
similarly,
in
this
transit
oriented
development.
The
missing
piece
that
I
see
is:
is
there
really
a
market
that
my
clients
can
rely
on
to
build?
You
know
minimum
density
and
two
stories,
and
so
I
haven't
heard
yet
that
that
study
has
been
ordered.
But
I
think
it's
essential
city
goes.
F
To
you
first,
I
can
address
that
in
terms
of
the
market.
I
guess
what
do
we
know?
We
know
that
genesee
tested
the
apartment
market.
That
was
very
successful,
so
we
know
the
apartment
market
is
strong
in
that
area.
We
know
that
united
properties
through
their
applewood
point
development,
tested
the
senior
market
in
the
area,
and
that
was
very
successful
project.
F
F
We
know
that
a
major
grocery
store
fresh
time
is
moving
into
the
area
they
analyze
the
market.
They
think
pan
american
is
a
place
to
be
we're
talking
to
other
developers
that
want
to
develop
multi-family
housing
in
the
district
senior
housing
in
the
district,
potentially
hotels,
so
we
feel,
like
the
the
market,
is
definitely
strong
in
the
area.
E
Just
one
follow-up
question:
maybe
more
a
point
than
a
question:
every
one
of
those
projects
that
you've
identified
that
has
actually
been
built
other
than
applewood
point
has
been
subsidized
with
city
tax
equipment
financing
dollars.
So
if
you're
telling
me
that
tiff
is
available
for
every
one
of
the
property
owners
in
that
district,
that's.
F
You
know
the
the
market
is
strong.
It's
wanted
to
be
in
this
area
for
a
number
of
years.
We
don't
think
that
will
change
in
the
future,
especially
with
the
transit
investments.
B
So
the
responsibility
of
the
moderators,
on
the
one
hand,
to
allow
the
sort
of
back
and
forth,
but
on
the
other,
to
make
sure
that
we've
opened
all
the
subjects
that
are
maybe
out
there
just
to
get
a
taste
of
them.
So
we've
got
why
this
route
some
of
the
development
and
market
demand
questions.
Is
there
another
subject
which
people
wanted
to
broach
or
hear
about
yeah.
I
Robert
freeman
from
healthcare,
can
you
talk
more
about
kind
of
the
pedestrianization?
What
what
the
two
different?
So
it
sounds
like
you're.
It
sounds
like
the
the
folks
who
are
able
to
decide
to
make
this
kind
of
try
to
decide
between
these
two
options.
Can
you
talk
about
what
the
benefit
is
for
pedestrians,
and
you
talk
about
bikes
a
little
bit
really
didn't
really
get
confirmed.
So
I
really
didn't
know
I
mean
you
talked
about.
You
know
that's
five
other
than
the
people
who
are
working
at
specified.
I
What
about
the
people
who
live
and
presumably
are
going
to
be?
You
know,
funding
the
city
and
the
city's
portion
of
you
know
facilities
and
that's
what
about
those
pedestrians
who
live
around
those
and
how
those?
How
do
those
change.
C
Sure
so
today
I
don't
know
where
our
pointer
went.
Okay,
thank
you.
C
So
one
of
the
the
big
discussions
with
these
various
routes
is
that
if
you
place
a
station
here-
and
you
can
imagine,
people
might
walk
about
10
minutes
to
get
to
a
station,
that's
actually
less
than
what
people
walk
in
our
region
generally,
but
a
10-minute
half-mile
walk
you,
you
get
a
walk
shed.
That's
basically
like
this
because,
of
course,
there's
no
way
to
get
north
south
across
494
between
penn
and
lindale.
C
Once
we
started
looking
at
this
now,
you
can
capture
people
in
this
area.
You
can
also
capture
riders
up
here.
You
sort
of
double
your
your
walk
shed
and
you
reach
both
sides
of
the
freeway,
which
we
think
is
really
important,
and
then
you
also
create
a
seamless,
pedestrian
connection
here.
That,
unlike
has
anybody
ever
walked,
has
anybody
ever
walked
on
pen
from
here
to
here?
C
C
C
But
I
think
max
avenue
is
a
an
opportunity
to
think
about
everyone:
who's,
not
in
a
car
and
think
about
how
transportation
could
change
in
this
area
if
people
had
choices.
So
you
know
one
of
the
things
that
we
recognize
is
that
cars
aren't
going
away,
there's
still
going
to
be
the
need
to
to
move
traffic
in
and
up
and
out
of
penn
avenue
and
lindale
and
on
to
494
and
under
35w.
C
But
we
also
want
to
provide
people
with
choices,
so
they
don't
feel
like
in
order
to
live
in
this
area.
You
have
to
have
a
car
and
that's
where
we
see
kind
of
the
diversification
of
the
market
and
and
people
who
maybe
want
to
live
in
an
apartment
and
be
able
to
walk
to
a
starbucks
or
hop
on
a
bus
and
go
downtown
for
their
job
and
not
have
to
pay
for
parking
things
like
that.
So
I
think
there's
some
significant
pedestrian
benefits.
I.
B
Mean
I
exercised
the
program
of
asking
a
really
dumb
question,
and
this
will
just
reveal
that
I
don't
know
that
much
about
this
project
overall,
but
is
there,
was
a
bridge
looked
at
rather
than
a
tunnel?
It
wouldn't
necessarily.
C
C
Yep,
a
bridge
would
take
more
distance
to
get
up
and
over
the
494,
and
so
we
really
have
been
pursuing
the
the
underpass
option,
because
it's
has
a
smaller
footprint.
K
H
Out
from
a
biking
point
of
view,
so
on
on
the
richfield
side
of
the
border,
there's
a
major
one
of
the
best
east
west
bikeways
in
the
region
runs
like
this
and
then
on
the
bloomington
side.
It
would
be
off
the
map
86th
street
as
a
major,
east-west
bikeway,
but
there
are
very,
very
few
places
to
safely
cross
494
anywhere
in
here.
When
I
do
it,
I
usually
go
all
the
way
over
to
xerxes
the
only
safe
place
in
this
general
area.
B
We
want
to
run
a
tight
ship
last,
maybe
question
yeah.
I.
J
Ramp
on
the
interchange
there
is
when
the
ramps
are
in
and
when
we
had
below
grade
underpasses
is
done
and
I
go
over
to
lucky.
Where
am
I
going
to
park.
C
So
this
is
a
good
question
actually,
because
one
of
the
things
that
we
want
to
try
and
do
through
the
design,
work
and
working
with
cross
anderson
is
to
minimize
the
amount
of
surface
parking.
That's
removed,
obviously
we're
we're
planning
on
building
a
parking
facility
somewhere
in
this
vicinity.
We
know
that
there
are
parking
needs,
especially
if
there's
additional
development
is
sort
of
planned.
C
So
I
think
we've
also
been
thinking
about
how
can
a
park
and
ride
serving
commuters
some
times
a
day
also
serve
the
businesses
and
the
retail
and
and
sort
of
increase
the
parking
capacity
in
the
area
as
a
whole
and
so
there's
kind
of
a
spectrum.
It
could
be
anything
from
sort
of
joint
use
parking
facility.
All
the
way
up
to
you
know
the
the
parking
facility
has
retail
on
top
of
it
or
something
like
that.
C
So
the
answer
is
we're
really
looking
at
how
to
reduce
any
any
impacts
to
parking,
and
I
think
again,
through
the
design
we
have
the
proper
units
at
the
table.
We
can
really
work
through
those
issues
and
try
to
create
some
benefit
for
for
people
in
this
area
and
development.
That's
that's
coming
to
this
area.
B
So
thank
you
to
bloomington
chamber
and
its
members
and
board
members
and
the
met
council
on
transit
and
the
city
for
coming,
obviously
an
enormous
number
of
very
important
conversations
continuing.
I
know
that
everyone
up
front
would
like
to
continue
to
hear
from
you
sort
of
you
have
to
ask
them
if
they,
I
know
they
would.
B
And
with
that,
thank
you
all
for
coming
very,
very
much.