Residents, businesses, and anyone with an interest in the new Interstate 35W Bridge will have an opportunity to comment on the proposed layout for the new bridge at a public hearing this week. The hearing will take place during a special meeting of the City Council’s Transportation and Public Works Committee.
City of Minneapolis I-35W Bridge Project Review public hearing
5:30 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 20, 2007
Thrivent Financial Auditorium
625 Fourth Ave. S.
In August, the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) provided the City with its proposed layout for the new bridge, which would include five lanes in each direction, including two lanes that could be devoted to Bus Rapid Transit and/or managed lanes. The proposal also calls for the new bridge to be capable of supporting a possible light rail line in the future.
Receiving the bridge layout begins the state-mandated Project Review process, in which MnDOT asks the Minneapolis City Council to approve the project layout, or offer its suggested changes. At the hearing, people will have a chance to hear more about the Project Review process, see a MnDOT presentation on the bridge layout, and provide testimony on the layout to the Council.
State law sets strict parameters for what a city can consider through the Project Review process. A municipality is limited to responding to the construction project layout and project report, which shows an aerial view of the project including number of lanes, widths and lengths of lanes and shoulders, geometric alignment, trails and auxiliary lanes. The layout also includes information on transit considerations.
• The City is asked primarily to examine issues related to capacity, access, and right of way.
• State law does not allow Minneapolis to include aesthetic considerations (what the bridge looks like) in Project Review.
From the date of the public hearing, Minneapolis will have 90 days to review the layout and submit its response to MnDOT. State law dictates that there are only three ways a city can respond through the Project Review process: it can approve the layout; disapprove the layout; or disapprove the layout with requests for changes. The “disapprove with request for changes” does not mean the municipality is taking an adversarial position or is opposed to the project. It is simply the City’s only authorized option for asking for any modifications to the plan and it is commonly used by cities as they provide Project Review for MnDOT projects.
On Aug. 17, the City Council and Mayor Rybak unanimously approved a Statement of Principles that outlines the City’s shared vision for the new bridge. The vision reflects the Mayor’s and Council’s firm commitment to ensuring our state builds a safe bridge as expeditiously as is reasonable, but most importantly, that we do it right and with an eye toward the future transportation needs of the people of Minneapolis and all of Minnesota.
Sept. 18, 2007