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A RESOLUTION IN SUPPORT <br />OF PRESERVING AND USING THE <br />DAKOTA RAIL RIGHT-OF-WAY <br />AS A CONTINUOUS TRANSPORTATION CORRIDOR, <br />AND TO EXPRESS APPRECIATION TO THE <br />COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF HENNEPIN, CARVER AND McLEOD COUNTIES <br />AND THE HENNEPIN COUNTY STAFF <br />FOR THEIR VISION AND PERSISTENCE <br />IN THE ACQUISITION OF THE DAKOTA RAIL CORRIDOR <br />WHEREAS, the Dakota Rail right-of-way is a beautiful, unique, and valuable transportation <br />corridor that ser\ es the area from Wayzata to Hutchinson; and <br />WHEREAS, the Dakota Railroad corridor was recently purchased by the I lennepin County <br />Regional Railroad Authority (HCRRA); and <br />WHEREAS, the HCRRA is presently evaluating the financial feasibility of restoring freight <br />rail service on the corridor, including specifically the cost of infrastructure improvements and repairs <br />necessary to make the corridor safe and elTicient for freight rail service; and <br />WHEREAS, the Dakota Railroad is in a state of severe deterioration and any future use of <br />the corridor for freight rail ser\ ice will require the expenditure of a significant amount of public <br />funds for rehabilitation of track, bridges, drainage facilities, and other infrastructure; and <br />WHEREAS, the future use of the corridor for freight rail ser\’ice on an improved corridor <br />would have detrimental effects on the residential neighborhoods adjacent to the corridor throughout <br />Orono; and <br />WHEREAS, past sales ot portions of the real estate within the corridor by rail operators has <br />unnecessarily diminished the usefulness of this unique “east-west'' corridor for future public <br />transportation uses; and <br />WHEREAS, the use of the Dakota Railroad corridor as a continuous recreational trail is in <br />the public interest because pedestrians using the corridor, including specifically our youth, will not <br />be exposed to the hazards associated with mixing pedestrian and vehicular traffic on a single <br />corridor; and <br />Page 1 of3 <br />- ...