07-08-1985 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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G M E T R O P O L I T A N T R A N S I T C G M M I S S 1 O N 560-61h Avenue North, A4inneapoGs, .Minnesota 55411-4398 612/349-74G0 June 18, 1985 Ms. Mary Butler Mayor City of Orono 3145 Casco Circle Wayzata, MN 55391 Dear Ms. Butler: You are invited to a public hearing at the Ridgedale Center Community Room on Thursday, June 27, 1985, at 7:30 PM. The Metropolitan Transit Commission's staff proposals for the first phase ): transit operations on I-394 will be presented. Your comments are welc ite. It is important to begin the implementation process now since construction has begun and will continue at an accelerated pace on US Highway 12/I-394 between Wayzata and downtown Minneapolis. If you are unable to attend the hearing but wish to give input or have questions, please telephone the MTC Service Planning Unit at 349-7773. Regardless of whether or not you can make the June 27th meeting, the MTC wants to share our current thinking about bus service plans along Hwy. 12 during the initial construction phases. The construction will impact MTC Route 151-Mound service, operating on Highway 12. Steady ridership growth will likely result from the promotion of bus riding and ridesharing in the corridor. Deteriorating Highway 12 traffic conditions will be a disadvantage to solo automobile drivers and MTC local bus operations alike. The cost of operating a local bus trip will increase due to the delays. Express buses, car and vanpoolers will benefit from the interim Express lanes to be located in the median of Highway 12 by early October. We predict that increasing traffic congestion will be adding as much as seven extra minutes (15 to 20% more time) to Route 151 local bus one-way running time by this fall. However, the express lanes will permit Route #51 express bus schedule times to remain unchanged. The MTC Commission has already reviewed and approved a timed -transfer service plan for the I-394 service phase -in. However, the complete timed -transfer plan is quite expensive. Recognizing that bus operating funds for I-394 may be limited, MTC staff developed three lower cost options. They are described in the following section along with the full timed -transfer option. All of the options will be presented at the public hearing.