Metropolitan Council Selects Light Rail as Preferred Bottineau Option

The Metropolitan Council voted Wednesday to include the 13-mile-long Bottineau Transitway light rail transit project in its 2030 Transportation Policy Plan.

Naming LRT as the “mode of choice” for the Bottineau Corridor—which runs from Minneapolis to Brooklyn Park, passing through Golden Valley—is an important step toward moving the project forward. The Met Council also selected the “locally preferred alternative” route along West Broadway Avenue in Brooklyn Park, the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad corridor and Olson Memorial Highway/Trunk Highway 55.

“Bottineau is key to the region’s future development and continued economic success," a news release quoted Council Chairwoman Susan Haigh. “As the Metropolitan Council works to build a 21st century transit system, Bottineau LRT will provide residents and employees of the corridor greater access to major destinations in the metro area through links to other major transit corridors.”

Not everyone has been happy with the project, though. During a meeting in February, residents worried that light rail could affect natural areas.

The next step for the $1 billion project is to complete the project’s draft environmental impact statement and to finish the application to the Federal Transit Administration to start the “New Starts” process.