16:00 Wednesday, 21 August 2024
One of the subway’s light rail projects, the extension of the Blue Line, will have to face close scrutiny by local authorities in a so-called municipal approval process.
The Metropolitan Council, one of the agencies responsible for the project, is holding open days and public hearings along the light rail corridor until early September.
The line will run from downtown Minneapolis to Brooklyn Park, with stops in Crystal and Robbinsdale.
The first of these open houses took place in Crystal on August 20, giving residents the opportunity to comment on the design elements of the project before the township voted on it.
What is municipal consent?
Municipal approval is an important step in moving forward with light rail planning and is a legally mandated process. Despite its name, it does not give cities the power to stop a light rail project.
Rather, elected local bodies should be given the opportunity to comment on specific design elements.
“They have a say in the physical design elements,” said Shahin Khazrajafari, Hennepin County’s deputy project manager. “That means where the tracks go — the alignment, generally speaking. The locations of the stations … the decision they can make is to approve the plans as they are, and that counts as approval — they can vote ‘yes’ to approve. They can vote ‘no’ and propose changes that would allow them to get to a ‘yes.'”
Khazrajafari continued, “Essentially, they can tell us what design elements they want to see so they can vote. Or they can not vote at all, which in that case would also be considered consent under state law.”
Project officials from the Blue Line Extension Project Office discuss the project’s design elements during an open house on August 20 in Crystal.
Public hearings in September
The next public hearing will be held on Tuesday, September 3rd at 7 p.m. at Robbinsdale City Hall.
In Brooklyn Park, there will be an open house on September 9th starting at 4 p.m. and a public hearing starting at 6 p.m. at Brooklyn Park City Hall.
A public hearing in Minneapolis will be held on September 12 at 1:30 p.m. at the Public Service Center at 250 S. 4th Ave.
Further information on the public hearings can be found here.
Brooklyn Park | Crystal | Robbinsdale
