5.3. SR 11-16-1998 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

SECTION 4 - PLANNING CONTEXT The two metropolitan planning organizations (MPO) in the Northstar Corridor are the Metropolitan Council in the Twin Cities seven-county metropolitan area and the St. Cloud Area Planning Organization (APO) whose transportation plans have been reviewed and are highlighted in this chapter. To ensure consistency of plans, transportation plans were reviewed from the counties and cities within the corridor as well as Mn/DOT's Metro Division Transportation System Plan (TSP) and information from Mn/DOT District 3. All of the plans recognize the increase in travel demand, in general, and the limited resources available to address the transportation needs in the region. Managing the roadway system and providing travel choices to develop a multimodal transportation system is a continuing theme in these plans. 4.1 METROPOLITAN COUNCIL TRANSPORTATION POLICY PLAN December 1996 Of the sixteen policies described in the Metropolitan Council Transportation Policy Plan, Policy 5 addresses transitways and Strategy 5a addresses transit technologies as follows: Policy 5 - Transitways The Metropolitan Council will promote the implementation of a regional network of dedicated transitways to provide a travel-time advantage for transit vehicles, improve transit service reliability and increase transit accessibility to jobs. Transitways will be a tool to help promote higher density development along these major corridors. Strategy 5a - Transit Technologies: The Council will support incremental implementation of transitways with initial applications focusing on bus technology. This does not preclude other technologies in the future (for example, light rail transit and commuter rail), either as an evolution of an existing transitway or as an entirely new initiative if a technology other than buses proves cost-effective and adequate funding for implementation becomes available. The 2020 Regional Transportation Plan takes an intermodal approach to addressing the needs of the region which includes transit. The Transit System Plan discusses: Importance of Regional Transit Transit is essential in accommodating future development and growth, developing higher density and revitalizing the core area of the region. Transit will also play an important role in helping alleviate growing traffic congestion and providing better accessibility to jobs. New Direction for Regional Transit The new direction for regional transit includes two key objectives: Develop a regional network of dedicated transitways to provide a travel-time advantage for transit vehicles, improve transit service reliability and increase accessibility to jobs via transit; and Match the most appropriate transit services to different transit market areas. Northstar Corridor Major Investment Study Section 4 - Planning Context 10-28-98 4-1