Usually citians aren’t impacted by the seasonal road construction and are savvy enough to take picturesque detours.  With the LRT impacting both cities this first week of September, that expectation is no more.

In Minneapolis, closures will affect the U of M, stifling traffic as it has been in the new Beacon/Church Street intersection.  The Weisman exit remains closed as does the connector street from East River Road to Pleasant (Arlington St), forcing drivers to go all the way north to Dinkytown. Washington Avenue SE will likely be very congested from new arrivals to State Fair goers this week.

In Downtown Saint Paul, the closures will affect 4th Street as usual, limiting access to Lowertown. Patrons should park north two blocks and walk south.

Construction Contracts Awarded

The Met Council awarded the heavy construction contract for the Minneapolis Civil West segment of the CCLRT to the Ames/McCrossan team.  According to Finance and Commerce, it was the lowest bid.  The two companies based in Burnsville and Maple Grove respectively made news when they filed complaints after their low bids for the replacement Saint Anthony Falls I-35W Bridge were rejected over an expensive suburban Denver-based company.  The companies will coincidentally be working near their failed bid when it constructs a flyover bridge to carry the train over 35W next to the Cedar Riverside Towers.  We hope those suburbanites can finally discover that the Sin Cities aren’t so bad. Construction begins in Spring 2011, just in time to annoy everyone for three years.

Siemens Transportation Systems, part of the German equivalent to General Electric, was awarded the contract to build 31 light-rail cars for the Central Corridor and 10 cars for the Hiawatha line.   They will be built at their Sacramento, California plant.  MPR noted that the Siemens cars are not compatible with the current Bombardier cars used on the Hiawatha Line.  Officials stated they will run the cars in compatible pairs.