The Central Corridor is the 11-mile stretch between the downtown regions of Minneapolis and Saint Paul in Minnesota. The transit corridor is currently served by Interstate 94 and the combination of University Avenue and Washington Avenue (which runs from downtown Minneapolis past the University of Minnesota). Due to increasing congestion in the Twin Cities region, the area is being examined as a candidate for a future light rail or bus rapid transit line, most likely routed along University and Washington Avenues (currently served by Metro Transit bus routes 16 and 50). Planners are expected to decide on what type of transit system to implement in late 2004 or early 2005. If the option for light rail is pursued, it will be the second such line in the region after the Hiawatha Line, which opened in 2004 and connects Minneapolis with the southern suburb of Bloomington.

Current estimates place the cost of a light-rail line at about US$840 million. Initial busway estimates are less than $300 million, although those options would involve running the buses mixed with city traffic in downtown Minneapolis and near the University of Minnesota, regions that are already fairly congested and do not have enough room for dedicated bus lanes. Adding a tunnel for buses (which is already included in estimates for light rail) would bring the cost up to about $600 million. Without a tunnel, projections indicate that buses would become a much less attractive transit alternative by about 2018 because they would become stuck in traffic.

Whichever alternative is chosen, it will probably be operational around the year 2010. By that time, it is expected that the Northstar Corridor commuter rail line will connect downtown Minneapolis with northwestern suburbs, with a station at or near the north/western terminus of the Hiawatha Line and Central Corridor. The two light-rail lines would end up sharing trackage at that point—the lines would meet near the Metrodome. A short westward extension is planned to make it easier to directly transfer from the Northstar line to either of the light_rail corridors.

A streetcar line along University Avenue was the first of four "interurban" connections between Minneapolis and St. Paul as part of the old street railway that served the region. That line existed from 1890 until it was ripped out in the 1950s. It is fairly likely that the Central Corridor line would link to the St. Paul Union Depot, considered one of the great architectural achievements in the city and formerly one of the main points of departure for area train riders up until passenger rail service in the United States was restructured in the 1960s and 1970s. The station would probably also become a transfer point for people coming into St. Paul along the Red Rock Corridor commuter rail line. At the present time, the Union Depot is partially used as a mail hub by the United States Postal Service.

External link

• Central Corridor (http://www.centralcorridor.org/)