| Location |
Minneapolis , Minnesota |
| PPP Option |
Design-build; traditional design-bid-build |
| Mode |
Light Rail Transit |
| Description |
Hiawatha Light Rail links downtown Minneapolis with Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport and the Mall of America. Project scope includes 12.0 miles, 17 stations including subway station at MSP International and up to 26 light rail vehicles.
The project utilized two separate design-build contracts for light: one for rail vehicles, and one to place rail and signal and communication equipment along the alignment.
Although design-build contracts are used for the rest of the LRT route the Metropolitan Airport Commission officials opted on a design-bid-build procurement for the two 7,400 foot airport tunnels. This decision was based on the risk of tunneling below two runways and building two 30-ft-high, 60-ft-wide, and 500-ft-long station 66 feet below grade in the middle of the airport. The tunnels are being built adjacent to each other to carry northbound and southbound train traffic. Each tunnel is 7,400 feet (1.4 miles) in length. Crews have completed boring both north and southbound tunnels, and are working on the Lindbergh Terminal and Humphrey Terminal stations. The Metropolitan Airports Commission is overseeing construction of the tunnels and both airport stations. |
| Sponsor |
Metropolitan Council and Minnesota Department of Transportation
|
| Cost |
$675.4 million |
| Type of Finance |
Federal and Local grants
|
| Revenue Sources |
$334.3 million FTA Section 5309 New Starts
$43.0 million Federal Surface Transportation Program
$6.8 million Federal Congestion Mitigation Air Quality
$100.0 million State of Minnesota
$20.2 million State of Minnesota In-Kind
$70.0 million Hennepin County
$14.1 million Hennepin County In-Kind
$87.0 million Metropolitan Airports Commission |
| Project Delivery / Contract Method |
2 Design-Build procurements
1 Design-Bid-Build procurement |
| Private Design - Build Partners |
LRT vehicles – Bombardier
Rail/Systems – Granite Construction Inc, with Parsons Transportation Group, Maple Grove , C.S. McCrossen and Edwards and Kelcey
|
| Private Design - Bid Build Partners |
Airport Tunnel
Design: HNTB
Construction: Joint venture of Obayashi Corporation and Johnson Brothers Corporation |
| Lenders |
None |
| Status |
Service will begin in two phases. First, partial service from the Warehouse District to Fort Snelling, followed by full service to the airport and Mall of America The Hiawatha entered revenue service on July 1, 2004 , and in its first week of revenue operation it carried 93,000 passengers. Early projections were for weekly trips to average 55,400. The week did include three home games by the Minnesota Twins, but this is estimated to have made a difference of just 12,000 trips. Full service to the airport and Mall of America is scheduled to open in December 2004.
Preparation included four weeks of testing that simulated revenue service. In this exercise, rail staff operated the full schedule without picking up passengers in order to work out any kinks before opting the system to revenue service. |
| Innovations |
Cobbling together multiple federal funding sources with multiple local match sources
Innovative mix of design-build and design-bid-build procurements |
| Related Links / Articles |
http://www.metrocouncil.org/transportation/lrt/lrt.htm
An article about the completion of the first Hiawatha airport tunnel
FTA Newstarts Report
Tunnel construction at Minneapolis St. Paul Airport
ENR article on tunnel construction at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport
|
| Contacts |
Mark Fuhrmann
Chief Financial Officer
Metropiltan Council
Tel:(612) 215-8255
Ed Hunter
Project Director
Hiawatha Project Office
Tel:(612) 215-8254 |
