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LSA Design, Inc. <br />Northwestern Building <br />219 North Second Street <br />Suite 302 <br />Minneapolis, MN 5540 <br />T. 612.339.8729 <br />F. 612.339.7433 <br />www.lsadesigninc.cor. <br />Planning <br />Architecture <br />Urban Design <br />To: Brian Olson - Dir. of Public Works, City of Ramsey <br />From: Jim Lasher <br />Project: Ramsey CMAQ Grant <br />Subject: Modal Change from Bus to Rail <br />Date: November 1, 2011 <br />The City of Ramsey was approved for a CMAQ grant as part of the 2005/2006 <br />regional solicitation that included providing new express bus service from the City <br />of Ramsey to Downtown Minneapolis as well as the construction of 200 new park <br />and ride stalls. The City of Ramsey has most recently been approved for a new <br />commuter rail station along the existing Northstar Commuter Rail line. <br />Construction is scheduled to begin early in 2012 with full operations of the new rail <br />station in December of 2012. In various meeting with MnDOT State Aid staff, FHWA <br />staff and Met Council staff, a question has arisen regarding the pending change of <br />mode from bus to rail and its impacts on the original CMAQ grant, which used bus <br />service and not rail service, to mitigate congestion for the region. This memo will <br />attempt to address questions brought forth by agencies regarding this change. <br />BACKGROUND <br />The City of Ramsey submitted a CMAQ Grant Proposal on August 16, 2005 to the <br />Transportation Advisory Board that was successfully scored and ultimately <br />approved for funding by the Met Council on March 15, 2006 for program year 2009. <br />Funds for the CMAQ were allocated to the two elements of the project as follows: <br />New Bus Service $1,458,993 <br />Park and Ride Expansion $4,170,000 <br />Total CMAQ $5,628,993 <br />When the CMAQ Grant was approved in March 2006, the existing Northstar <br />Commuter Coach (express bus service along the future Northstar Commuter Rail <br />Line) was running at or near 100% capacity without the availability to add buses <br />due to funding constraints. However, the approved City of Ramsey CMAQ Grant <br />would not be available for up to three years to assist with this problem. <br />To that issue, the City of Ramsey elected to make a formal request to the Met Council <br />to "Advance Construct" the CMAQ grant funds to allow for the added bus service and <br />park and ride stalls to add much needed capacity to the Northstar Commuter Coach <br />system at a time when it was desperately needed. <br />