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[] <br /> <br />[] <br /> <br />[] <br /> <br />[] <br /> <br />[] <br /> <br />[] <br /> <br />! <br /> <br />Connecting <br />a community <br /> <br />The proposed <br />Community Transit <br />Stat/on in Apple <br /> <br />Va lieF, M/nh eso to, <br />aims to integrate <br />transit services and <br />community centers <br /> <br />Five Minnesota public agencies have <br />coordinated their objectives and <br />resources to plan and fund the <br />latest Minnesota Valley Transit <br />Authority (MVTA) mixed-use transit sta- <br />tion. This is a 13-acre Community <br />Transit Station (CTS) to be iocated in <br />Apple Valley, Minnesota. The MVTA and <br />the City of Apple Valley, with the Dakota <br />County Housing and Redevelopment <br />Authority, the Dakota County Transporta- <br />tion Department, and the Metropolitan <br />Council, joined in a partnership to imple- <br />ment a broad service objective. That <br />objective is tn promote connections <br />between transit services and concen- <br />trated activity centers within suburban <br />communities by linking those community <br />centers with one another and with <br />nearby urban .areas. <br /> <br />Planning <br />The MVTA commissioned LSA Design <br />inc., a multidiscipfinary firm based <br />in Minneapolis, to complete a Public <br />Facilities Study, including a long-term <br />needs assessment for the entire MVTA <br />service area, Among the study's conclu- <br />sions, developing a mixed-use transit <br /> <br />pASSEN~--_~R TERMIPqA-L <br /> 70 <br /> <br />'96 <br /> <br />station in the City of Apple Valley ranked <br />highly as a long-range objective. In rec- <br />ommending a site for this future facility, <br />LSA Design located and analyzed !2 <br />potential land alternatives and selected <br />the 13-acre parcel. The company then <br />completed the primary master planning <br />for the CTS project, and assisted the <br />MVTA in securing an Option Agreement <br />reserving the land during the final plan- <br />ning, municipal approval, and prelimi- <br />nary developer selection stages. <br /> For the MVTA, promoting connec- <br />tions between transit and activity cen- <br />ters, and between suburban and urban <br />activity centers, included modeling the <br />CTS project after their first mixed-use <br />facility, the Burnsville Transit Station <br />(see "Sustainable Transit Facilities," <br />Passenger Terminal '9.¢). As with that <br />facility, the MVTA looks to ~rovide conve- <br />nient, safe, high-frequency transit ser- <br />vices to express commuters via commu- <br />nity centered transit hubs. At the same <br />time, it hopes to reduce single occupan- <br />cy vehicle trips and traffic congestion in <br />its service areas, increase ridership, <br />and gain financial stability by increasing <br />revenue bases at the mixed-use transit <br /> <br /> <br />