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Logo from 2007 (new logo to be released 2012) |
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| Overview | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Type | Bus Rapid Transit | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| System | Metropolitan Council | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Status | Under construction | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Locale | (Hennepin County) Bloomington, Minnesota (Dakota County) Eagan, Minnesota Burnsville, Minnesota Apple Valley, Minnesota Rosemount, Minnesota Lakeville, Minnesota |
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| Stations | 10 planned: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Operation | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Opened | September 24, 2012[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Owner | Minnesota Valley Transit Metro Transit Metropolitan Council Cedar Group |
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| Operator(s) | Minnesota Valley Transit | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Technical | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Operating speed | 67 mph max | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Cedar Avenue Bus Rapid Transitway (Red Line) is a 16 mile corridor bus right-of-way line currently going under construction, with a grand opening date set for September 24, 2012.[1] The future busway is planned to run directly on side-roaded bus lanes of Cedar Avenue (Minnesota State Highway 77/County Road 23) between the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota and 215th Street in Lakeville, Minnesota, and will connect with the Blue Line. Construction officially started as of April 11, 2011.[2]
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The corridor has seen rapidly increasing traffic volumes over the past 20 years due to explosive growth in Dakota County. Traffic congestion is a commonplace along much of the corridor as far south as County Road 42. The Metropolitan Council, county, and local officials are promoting the transitway as a means to improve mobility in the corridor.
The Red Line will serve the Mall of America in Bloomington to 215th Street in Lakeville, serving some of the fastest growing areas in the Metropolitan Area and in the State of Minnesota. Traffic volumes on Cedar Avenue currently exceed 100,000 vehicles a day at the Minnesota River bridge on any given morning, with congestion sometimes extending as far south as County Road 42 in Apple Valley, Johnny Cake Road and Garden View Road, as well as even the largest highways & county roads of Pilot Knob and State Highway 3 (Between Eagan and Rosemount), a distance of several miles away. The cities of Lakeville, Farmington, and Eagan are projected to double in population between the year 2000 and 2025, and the City of Apple Valley will gain half again its current population: 90,000 more residents in the Corridor. Bus Rapid Transit buses will have more futuristic commercial detail and other features, such as elevators, stairs and such at bus stations. Cedar Avenue will be reconstructed with new bus shoulder lanes for easier travel between Downtown Minneapolis and Lakeville. The Transitway will begin in Bloomington around Mall of America, and expand southward into Eagan, Apple Valley, and Lakeville with bus shoulder lanes on both sides of Cedar Avenue, making it easier to bypass traffic. Stations will be designed with bus pull offs to allow express buses to pass buses picking up and dropping off passengers.
In July 2011, the Metropolitan Council officially designated the Cedar Avenue BRT line as the Red Line. This is part of a broader scheme to designate Minneapolis-St. Paul transit lines by color. Corresponding lines within the system include the Blue Line (existing Hiawatha LRT line), the Green Line (under construction LRT line between Minneapolis and St. Paul) and the Orange Line (under construction BRT line along Interstate 35W).[3]
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