Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Aug. 11 , 2008
NEW 28TH AVE. STATION RAMP EXPANDS
CAPACITY ALONG HIAWATHA LINE
BLOOMINGTON – (Aug. 11) – Today marked the grand opening for a new five-level parking ramp in Bloomington – helping to increase parking capacity along the Hiawatha light-rail line and making it easier and more convenient for customers to park and ride. The $16.5 million facility at the 28th Avenue Station has approximately 1,450 parking spaces and is Metro Transit’s largest parking facility.
Construction on the new ramp was completed last month and took just over a year. The new parking structure replaces a 350-space surface parking lot on the south side of the station, which was filled to capacity on weekdays and during special events in downtown Minneapolis.
“The surface parking lot was over capacity for about three years,” said Metro Transit General Manager Brian Lamb. “We’re already seeing the popularity of this new ramp. In fact, well over 500 customers used the new facility when it first opened for business July 22.”
With the addition of the ramp, there are approximately 2,800 free parking spaces along the Hiawatha Line. The new structure also includes 2,000 square feet of retail space that will be leased at a later date. There also is a plaza area between the parking ramp and light rail station.
The project is a collaboration of the Metropolitan Council, Metro Transit and the City of Bloomington. The contractor was Knutson Construction Services, Inc. of Rochester.
It was financed through an arrangement with Bloomington Port Authority, which issued bonds for construction. The Metropolitan Council will make lease payments to the Port Authority to pay for the bonds. Once the bonds are paid off in 2009, the Met Council will own the parking ramp.
Metro Transit is a service of the Metropolitan Council. Customers boarded its buses and trains 77 million times in 2007, the highest annual ridership in 25 years.
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(Editors: For information call Bruce Howard, director of marketing, 612-349-7694
or via e-mail at bruce.howard@metc.state.mn.us)
