History: The planned METRO Blue Line extension light rail transit project stretches approximately 13 miles from downtown Minneapolis to the northwest serving the neighborhoods of north Minneapolis and the suburban communities of Golden Valley, Robbinsdale, Crystal and Brooklyn Park.

Resolution 17-0143 authorized Agreement A176972 with the Metropolitan Council to receive $1,077,500 in funds from the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) for activities that build upon completed station area plans. Helping corridor cities update land use policies and zoning ordinances, and conducting a housing gap analysis were two objectives identified in the grant agreement. Resolution 17-0352 approved a professional services agreement that will deliver transit-oriented development (TOD) zoning ordinance development and real estate market analysis and fulfill these stated objectives.

Improving bicycle and pedestrian connections to stations, promoting shared mobility, and supporting community engagement were additional objectives of the grant agreement. A request for proposals (RFP) seeking a consultant team to assist in the design and engineering of bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure improvements and to assess shared mobility options in station areas was released on September 20, 2017 and due on October 11, 2017. Concurrently, a separate RFP was released seeking a service provider to engage corridor communities in the design and engineering process as well as additional technical work planned in future phases. Proposals were submitted by three consulting teams for the infrastructure planning and five consulting teams for the community engagement work. The proposals were reviewed by consultant selection committees consisting of representatives of Hennepin County; the cities of Golden Valley, Robbinsdale, Crystal, and Brooklyn Park; Metro Transit; and the Blue Line Coalition.

SRF Consulting Group was identified as the preferred consultant to conduct the advanced infrastructure planning due to the team’s extensive experience with both the METRO Blue Line Extension project and bicycle and pedestrian planning projects within the Bottineau Corridor. Community Design Group was identified as the preferred consultant to conduct the community engagement work due to the team’s strength in both community engagement as well as bicycle and pedestrian planning.

Current Request: Approve Agreements A177980 with SRF Consulting Group for advanced planning of bicycle and pedestrian connections and shared mobility options for the METRO Blue Line Extension station areas, during the period December 1, 2017 through December 31, 2018 with the amount not to exceed $390,250, and A177981 with Community Design Group for associated community engagement during advanced planning in METRO Blue Line Extension station areas, during the period December 1, 2017 through April 1, 2019 with the amount not to exceed $100,000. Funding for this work comes from an FTA grant and local matching contributions.

Impact/Outcomes: This work will support corridor cities’ efforts to improve bicycle and pedestrian connections in station areas, inform Bottineau Light Rail Transit Corridor cities’ policy decisions before LRT opening day in 2022, and meet the objectives of the FTA Pilot Program for TOD.