SF 577

2nd Engrossment - 82nd Legislature (2001 - 2002) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

  1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to metropolitan government; regulating 
  1.3             transit on park roads in St. Paul; preserving an 
  1.4             existing transit route; amending Minnesota Statutes 
  1.5             2000, section 473.411, subdivision 5. 
  1.6   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.7      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 473.411, 
  1.8   subdivision 5, is amended to read: 
  1.9      Subd. 5.  [USE OF PUBLIC ROADWAYS AND APPURTENANCES.] The 
  1.10  council may use for the purposes of sections 473.405 to 473.449 
  1.11  upon the conditions stated in this subdivision any state highway 
  1.12  or other public roadway, parkway, or lane, or any bridge or 
  1.13  tunnel or other appurtenance of a roadway, without payment of 
  1.14  any compensation, provided the use does not interfere 
  1.15  unreasonably with the public use or maintenance of the roadway 
  1.16  or appurtenance or entail any substantial additional costs for 
  1.17  maintenance.  The provisions of this subdivision do not apply to 
  1.18  the property of any common carrier railroad or common carrier 
  1.19  railroads.  The consent of the public agency in charge of such 
  1.20  state highway or other public highway or roadway or appurtenance 
  1.21  is not required; except that if the council seeks to use 
  1.22  initiate regular route service on a designated parkway for 
  1.23  regular route service or road that passes through a park in the 
  1.24  city of Minneapolis or the city of St. Paul, it must obtain 
  1.25  permission from and is subject to reasonable limitations imposed 
  2.1   by a joint board consisting of two representatives from the 
  2.2   council, two members of the board of park commissioners, and a 
  2.3   fifth member jointly selected by the representatives of the 
  2.4   council and the park board or commission.  
  2.5      The board of park commissioners and the council may 
  2.6   designate persons to sit on the joint board.  In considering a 
  2.7   request by the council to use designated parkways, or roads that 
  2.8   pass through a park for additional routes or trips, the joint 
  2.9   board consisting of the council or their designees, the board of 
  2.10  park commissioners or their designees, and the fifth member, 
  2.11  shall base its decision to grant or deny the request based on 
  2.12  the criteria to be established by the joint board.  The decision 
  2.13  to grant or deny the request must be made within 45 days of the 
  2.14  date of the request.  The park board or commission must be 
  2.15  notified immediately by the council of any temporary route 
  2.16  detours.  If the park board or commission objects to the 
  2.17  temporary route detours within five days of being notified, the 
  2.18  joint board must convene and decide whether to grant the 
  2.19  request, otherwise the request is deemed granted.  If the agency 
  2.20  objects to the proposed use or claims reimbursement from the 
  2.21  council for additional cost of maintenance, it may commence an 
  2.22  action against the council in the district court of the county 
  2.23  wherein the highway, roadway, or appurtenance, or major portion 
  2.24  thereof, is located.  The proceedings in the action must conform 
  2.25  to the rules of civil procedure applicable to the district 
  2.26  courts.  The court shall sit without jury.  If the court 
  2.27  determines that the use in question interferes unreasonably with 
  2.28  the public use or maintenance of the roadway or appurtenance, it 
  2.29  shall enjoin the use by the council.  If the court determines 
  2.30  that the use in question does not interfere unreasonably with 
  2.31  the public use or maintenance of the roadway or appurtenance, 
  2.32  but that it entails substantial additional maintenance costs, 
  2.33  the court shall award judgment to the agency for the amount of 
  2.34  the additional costs.  Otherwise the court shall award judgment 
  2.35  to the council.  An aggrieved party may appeal from the judgment 
  2.36  of the district court in the same manner as is provided for such 
  3.1   appeals in other civil actions.  The council may also use land 
  3.2   within the right-of-way of any state highway or other public 
  3.3   roadway for the erection of traffic control devices, other 
  3.4   signs, and passenger shelters upon the conditions stated in this 
  3.5   subdivision and subject only to the approval of the commissioner 
  3.6   of transportation where required by statute, and subject to the 
  3.7   express provisions of other applicable statutes and to federal 
  3.8   requirements where necessary to qualify for federal aid. 
  3.9      Sec. 2.  [PRESERVATION OF EXISTING TRANSIT ROUTE.] 
  3.10     The metropolitan council shall, in the area between and 
  3.11  including Lexington Avenue and Chatsworth and between and 
  3.12  including Como lake and Front Avenue in the city of St. Paul, 
  3.13  continue to use only those streets for regular route transit 
  3.14  that are used for regular route transit on transit route 5 at 
  3.15  the time of enactment of this section. 
  3.16     Sec. 3.  [EFFECTIVE DATE.] 
  3.17     Sections 1 and 2 are effective the day after final 
  3.18  enactment.