HF 729

as introduced - 79th Legislature (1995 - 1996) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

  1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to appropriations; appropriating money for a 
  1.3             feasibility study of high-speed rail service in 
  1.4             Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Illinois. 
  1.5   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.6      Section 1.  [HIGH-SPEED RAIL CORRIDOR STUDY; 
  1.7   APPROPRIATION.] 
  1.8      (a) The commissioner of transportation shall initiate a 
  1.9   phase-II feasibility study of high-speed rail service in 
  1.10  Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Illinois along the southern corridor 
  1.11  identified in the tri-state study of high-speed rail service.  
  1.12  The commissioner shall seek federal matching funds and 
  1.13  contributions from nonpublic sources to finance the study.  The 
  1.14  commissioner may enter into agreements with the states of 
  1.15  Wisconsin and Illinois to cooperate in financing and performing 
  1.16  the study. 
  1.17     (b) The study outline must be agreed upon by the 
  1.18  participating states and federal government and must include: 
  1.19     (1) collection of original and comprehensive 
  1.20  origin-destination data; 
  1.21     (2) a comprehensive assessment of alternative technologies; 
  1.22     (3) engineering and environmental analysis, including route 
  1.23  evaluations within the corridor, crossings, infrastructure 
  1.24  needs, intermodal connections, and potential station locations; 
  1.25     (4) comprehensive financial and economic analysis; 
  2.1      (5) analysis of potential public-private partnerships; and 
  2.2      (6) an implementation plan and program for design and 
  2.3   construction of a high-speed rail system. 
  2.4      (c) $630,000 is appropriated for the fiscal biennium ending 
  2.5   June 30, 1997, from the general fund to the commissioner of 
  2.6   transportation for the purposes of the phase-II high-speed rail 
  2.7   study under this section.  This appropriation is contingent upon 
  2.8   the state of Wisconsin paying $500,000 and receipt of federal 
  2.9   matching money for the study.