as introduced - 93rd Legislature (2023 - 2024) Posted on 02/28/2023 10:58am
A bill for an act
relating to transportation; appropriating money for a feasibility study of a
highway-to-boulevard conversion of marked Interstate Highway 94.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:
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(a) $600,000 in fiscal year 2023 is appropriated from the general fund to the commissioner
of transportation to conduct a study on the feasibility of a highway-to-boulevard conversion
of marked Interstate Highway 94 between downtown Minneapolis and downtown St.
Paul. This amount is available to support project management and implementation, data
collection, and community engagement, including the use of consultants. From this amount,
the commissioner may provide grants to local units of government for these purposes. This
is a onetime appropriation and is available until June 30, 2025.
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(b) At a minimum, the study must include:
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(1) a transportation analysis, including:
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(i) design alternatives that replace the highway with an urban boulevard and repurpose the remaining highway right-of-way for
community-guided housing, business, and park development;
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(ii) assessment of existing corridor multimodal travel flows;
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(iii) modeling of future mode split, traffic diversion, and land use impacts;
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(iv) assessment of boulevard transportation capacity; and
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(v) travel modeling that incorporates induced demand, traffic evaporation, and land use changes; and
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(2) a community, health, and environmental effects analysis, including:
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(i) cost and implementation;
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(ii) safety;
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(iii) land use, freight, and job access;
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(iv) mobility for transit-dependent, disabled, and low-income residents;
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(v) racial equity;
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(vi) vehicle miles traveled and greenhouse gas emissions;
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(vii) air and noise pollution and public health;
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(viii) affordable housing access;
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(ix) economic and tax base effects;
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(x) emergency vehicle operations; and
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(xi) analysis of antidisplacement policies and policies to repair historic harms.
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This section is effective the day following final enactment.
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