Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 9, 2007
NEW BRIDGE COLLAPSE PARK-AND RIDE LOT
COULD OPEN AS EARLY AS DEC. 3
MINNEAPOLIS – (Nov. 9) – Assuming good weather for construction, Metro Transit hopes to open a new park-and-ride lot in December in the north metro that would anchor a new bus route useful to those seeking congestion relief from the I-35W bridge collapse.
This week Metro Transit selected Veit Companies of Rogers, Minn., for the $400,000 project that will include site preparation, asphalt paving and the management of water run off.
"Veit will be racing the clock for us," said Tom Thorstenson, Metro Transit director of engineering and facilities. "With asphalt plants slated to shutdown for the winter on Nov. 21, we are hoping for cooperative weather so that we can open this 225-car park-and-ride lot for our customers on Dec. 3."
The lot is located at the northeast corner of I-35W and Industrial Boulevard on land donated by the Minnesota Department of Transportation. MN/DoT has agreed to let Metro Transit use the property through 2011.
When the lot is opened, it will be served by Route 241 with nine morning and nine afternoon rush-hour express trips to downtown Minneapolis.
"Veit has completed a number of successful projects for Metro Transit in the past, including a major role in the construction our East Metro Transit Facility in St. Paul, which opened in 2001, and a just completed project at our Heywood Garage in Minneapolis," Thorstenson said. "We know Veit and are confident of the company's abilities."
Veit is a privately held, third generation specialty contracting and waste management business founded in 1928 with offices in Rogers, Duluth and Rochester.
Metro Transit is a service of the Metropolitan Council. Customers board its buses and trains about 240,000 times each weekday.
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(Editors: For information call Bob Gibbons, director of customer services, 612-349-7509 or via e-mail at robert.gibbons@metc.state.mn.us)
