Twin Cities / MPR noise issue delays Central Corridor work

Leaders discuss keeping studios quiet

Updated: 01/16/2009 12:00:58 AM CST

Construction on the planned Central Corridor light-rail line linking St. Paul and Minneapolis will be delayed several months, in part because of concerns raised by Minnesota Public Radio.

Construction was scheduled to start in spring 2010, and it's now pushed back until late summer 2010, project director Mark Fuhrmann said Thursday. The projected opening of some time in 2014 remains unchanged.

Officials with the Federal Transit Administration, which will pay for half the $915 million project, recently told local officials that MPR's concerns over noise from the trains disrupting their studios in downtown St. Paul needed to be addressed further before moving forward.

On Wednesday, St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman convened a meeting between MPR President Bill Kling and Metropolitan Council Chairman Peter Bell to avoid a potential impasse. The station wants assurances that noise- and vibration-dampening measures will work.

Fuhrmann said the meeting went well. Officials with MPR couldn't be reached for comment Thursday afternoon.

Part of the delay is a result of the Federal Transit Administration asking local officials for more information about how they plan to pay for the project.

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