Burnsville's Orange Line Clears Important Hurdle

The proposed Metro Orange Line, a 17-mile planned highway bus rapid transit line that would connect downtown Minneapolis to Burnsville via Interstate 35W, cleared an important hurdle last week on its way to receiving final approval.

Minnesota Public Radio reported that members of the Counties Transit Improvement Board (CTIB) approved committing $37.5 million to the $150.7 million project.

"The reason this is very timely is the Sept. 2 application can go in and we'll have 83 percent of the local funding committed," said Transit board chair Peter McLaughlin.

The state has yet to commit to its $12.1 million share of the project's costs, as Minnesota lawmakers failed to pass a transportation spending bill last session.

The Orange Line project would include upgrades and replace existing local route 535 with new station features that would benefit other transit riders along the I-35W corridor, according to the Metro Transit website.

Image via Metro Transit