Central Corridor Light Rail Transit
Address: The Central Corridor Light Rail Transit project (CCLRT) will link downtown St. Paul and downtown Minneapolis along Washington and University avenues via the state Capitol and University of Minnesota.
Overview:
Construction will begin in 2010 on the planned 11-mile Central Corridor line, with service beginning in 2014. The line will connect with the Hiawatha LRT line at the Metrodome station in Minneapolis and the Northstar commuter rail line at the new Target Field Station.
Using materials with a high recycled content, even a recycled building for the maintenance facility, LED lighting and rain gardens are among ways the Central Corridor LRT Project is going green. Materials with a high recycled content include copper for station roofing, grounds rods and wire and steel for bridge trusses, track rail and rebar. The project specifications allow for recycled bituminous to be used for the roadway sub-base in selected areas of the corridor.
Benefits:
- Storm water – will be managed using best management practices, including use of infiltration trenches, which are rock-filled trenches to be built under curbs and boulevards along most of University Avenue. In other areas of the project, storm water will be managed through the use of rain gardens and underground infiltration pipe systems.
- Highly recycled and durable materials – will be used in the building of the line including copper for station roofing, ground rods and wire and steel for bridge trusses, track rail and rebar. The project specifications allow for recycled bituminous to be used for the roadway sub-base in selected areas along the corridor.
- LED lighting – energy efficient LEDs (light-emitting diodes) will be used throughout the 18 light rail stations.
- Rehab vacant building – the project will re-use the Diamond Products building, a vacant former Gillette Co. storage facility in Lowertown, for the operations and maintenance facility. By re-using the building, the project will save the cost of producing and delivering more than 12 million pounds of concrete and thousands of pounds of steel.
- Green building concepts – will be incorporated into the operation and maintenance facility. The Central Corridor Project Office design team did extensive analysis of various sustainable/green building energy use concepts while participating in Xcel Energy’s Energy Design Assistance Program. As a result of the analysis and design, the project not only addresses building responsibly, adaptive re-use is itself a sustainable practice, but also considers long-term operations and maintenance through implementing numerous sustainable and energy conservation measures. Because of these efforts, the facility has been nominated for the 2010 Sustainable Saint Paul Award.
The overall results of the final design are:
- savings of 41 percent of its annual energy use compared to Xcel Energy’s program baseline
- 35 percent annual energy cost savings, which equates to $167,000 annual cost savings
- heating needs will be 25 percent of Xcel Energy’s program baseline; 16 kBtu/sf compared to the 64 kBtu/sf baseline
- overall carbon footprint results in a carbon dioxide reduction of 1,666,700 tons per year
