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The Northstar commuter rail line's day at the State Capitol
You can take action on this alert by reading the information below and following the
directions at the bottom.
Securing state funding for the Northstar commuter rail line.
The Northstar commuter rail line will connect communities along Highway 10 northwest of the Twin Cities to downtown Minneapolis. The line will be 40 miles in length. The travel time will be 43 minutes from Big Lake to Minneapolis and is projected to carry 5,600 riders a day. MN needs to commit $37.5 million dollars in state funding in order to leverage $132 million dollars in federal funds and move into the final stage of the project. Proposals have been put in front of the MN legislature three times before. If the state does not secure funding for Northstar this year it will be nearly impossible to obtain federal funds in the future.
The Governor included $37.5 million dollars for Northstar in his bonding recommendations and there is significant support from many legislators. However, the legislature—especially the House—is still taking a hard look at the Northstar proposal and weighing their constituents support for this next leg of a regional transit system.
February 26th is Northstar’s day at the State Capitol. TLC and others are working with the group All Aboard to try and get hundreds of people to the rally and get as many phone calls and emails to legislators as possible. Our elected officials need to be bombarded with constituent messages of support for Northstar. The details for the rally are as follows.
Who: 200 citizens and legislators that support Northstar.
What: A rally that will include short presentations by Senate Majority Leader Dean Johnson and others on what is happening and why we should support Northstar, music, and most importantly talking with our representatives.
Where: The State Capitol rotunda which is just inside the main front doors.
When: Thursday, February 26th at 10:30 am.
If you cannot attend please click on the link below to send a message to your state legislators and the governor telling them to support Northstar.
Your message will be sent to each of the following targets:
Your State Representative
Your State Senator
A sample message appears below, which you may edit before sending.
I support the Northstar commuter rail line
Dear Representative,
Northstar commuter rail is the most viable and immediate transportation alternative for the corridor northwest of the Twin Cities. It is also an important second leg to our regional transitways system. I support Northstar for the following three reasons:
1. Northstar commuter rail is cost-effective. It recently passed the rigorous cost-effectiveness test used by the Federal Transit Administration to evaluate transit projects.
2. Northstar can effectively add needed transportation capacity. Northstar will add capacity faster, cheaper and smarter than any other alternative.
3. Northstar will save commuters significant travel time. This means they will have more time with their families and won’t be stuck in as much traffic.
Please fight to secure state funding for Northstar. It’s the best deal for Minnesota.
Your name and address here
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This Action Alert Campaign is Closed.
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