Business owners say light rail construction has damaged buildings - Bring Me The News

Business owners say light rail construction has damaged buildings

Property owners along the Central Corridor light rail line expected business disruptions during the construction, but now some say the work is physically damaging their buildings. But the Metropolitan Council and its contractor say cracks in foundations and facades of the old buildings are not necessarily the result of construction work.

Author:: BMTN Staff
Publish date:: Jul 24, 2012

Property owners along the Central Corridor light rail line expected business disruptions during the construction, but now some say the work is physically damaging their buildings. But the Metropolitan Council and its contractor say cracks in foundations and facades of the old buildings are not necessarily the result of construction work.

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Nearly 150 bars, restaurants and a variety of other businesses have borrowed more than $2 million from a "forgivable" loan fund as they try to stay afloat during disruptive construction of the 11-mile Central Corridor Light Rail Transit line, the Pioneer Press reports. The line will connect the downtowns of Minneapolis and St. Paul by 2014.

A Central Corridor light rail construction worker lost his hand and foot after heavy machinery rolled over on him Tuesday. The worker for contractor Ames Construction was working on an overpass near I-35W when the mobile lift he was in toppled over.

Three lawsuits--only one of which is still pending--have added more than a million dollars to the Central Corridor light rail construction project. Taxpayers are on the line for the extra costs but the Metropolitan Council says it doesn't anticipate any cost overruns.

Rescue crews put a harness on a construction worker and pulled him out of a hole he had just dug near the Minnesota State Capitol in St. Paul on Monday morning. He was taken to Regions Hospital with minor injuries.

Work being done on St. Paul's Cedar Street bridge related to construction of the Central Corridor light-rail transit line will create various night-time restrictions of Interstates 94 and 35E, beginning Sunday and lasting through Thursday, the Pioneer Press reports.

The bridge will close at 10 p.m. Friday because of light rail construction. The closure will last throughout the weekend. Officials said the bridge is expected to be reopened by 5 a.m. Monday, in time for the morning commute.

The Metropolitan Council has decided not to award a nearly $100 million contract to URS Corp. Instead, the Star Tribune reports the agency divided engineering work for the $1.25 billion Southwest Corridor light-rail line into four separate contracts. San Francisco-based URS will still be allowed to bid on the smaller contracts, despite its involvement with the Sabo pedestrian bridge and the Interstate 35W bridge before it collapsed in August 2007.

The Gateway Corridor Commission says there isn't enough space on the Interstate 94 bridge overlooking the St. Croix River for a light rail transit crossing.