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St. Paul, MN 55155-1899
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MnPASS Express Lanes show steady growth
ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Interstate 35W MnPASS Express Lanes between downtown Minneapolis and Burnsville have shown steady growth in use the last quarter of 2010 that is expected to continue in 2011, the Minnesota Department of Transportation announced today.
Motorists took 141,300 trips on the I-35W MnPASS Express Lanes between Oct. 1 and Dec. 31, 2010—a 75 percent increase over traffic during the same time the previous year. In 2009, motorists took 81,700 trips on I-35W MnPASS after the lanes opened Sept. 29 of that year.
“We anticipated growth along I-35W MnPASS after the Crosstown opened mid-November,” said Tom Sorel, Mn/DOT commissioner. “The increase on both I-35W and I-394 demonstrates that MnPASS continues to deliver a safe, reliable commute that meets commuters’ needs.”
Gross toll revenue on I-35W was $172,000, while revenue generated from the I-394 MnPASS Express Lanes totaled $404,600.
Activity on I-394 during the fourth quarter of 2010 shows 294,800 trips on the road, a 6.7 percent increase in use from 2009. The I-394 system, constructed in 2005, has experienced 22 consecutive months of growth in trips.
In the 43 days following the Nov. 19 opening of the I-35W Crosstown project, motorists took 65,600 trips on the lanes and paid an average of $1.50 per trip. More than half of northbound traffic, or 54 percent, exited at or before Crosstown; 46 percent continued to downtown Minneapolis. Motorists also paid to take 2,500 trips per week on the converted shoulder lane north of 42nd Street when traffic was congested. Thirty percent of southbound motorists entered the MnPASS Express Lanes north of the Crosstown, while 70 percent entered the lanes south of Crosstown. Prior to the Crosstown opening, 100 percent of southbound traffic on I-35W entered south of the Crosstown.
State law directs that revenue collected by MnPASS fees be deposited in a user fee account administered by the Mn/DOT commissioner. State law specifies that revenue be distributed differently on each corridor with dollars first allocated to cover costs of the system and the remaining dollars reinvested in road or transit improvements in the corridors. To date, the lanes have generated enough revenue to cover operating costs, but not capital improvements.
Mn/DOT opened the first MnPASS Express Lanes on I-394 between Highway 100 and downtown Minneapolis in May 2005. I-35W MnPASS opened Sept. 29, 2009 between Burnsville Parkway and downtown Minneapolis and was completed Nov. 19, 2010 when the Crosstown project was finished.
MnPASS on I-35W will expand in winter 2011 between Burnsville Parkway and Southcross Drive in Burnsville. Mn/DOT released a study in September recommending several segments of the Twin Cities Metro area highway system as possible candidates for future MnPASS Express Lane expansion. The highest short-term priority identified was I-35E between I-94 in St. Paul and Highway 36 in Little Canada.
For more information on Mn/DOT’s MnPASS Express Lanes, visit http://www.mnpass.org/.
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