Demand, Popularity of Apple Valley Transit Stations Drives Forthcoming Improvements

Thanks to increasing popularity, overall use and projected demand resulting from the upward spiral in gas prices, the Apple Valley Transit Station at 155th Street West and Cedar Avenue will undergo some upgrades.

The Apple Valley City Council on Thursday approved several requests to make changes to the existing structures.

This is being driven by the growing popularity of the two transit stations, as well as others in the system operated by the Minnesota Valley Transit Authority.

Margaret Dykes, assistant planner for the city, said after the meeting that in the first quarter of this year, there were 631,132 rides from the northbound and southbound 155th Street stations, an increase of six percent over the same period in 2010.

The stations opened in January 2010.

“As gas prices continue to climb in the summer, it’s pretty likely usage will keep going up,” she said.

One area of concern is parking at the sites, which are a part of the park-and-ride concept seen in many parts of the Twin Cities metropolitan area.

Currently, there are 750 parking spots and an additional 250 are needed. Money and getting the right piece of land for the additional spots are the issues.

The city is working with Dakota County on funding solutions with the hope that in 2012 the matter can be successfully resolved.

For now, improvements to the structure will go ahead following council approval of requests. Most visible will be the construction of a covered passenger waiting area at the northbound station and expansion of the loading platforms at both the northbound and southbound stations.

The new covered area will have an arched roof to compliment the existing “swoop” design.

Bids are going out right away and completion of the work could be done by the end of this year.

The structure’s aesthetics brought a comment from Mayor Mary Hamann-Roland, who said the American Institute of Architects praised the design with the added note that “Apple Valley did it right.”

Councilman Tom Goodwin said he is “amazed at the continuing success of the transit stations.”

Relative to the transit stations, there was discussion and action on broader transportation issues.

The council voted four in favor with one abstention to support a resolution from the Regional Council of Mayors expressing to the state Legislature a need for long-term solutions to transportation issues in the metro area as well as for adequate funding. The regional council represents mayors from more than 40 municipalities in the seven-county metropolitan area.

While four of her colleagues voted to support the resolution, councilwoman Ruth Grendahl abstained, saying that the language to her was somewhat vague, unclear and didn’t specifically clarify any priorities to the nine points made in the resolution.