[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 20 (Thursday, January 30, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5535-5536]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-01670]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Railroad Administration
[Docket Number FRA-2020-0009]
Petition for Waiver of Compliance
Under part 211 of title 49 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), this
provides the public notice that on January 13, 2020, the Metropolitan
Council's Metro Transit Division (Metro Transit), petitioned the
Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) for a waiver of compliance from
certain provisions of the Federal railroad safety regulations contained
at 49 CFR parts 214, 219, 220, 229, 235, and 236. FRA assigned the
petition Docket Number FRA-2020-0009.
Metro Transit operates two rail fixed guideway transit systems in
Minnesota--the METRO Blue and Green light rail transit (LRT) Lines.
Currently, the Green Line is 11 miles in length with 18 stations
between Target Field Station in downtown Minneapolis, and Union Depot
Station in downtown St. Paul, sharing 5 stations in downtown
Minneapolis with the Blue Line. The Green Line LRT Extension Project,
also known as Southwest Light Rail Transit Line (SWLRT), will add
approximately 14.5 miles of standard-gage light rail double-track with
16 new passenger stations within Hennepin County, Minnesota, to the
existing Green Line LRT operations. The SWLRT project will extend the
existing Green Line from the Target Field/Interchange Station near the
central business district of downtown Minneapolis through the
communities of St. Louis Park, Hopkins, Minnetonka, and Eden Prairie,
passing near Edina. The SWLRT line will terminate at the Southwest
Station in Eden Prairie. Construction of the SWLRT Project began in
2019 with the projected opening for revenue service operations in 2023.
SWLRT will be constructed adjacent to freight rail service operated
by Twin Cities & Western Railroad (TCWR) in the Kenilworth Corridor and
a portion of the Bass Lake Spur, and adjacent to freight rail service
operated by BNSF Railway (BNSF) in the Wayzata Subdivision. Typical
track center spacing averages 25 feet or more throughout this shared
corridor. SWLRT and TCWR will share use of five highway-rail grade
crossings (HRGC) on the Kenilworth Corridor and Bass Lake Spur located
at 21st Street South in Minneapolis, Beltline Boulevard and Wooddale
Avenue in St. Louis Park, and 5th Avenue South and Blake Road North in
Hopkins. There are no shared HRGCs on the BNSF Wayzata Subdivision. An
intrusion detection system will be installed wherever typical spacing
for track centers between SWLRT and freight tracks is less than 50
feet.
On the Bass Lake Spur (Milepost (MP) 16.3/428.38 to MP 435.06), the
Metropolitan Council has, on Hennepin County Regional Railroad
Authority's behalf, contracted with third parties to perform freight
rail operations maintenance, dispatching, and flagging services. The
SWLRT track and signal system is wholly separate and distinct from any
adjacent freight tracks and related equipment. Metro Transit will
maintain its own track and signals in the SWLRT, and only Metro Transit
Signal and Train Control employees will be working on signal and train
control equipment at the five shared HRGCs.
Specifically, Metro Transit seeks a waiver of compliance from
certain provisions of FRA regulations applicable to the limited
connections of the SWLRT to the general railroad system at five shared
HRGCs, stating it has alternative procedures in place on its existing
Green Line operations which are comparable from a substantive
perspective to FRA safety regulations. Moreover, Metro Transit states
the waivers would promote consistency in the standard operating
procedures followed by Metro Transit in its Green Line LRT operations
and provide an equivalent level of safety to the corresponding FRA
regulations.
A copy of the petition, as well as any written communications
concerning the petition, is available for review online at
www.regulations.gov and in person at the U.S. Department of
Transportation's (DOT) Docket Operations Facility, 1200 New Jersey Ave.
SE, W12-140, Washington, DC 20590. The Docket Operations Facility is
open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal
Holidays.
[[Page 5536]]
Interested parties are invited to participate in these proceedings
by submitting written views, data, or comments. FRA does not anticipate
scheduling a public hearing in connection with these proceedings since
the facts do not appear to warrant a hearing. If any interested parties
desire an opportunity for oral comment and a public hearing, they
should notify FRA, in writing, before the end of the comment period and
specify the basis for their request.
All communications concerning these proceedings should identify the
appropriate docket number and may be submitted by any of the following
methods:
Website: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online
instructions for submitting comments.
Fax: 202-493-2251.
Mail: Docket Operations Facility, U.S. Department of
Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Ave. SE, W12-140, Washington, DC 20590.
Hand Delivery: 1200 New Jersey Ave. SE, Room W12-140,
Washington, DC 20590, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday,
except Federal holidays.
Communications received by March 16, 2020 will be considered by FRA
before final action is taken. Comments received after that date will be
considered if practicable.
Anyone can search the electronic form of any written communications
and comments received into any of our dockets by the name of the
individual submitting the comment (or signing the document, if
submitted on behalf of an association, business, labor union, etc.).
Under 5 U.S.C. 553(c), DOT solicits comments from the public to better
inform its processes. DOT posts these comments, without edit, including
any personal information the commenter provides, to
www.regulations.gov, as described in the system of records notice (DOT/
ALL-14 FDMS), which can be reviewed at https://www.transportation.gov/privacy. See also https://www.regulations.gov/privacyNotice for the
privacy notice of regulations.gov.
Issued in Washington, DC.
John Karl Alexy,
Associate Administrator for Railroad Safety, Chief Safety Officer.
[FR Doc. 2020-01670 Filed 1-29-20; 8:45 am]
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