Maple Plain park-and-ride construction to commence
Andersen Station is starting to take shape.
A groundbreaking ceremony for the Maple Plain park-and-ride was held Aug. 18 at the site of the future lot on Baker Park Road. Pictured, from left to right, are City Councilor Dave Eisinger, City Councilor Jerry Young, City Councilor Justin McCoy, Jeanne Andersen (who had owned one of the properties where the lot will be constructed), Mayor John Sweeney and former City Councilor Gene Couser. (Submitted photo)
A groundbreaking ceremony for the Maple Plain park-and-ride station on Baker Park Road was held Aug. 18. Attending the ceremony was Jeanne Andersen, whose help in getting the project moving will result in the lot being named after her.
Andersen owned the property at 1501 Baker Park Road and she worked with city officials to keep momentum going for the project. Her former property as well as a neighboring property will now be the park-and-ride lot.
The lot is expected to be constructed by the end of October. While the goal is to ultimately turn the lot into a park-and-ride, it will start out as a park-and-pool lot for carpoolers. Metro Transit officials are still trying to find funds to operate a bus route to the area
Maple Plain officials began discussions in 2008 with Metro Transit officials about constructing a park-and-ride lot in the city. Prior to agreeing to locate the lot in Maple Plain, plans had placed a park-and-ride in Orono off of Highway 12 at County Road 6. City officials were successful in persuading Metro Transit officials that the area on Baker Park Road, not far from the intersection with Highway 12, would be a better location for the lot.
By the end of 2010, design work on the project began, which was finished at the end of last year. Also last year, the two homes that once were located on the site were burned during a fire department training exercise and demolished.
The city purchased the two Baker Park Road properties with the help of a $460,000 grant from Hennepin County. Maple Plain has also received a $691,600 from the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) to build the site. Metro Transit is paying for the design and engineering of the facility.
Plans for the site call for 156 parking stalls on the lot. Proposed furnishings on the site include light fixtures, benches, trash receptacles and bicycle racks, which will all be painted black.
