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Minneapolis City of Lakes Office of the Mayor R. T. Rybak Mayor 350 South 5th Street. Room 331 Minneapolis MN 55415-1393 Office 612 673-2100 Fax 612 673-2305 TTY 612 673-3187 www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us Affirmative Action Employer August 28, 2007 Mayor Mary Capra City of Centerville 1810Fox Run Centerville, MN 55038-8713 Dear Mayor Capra, Please accept our heartfelt thanks for your good wishes and help as Minm:apoli~, the region and the state has responded to the tragi~ collapse of the I-35W Bridge on Aug. 1,2007. Our state has had more than its share of challenges over the last year, most recently the terrible flooding in the southeastern part of the state. In the face of these significant challenges and heartbreaking loss of life, we have come together. Interstate 35W is a crucial transportation artery for the Minneapolis - Saint Paul region and the State of Minnesota. It is vital that we rebuild a safe bridge in an orderly and efficient way. To that end, on Aug. 17,2007 all 13 Minneapolis City Council Members and I approved a set of principles that outlines the City's shared vision for building a new Interstate 35W Bridge. This vision reflects the City's firm commitment to ensuring our state builds a safe bridge as expeditiously as is reasonable, but most importantly, that we do it right and with an eye toward the future transportation needs of the people of Minneapolis and all of Minnesota. The unanimously approved principles, which we have attached, outline Minneapolis' position that the new bridge should be designed to meet present and future transportation needs by improving vehicle capacity and providing transit capacity, including the potential for a future light rail or bus rapid transit line. We ask for your suppon for these principles. which we hope reflect a shared vision for building a safe bridge that will meet our transportation and transit needs for decades to come. The Minnesota Department of Transportation is moving forward in close collaboration with Minneapolis Public Works staff to begin planning for the new bridge. Last week, MnDOT submitted a layout to Minneapolis for our consideration for Municipal Consent. That layout includes instructions from Governor Tim Pawlenty that MnDOT plan and construct a ten-lane bridge, with two lanes that could be devoted to Bus Rapid Transit and/or managed lanes. He has also directed MnDOT to build and construct an "LR T -ready bridge". These positive steps reflect the spirit of our statement of principles. 13