Engineering process | Planning
Metro District Interchange Planning Review
Purpose
The purpose of this guidance is to direct you to the correct procedure to use when you are proposing to add or modify an interchange in the Metro District. The Metropolitan Council (Met Council) has qualifying criteria for these requests in Appendix F: Preliminary Interchange Approval Process in its Transportation Policy Plan.
When to use this subject
Follow this guidance when you have a project that will add or remove an interchange or make access modifications to an existing one.
Metro’s Interchange Planning Review (IPR) precedes the Met Council’s controlled access request. Any proposed interchange addition or modification in the Metro area must:
- Support local comprehensive plans approved by the Met Council, as well as Minnesota Go, Thrive MSP 2040, and the 2040 Transportation Policy Plan
- Demonstrate an objective need (i.e. go beyond subjective arguments)
- Access only principal arterials or “A” minor arterials (in some cases, proposed principal or “A” minors)
- Manage access and maintain the operational integrity of the mainline
- Provide typical minimum interchange spacing as follows:
- Maintain a one-mile spacing on or inside the I-494/I-694 loop
- Maintain a two-mile spacing outside the Metropolitan Urban Service Area
The Committee will review the proposal for consistency with these criteria. In many cases a conversation between the proposer and the committee will be needed to reach a common understanding of how the proposal is or is not consistent with the region’s long-term plans. The review process is completed when the committee provides a letter of findings to the proposer. The approval process is intended to be a planning-level assessment and does not require detailed traffic modeling and analysis.
For specific process information, see the process, other guidance pages or contact the individual on the contacts page.
How this subject fits into the overall project development process
IPR occurs in the planning phase.
Organizations involved
- MnDOT:
- Project Managers
- Metro District Interchange Review Committee
- FHWA
- Met Council