The Metropolitan Council is taking public comments on amending the region’s long-range Transportation Policy Plan (TPP) to include light rail on the Southwest Corridor in Hennepin County and modifications to I-94 that will improve mobility and safety on the corridor between the two central cities.

Average retail gasoline prices in Twin Cities have risen 5.7 cents per gallon in the past week, averaging $2.68/g today. This compares with the national average that has increased 3.5 cents per gallon in the last week to $2.70/g, according to gasoline price website TwinCitiesGasPrices.com.

Average retail gasoline prices in Twin Cities have risen 9.5 cents per gallon in the past week, averaging $2.63/g today, according to TwinCitiesGasPrices.com. This compares with the national average that has increased 3.5 cents per gallon in the last week to $2.65/g, according to gasoline price website TwinCitiesGasPrices.com.

Twin Cities metropolitan-area freeway traffic congestion increased slightly between 2008 and 2009, from 17.3 percent to 18.2 percent overall, according to the Minnesota Department of Transportation in a report released this week.

By Leah Shaffer

This past year, SouthWest Transit felt its first drop in bus ridership levels in more than a decade. This follows years of double-digit growth for the suburban transit agency, which serves Chanhassen. The pressures of the economy and state funding hassles may bring further challenges in the upcoming year.

“This commission is going to have some challenges ahead, unfortunately,” said SouthWest Chief Executive Officer Len Simich.

By Cliff Johnson

Late-fall commuters between Carver and Eden Prairie may have noticed extensive landscaping and planting on the slopes of Highway 212.

A federal stimulus program is funding the $700,000 project, according to MnDOT landscape-design specialist, Patti Strohmayer, who is designing and supervising the project.

Motorists will encounter traffic delays when resurfacing of Highway 41 from Highway 5 to Highway 7 begins July 13, according to a Minnesota Department of Transportation news release.

Highway 41 will remain open but there will be a flagging operation that will reduce traffic to a single lane. Work will begin on the northbound lanes.

Crews will work Monday through Saturday from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. The resurfacing project will be completed by July 24, weather permitting.

The fourth annual "In the Driver’s Seat AutoVantage Road Rage Survey" claims that Minneapolis/St. Paul is the fifth least courteous metro area in the country, a substantial change from last year’s No. 4 most courteous ranking, according to a press release.

New York took the No. 1 spot for the worst road rage, while Portland, Ore., has the most courteous drivers.