Is Northstar missing its stop in Ramsey?

In authorizing $2.6 million for a proposed rail station at Foley Boulevard in Coon Rapids, did Anoka County officials miss a stop?

County Board member Robyn West thinks so. She says another rail station, a proposed Northstar commuter line stop in Ramsey, should have been the focus of a recent Anoka County Regional Rail Authority meeting. That station, she and others said, has support from the Metropolitan Council and Anoka County, as well as an already-built parking ramp.

West cast one of two no votes when the County Board, acting as the voting members of the Rail Authority, authorized money to buy land near the Foley station. Rhonda Sivarajah was the other nay vote.

The Foley station would be on the Northstar line, which runs from Minneapolis to Big Lake, and be positioned to serve as a stop on the proposed Northern Lights Express (NLX) line from Minneapolis to Duluth.

"I think our priorities are wrong," West said. "I understand the argument about preserving land before it's built on and the argument that even if the Northern Lights Express line is never built, the land at Foley Boulevard can be used for buses.

"But buses are the Met Council's concern. Does the Rail Authority really have the authority to spend money for land that might be used to house buses?"

The proposed Foley Boulevard station could eventually serve as the hub of the northern suburbs, a connecting point for both Northstar and NLX. The NLX line might also serve as a commuter line from Minneapolis to Cambridge.

But NLX, with a projected cost between $650 million and nearly $1 billion, could be five years to a decade away. Officials are waiting to hear whether the line will be granted $55 million in federal money to finish an environmental study, said Anoka County Commissioner Dan Erhart.

Meanwhile, officials from Ramsey wonder what it will take to get the $15 million needed to open a station in their city. "We thought it was a foregone conclusion that they [the Rail Authority] knew we were looking for money," Mayor Bob Ramsey said Wednesday.

"What do we need to do to get the county's attention?"

Erhart, one of Northstar's founding fathers, said he'd love to see stations both in Ramsey and at Foley Boulevard. County Board Chairman Dennis Berg has been vocal in his support of Ramsey at board meetings, as have other commissioners.

But Ramsey was not on the Rail Authority's agenda when it voted last week, West said.

The city continues to seek county, state and federal funding for a proposed station that could give an economic jolt to the half-vacant Ramsey Town Center project, where trains would stop.

Paul Levy • 612-673-4419