Construction starts on St. Cloud park-and-ride station

State and local officials will hold a groundbreaking ceremony this afternoon in St. Cloud for a park-and-ride lot for passengers who want to ride the Northstar commuter rail line.

Northstar will link Big Lake and downtown Minneapolis when it begins operation this fall. St. Cloud will begin bus service to the Big Lake station.

Sherburne County commissioner Felix Schmiesing, who chairs an effort to expand Northstar to St. Cloud, said the park-and-ride lot is the planned location for a Northstar station once the line extends to St. Cloud.

"So it will have a look and a feel to it that will be somewhat similar to the other stations along the way. We are working hard to build it so that when we do put in the rail platform and those types of things, that we don't destroy what we've already built," he said.

Schmiesing said money spent on the park-and-ride is basically a down payment on what will eventually be the St. Cloud rail station. Congress has yet to approve the expansion of the line to St. Cloud.

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