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A court recently dismissed a lawsuit challenging the planning process used to develop a station for a proposed commuter rail system in Northeast Minnesota.



Residents of two condominiums filed suit objecting to the process that the plan’s developers — Minnesota Department of Transportation, City of Minneapolis and Northstar Corridor Development Authority (NCDA) — used to determine the station’s location and design.



Hennepin County Judge Gary Larson rejected the plaintiffs’ claims, adding that it would be inappropriate to stop the planning process before a final design was completed because "the rail station sites and their designs are as yet undetermined, and the plaintiffs might or might not have a dispute with [the final plan]," according to an Aug. 15 NCDA press release.



The proposed Minneapolis-St. Cloud, Minn., Northstar commuter rail system would run on existing tracks between Minneapolis and St. Cloud, Minn. An 80-mile stretch along highways 10 and 47, the Northstar Corridor is Minnesota's fastest-growing area, according to NCDA, a joint powers board of 30 counties, cities, townships and regional railroad authorities along the corridor.