Beckwith Named Metro Transit Blue Line Extension Project Director
Written by Carolina Worrell, Senior Editor
Metro Transit (Minneapolis) announced on July 8 that Christine Beckwith has been named the Project Director for the Blue Line Extension Project. With more than 20 years of experience in transit and transportation, Beckwith, who previously served as the Project Controls Manager and Project Director of the Green Line, and Deputy Program Director of the Green Line Extension and Blue Line Extension, “will help guide the future of the Blue Line Extension as it moves toward the start of construction anticipated around 2025,” the agency said.
For the past four years, Beckwith has served as Project Director of the Gold Line. “I’m thrilled to rejoin the Blue Line team and reconnect with colleagues and stakeholders in the west metro on this important community investment,” said Beckwith, who began her career at the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT). “As I hand over the reins of the Gold Line project, I also look forward to its continued success especially after our last five years of strong east metro partnerships.”
“From her decades of experience in transit and light rail transit (LRT) projects, I can’t think of a better person to join the Blue Line Extension Project,” said Metro Transit Deputy General Manager of Capital Programs Nick Thompson. “I believe she is the right person at the right time to ensure this once-in-a generation investment is truly beneficial to our customers, residents, communities and region.”
Beckwith begins her tenure with the Blue Line Extension project (map, below) this month, following the endorsement of the recommended route by the Metropolitan Council and Hennepin County in late June.
The project, which will extend the existing Blue Line from Target Field Station northwest to Brooklyn Park connecting communities along the way, had been working with minimal staff as it awaited approval from the Met Council and Hennepin County. But now that the project is moving forward with environmental, design, anti-displacement and public engagement work staffing, it is expected to grow, Metro Transit says.
