With news today that the latest cost estimates have approached the $2 billion mark, there is much speculation on Twitter that this news might mean the end of the SWLRT Green Line extension to Eden Prairie.
With news today that the latest cost estimates have approached the $2 billion mark, there is much speculation on Twitter that this news might mean the end of the SWLRT Green Line extension to Eden Prairie.
And what would it cost in a trench and cover alignment on Nicollet?
A revitalized 3C-ish alignment wouldn’t avoid any of these cost increases above the $1.65bn number as they’re all in St Louis Park and beyond. It would be $340m new costs + $1.5-1.7bn + any inflation that occurred on that $1.5-1.7bn estimate since it was made + any potential cost overruns on tunneling through Nicollet.
You could make the case that 3C saves some Midtown Greenway costs (and I have made that argument), maybe 30-50% of the budget. But 1) that project isn’t really on the near-term radar for funding, and 2) we’d still be talking about a $2bn++ project
Well, it would essentially eliminate the Kenilworth co-location costs, wouldn’t it?
Run the line under Nic mall to Uptwon ,the mall is schedule for a make over .This will reduce congestion and serve all the high density areas The decide later what an appropriate routing
Run limited stop buses on LAke ST to Snelling Station all day Convert 21A to LTD STOPS during the day on LAKE /Marshall ,local on Selby like NY subways so run local in local in Manhattam Express in Queens .
Bypass LAKE and CHI TC THIS is useless when it adds 4 mins to buses .
I sure METRO TRANSIT can save millions with this detour.Move the stop back to LAKE/CHI .
Sell the TC to developer.
A lot of tunnels and bridges there… and wow, is that bird’s eye view of the Eden Prairie section depressing. Dilbertville.
While the video gives one an idea of the general corridor, it should be noted that it’s an older video and there have been several changes since the video was made. The current conceptual alignment (documented September 2014) shows numerous changes:
– From the end at Mitchell Station to Southwest Station is now planned south of Technology Drive.
– Instead of following Technology Drive through Eden Prairie Center, the line would cross Prairie Center Dr south of Technology and have a station near Eden Rd.
– Instead of crossing over Flying Cloud Dr near 494, the line would cross over near Valley View Rd.
– Instead of a tunnel under Shady Oak Rd, the line would cross over both Shady Oak Rd and 212 on the same bridge.
– The current plan is to tunnel under 62 instead of bridging over.
– Instead of crossing Feltl Rd and Smetana Rd at-grade, the current plan is for both roads to bridge over the line.
– The curve near Shady Oak Station will not swing west, and is a bit tighter than shown in the video.
– Between Excelsior Blvd and Wooddale Station, the current plan is for the LRT and the CP tracks to swap, so that LRT is to the south.
– The video shows the Kenilworth Corridor area from when the plan was to relocate the freight rail west. That situation has been well documented, and the current concept shows the shallow tunnel from the Midtown Greenway to just north of Cedar Lake Pkwy.
– Instead of crossing over the BNSF tracks west of I-94, the LRT line is planned to rise to the same grade as the Glenwood Ave bridge (effectively crossing Glenwood Ave “at grade” on the bridge), cross over the BNSF tracks, then cross 12th St/Royalston Ave at-grade.
– Instead of tunneling under 7th St, the line will bridge over 7th and tie into the extended bridge built as part of the Interchange/ballpark station.
Excellent roundup of the changes made since early 2012!
I guess now I’m glad they never updated the video, since there will obviously be some serious alterations from the currently planned alignment if the line is to get built at all.
I can’t really see how all that costs $2 billion. Heh.