Is there anything new to say about the Southwest Light Rail? Everything and nothing, sound and fury. Angst and ennui. Ironically, even this illustration is wrong. OK, but even though much has been said, I still think people get the conversation wrong most of the time. I’d like to see a different discussion taking place. Here’s what […]
[…] “Green Line” moniker that has been attached to the Central Corridor LRT project, and that the Hiawatha Line will soon be known as the “Blue Line”. The Southwest LRT project is now being called the “Green Line extension”, and the Cedar Avenue and Interstate 35W BRT services are planned to be known as the […]
Part of the proposed SWLRT route The Southwest Light Rail debate puts transit advocates in a difficult spot. Do we champion any transit expansion even if its benefits are questionable and opportunity costs very high? Why support a major project that benefits a relatively small group of people while doing nothing for anyone else? If the […]
[…] down Nicollet Avenue in a tunnel through South Minneapolis, to meet up with HCRRA land in the Midtown Greenway, and then head west out of the city. Southwest Light Rail alternatives through South Minneapolis (click to enlarge) There are lots of numbers on the links above, but basically, 3A was projected to cost somewhat less than […]
With all the controversy about the Southwest Corridor alignment (especially its rising construction costs), a question could be is why don’t we merge the Southwest Line project with the planned Bottineau Line project? Matt Steele’s post from last month has some great ideas on improving our light rail system, but I have another idea […]
The Southwest Light Rail debate has been heated. Suffice it to say, there is no shortage of opinion. The debate on streets.mn was mostly polite. This was either a victory for civility or Minnesotans being Minnesotans. The best way to understand the complicated debate would be to read Nick Magrino’s “A Southwest Light Rail Explainer” and Jeremy Mendelson’s “Southwest Light Rail: […]
Progressive Rail’s High Line is a little-used yet important freight railway facing proposals for conversion to a trail. However, framing this push as a rail vs trail choice ignores the better solution: rail-with-trail.
A Southwest Light Rail rendering. We’re planning extensions to our light rail transit system in the Twin Cities! The Southwest Extension will bring the Green Line down to Eden Prairie, and the Bottineau Extension will send Blue Line service up to a Target corporate headquarters and a greenfield in Brooklyn Park. The price of the two projects was projected to […]
Lots of news on the Southwest Corridor lately. You may have heard about it: The question of which route is chosen is important not only for the light–rail system Hennepin County wants to build, but also for the rest of the metropolitan area in terms of rail transit philosophy. That’s because this southwest route […]
[…] of the Isles has created yet another challenge for the planners and engineers working on the long-planned extension of the Green Line light rail project into the southwest suburbs. Called the Minnesota lake shark, or selachimorpha calhounus, and once thought to be be extinct, the appearance of of the fish in the murky spring […]