Category: Railroads

This side, rather than the street-facing side of the Village On Rivoli homes is considered the front. Notice the skyline of Downtown to the southwest.

In, Out and Around Railroad Island

Wolfie Browender Wolfie Browender • January 21, 2021

September 23, 2019 23 miles Summit-University, Frogtown (Thomas-Dale), Downtown, Railroad Island (Payne-Phalen), North End, Midway, Lexington-Hamline, Macalester-Groveland, Highland Park Downtown Minnesota’s stunningly beautiful and recently renovated Capitol building obviously is the center piece of the Capitol Complex. However, the Transportation Building, Senate and State Office Buildings, the Judicial Center, and some 10 other structures (and […]

Bnsf 3 Track Line

Opinion: Biden should invest $1 trillion on trains

Speed Rogers Speed Rogers • December 14, 2020

Now that Joe Biden is president-elect, he must ask Congress to include a rail infrastructure package in any upcoming coronavirus relief bill. For the sake of the economy—and the climate—any economic relief bill must fund rail infrastructure investments at a massive scale. The United States has underinvested in passenger rail for decades, leaving our country […]

Rail-with-Trails of the Twin Cities

Eric Ecklund • December 7, 2020

In my previous post I discussed rail-trails, which are abandoned railroad right-of-ways repurposed as trails. The Twin Cities has many of these, but the region also has several so-called rail-with-trail corridors. Rail-with-trails are trails alongside active rail lines. They provide a safe path for people, deterring trespassing on railroad property while still allowing train movements, […]

Rail-Trails of the Twin Cities

Eric Ecklund • November 2, 2020

For several decades, railroads have abandoned many miles of track in the United States due to several factors including redundant routes, bankruptcies, mergers and significant government investment in roads that made shipping freight by rail less competitive than by truck. While some railroad right-of-ways have disappeared from redevelopment, others have been converted to trails that […]

Amtrak’s Empire Builder: The Train that Deserves Better

Eric Ecklund • September 28, 2020

Amtrak’s Empire Builder, the only intercity rail service in Minnesota, will be reduced from daily to tri-weekly service beginning in October due to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. I decided to take it one more time before the cuts went into effect, as there’s no way of knowing how long it’ll be before daily […]

Tunnels of the Twin Cities Suburbs

Notable Tunnels of the Twin Cities Suburbs

Dan Marshall Dan Marshall • September 17, 2020

Many suburbs have retrofitted bicycle infrastructure, usually so that vulnerable users won’t slow automotive throughput. Along the way, many of these projects have spawned tunnels, which are always fun.

Streets Sidewalk

National Links: Fast Trains, Bad Sidewalks and Rezoning Miami

Jeff Wood • July 3, 2020

Every day at The Overhead Wire we collect news about cities and send the links to our email list. At the end of the week we take some of the most popular stories and post them to Greater Greater Washington, a group blog similar to streets.mn that focuses on urban issues in the D.C. region. […]

Mn Regional Rail Routes

A Comprehensive Transit Overhaul for the Twin Cities: Part III

Eric Ecklund • June 15, 2020

This is the final entry of a three-part series detailing the rapid transit and regional rail requirements for the Twin Cities to become a transit-oriented, climate-neutral metropolitan region. The prior two weeks looked at rail rapid transit and bus rapid transit, respectively. This article will focus on regional rail in the Twin Cities and Greater […]

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A Comprehensive Transit Overhaul for the Twin Cities: Part I

Eric Ecklund • May 25, 2020

This is the first of a three-part series, published today and the next two Mondays, detailing the rapid transit and regional rail requirements for the Twin Cities to become a transit-oriented, climate-neutral metropolitan region. Today’s entry focuses on rail rapid transit. Next week will cover bus rapid transit, while the final article will look at […]