Light Rail

[iowasocialist]

Just a question: Are more light rail lines in the TC area definitely going to be built, or are they just something that would be nice to have some day?

Ditto with commuter rail...

Just wondering...

Thanks.

[Avidor]

1. Central Corridor LRT & Northstar commuter rail...

Learn more at Transit for Livable Communities:

http://www.tlcminnesota.org/index.php

Bachmann is holding up funding to complete Northstar:

http://dumpbachmann.blogspot.com/2009/06/michele-bachmann-anti-transit-dead.html

[glinda]

2. Bachmann and T-Paw. Both asses.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

3. The Central Corridor looks like a done deal

Personally, I think that it will work out similarly to what happened in Portland: As long as there was only one line (1986 to 1997), the naysayers could yammer about how "useless" the line was to most people, but once the Westside Line opened, so that you could travel east to west across the entire metropolitan area, the system suddenly became useful to a critical mass of people, and the rest of the lines, first to the airport (2002) and then to North Portland (2004), were approved without trouble.

Now there's another line under construction and still another on the drawing board. In addition, the streetcar line, which served a loop in and near downtown, is being expanded.

Each new line serves a new population of riders, who then become fans of the system. It hasn't hurt that Portland has increased the frequency and hours of all its buses, too.

One factor that's different in the Twin Cities and Portland is the composition of their respective Metro Councils. The Twin Cities Metro Council is appointed by the governor (boo, hiss!). The Portland Metro Council is elected by the public, which has consistently defeated anti-transit candidates 2 to 1.

[FredStembottom]

4. An elected Met Council!

What agreat idea!

[CatholicEdHead]

5. As much as many naysayers whine about it, many will use it

St Cloud and Rochester both want lines if possible, even the SW Metro wants a line down towards Eden Prairie/Minnetonka. All you have to do is look at how popular Southwest Transit is, so there is lots of demand for public transportation even in the higher end suburbs.

[glinda]

12. The St. Cloud line could easily pay for itself.

[Eric J in MN]

6. Do you know if there will be a line from a northern suburb to Minneapolis? NT

NT

[Lydia Leftcoast]

7. Supposedly there will be commuter rail from Big Lake

through the northern suburbs, but on the whole, where the Twin Cities really fall short is systematic planning.

Even Transit for Livable Communities has a "dream map" that shows individual projects not tied together as a system.

Portland's strength is that everything fits together. Yes, there are light rail lines, but they are well coordinated with the buses, so that between the two, you don't need a car.

The Metro Council here can't even get the bus system to work well. As one of my friends pointed out, it's absurd that Lyndale Avenue has no buses that run its entire length. Nor should it be necessary to go from a neighborhood in Minneapolis to a neighborhood in St. Paul ONLY by passing through downtown St. Paul.

[CubFan7125]

10. 21, 23, 50, 74 & 84

The 21 runs from Uptown to Midway along Lake, Marshall, Snelling & University (The 50 overlays this route during the week as an express route). The 74 runs from 46th St Station to the east side via 46th, Cleveland, Randolph and 7th and White Bear. The 84 runs from 46th St Station to Rosedale on 46th, Ford & Snelling. I know the 46 runs from Sibley Plaza up Saint Paul Ave, Ford, 46th St and out to 50th in Edina. The 23 runs from Highland thru south Minneapolis over to Uptown. Our transit system does need help but thats 5 routes off the top of my head that run from "a neighborhood in Minneapolis to a neighborhood in St. Paul" without passing thru either downtown (They 74 does go downtown but passes thru several St Paul neighborhoods before it gets there.)

[glinda]

13. I had thought the plan was like a big "X" with the focus being a line to Red Wing, a

line to Duluth up along the WI border, a line to Big Lake (which should go to St. Cloud if not Brainerd) and a line to Rochester/Mayo. Each of them at one time had even been named. I got this info way back about three years ago from speaking to the person who was the head of this proposal/project. Forget the name.

[qb]

8. The Central Corridor project is being let, but I just heard of a lawsuit to block construction.

Apparantly a group is claiming that light rail down University Ave. will obliterate neighborhoods as I-94 did to Rondo.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

9. You know, I think they're being egged on by some of the store owners

There's a bookstore on the corner of University and Snelling that has been anti-light rail (as in, big signs in its windows) since before I even knew that light rail was planned for the area.

His contention is that light rail will "destroy parking" and by extension, his business. (There's parking on University Avenue? I never find any outside the lots built by businesses.) This shows that he's stuck in an old-style mindset. Once light rail is finished, his store will be accessible to a wider range of people.

By the way, I have never patronized his bookstore, precisely because his signs make him look like a grouch. Oh, and there's no parking around there, either.

I'm trying to think of what kind of "damage" light rail could cause to Rondo. It was welcomed in Portland's African-American and Latino areas, although they had more experience with it. It would certainly increase access to jobs, whether in downtown Mpls, downtown St. Paul, the U, or the airport.

[Pierre.Suave]

14. That guy IS a grouch

I walked into that bookstore once, heard him ranting away, and promptly walked right back out, never to return.

[SomeGuyInEagan]

11. Did they ever consider taking the Hiawatha line by the U before swinging west?

I did not live here when that line was discussed (lived her briefly before and arrived after it was started).

According to the U's web site, 24,000 people *DRIVE* the Twin Cities campus DAILY (see http://www1.umn.edu/pts/drivers/faq.html). Just routing the line a few blocks further north to the West Bank where people could then use the campus buses to continue on would've made light rail more attractive for students, staff and faculty who come from the south.

Was that ever in play?

[mysuzuki2]

15. nicolet av

They should never have pulled up the streetcar rails on Nicolet Avenue.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

16. If I were designing a transit system for the Twin Cities, here's how it would run:

Hiawatha line north north to Anoka and south to Farmington.

Central Corridor running from Wayzata to Stillwater.

Second north-south line from Forest Lake to Hastings through downtown St. Paul.

Beltline running through the old downtowns and/or current comercial centers of the inner suburbs. (Robbinsdale, Hopkins, Edina, and White Bear Lake, to name a few, have distinct traditional downtowns, and the others have newer concentrations of businesses.)

The Beltline would facilitate transfers among the other lines, as well as serving some of the major destinations in the burbs.

Buses running the full length of every arterial street and a few other areas with major commercial clusters every 15 minutes, 7 days a week.

Eventually a second ring line (possibly two-car heavy rail) running through places like Maple Grove, Mound, Lakeville, and (I'm a little vague on the St. Paul suburbs), connecting to the other lines at points such as Farmington, Stillwater, and Forest Lake.

[CubFan7125]

17. I Don't Own A Car

I ride my bike and use the bus to get everywhere. I want that out front before I ask this question? How are you going to pay for all this? We don't have enough money to pay for what we have and you want to triple the size of the system.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

18. That was simply my dream system

and anyone, Denver voters (Denver!) chose to tax themselves to build 12 light rail lines a few years ago.

I could suggest a few cuts, such as putting a moratorium on new highway construction (as opposed to repairs) and telling the sports teams they can pay for their own stadiums.