The controversy surrounding the Minneapolis southwest LRT

[Chef]

Originally Posted by electricron

Never say "only" - that way you never have to eat crow.

Transit line planners should listen to local government officials. It usually doesn't work out when the planners dictate what must be....

As I wrote before, if Minneapolis is against the alignments, it will not likely get "New Starts" FTA funding. The Feds like to see everyone onboard - and not everyone is.

The rest of the metro political establishment is daring Minneapolis to kill it, because at the end of the day they don't think they will.

From yesterday's news:

Southwest Corridor light-rail route gets green light
Article by: PAT DOYLE , Star Tribune
Updated: April 9, 2014 - 11:18 PM

The Twin Cities’ biggest transit project passed a major milestone Wednesday with the approval of a $1.68 billion design that emerged from years of planning and quarreling.

The Southwest Corridor light-rail line now faces a showdown with Minneapolis that will likely decide its fate.

The Metropolitan Council, the agency in charge of the project, voted 14-2 in favor of a plan to hide the light-rail line in twin tunnels through the Kenilworth corridor of Minneapolis, despite complaints that it will disrupt and transform the neighborhood.

“This is really about building a project for the next century,” Metropolitan Council Chairwoman Susan Haigh said.

One of the two dissenting votes was cast by Council Member Gary Cunningham, who represents part of Minneapolis and is married to Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges, who opposes the plan.

“I stand with the elected representatives of the city of Minneapolis,” Cunningham said, though he later indicated that negotiations could resolve some of his objections.

The Minneapolis City Council last month came out against the tunnels, and Hodges last week refused to consider the tunnel route at a meeting of mayors and other leaders of communities where the line would run.

The Met Council decision for the first time sends the project to the five cities along its nearly 16-mile route for their consent, a process that could trigger negotiations for concessions. Agency planners have left open the possibility of forging ahead without Minneapolis’ consent, but Gov. Mark Dayton has said that could tie the project up in lawsuits and effectively doom it.

http://www.startribune.com/politics/...254566841.html

[Chef]

A couple of new articles from today. From the Star Tribune:

For Minneapolis, Southwest LRT hits deal or no-deal time
Article by: PAT DOYLE , Star Tribune
Updated: April 13, 2014 - 6:31 AM

The Southwest Corridor light-rail project won a major victory last week, but now its supporters will learn whether Minneapolis will play spoiler.

To entice Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges and the City Council to drop their opposition, Southwest supporters plan to offer new development around future Minneapolis light-rail stops and plenty of construction jobs, and to agree to explore bus and even streetcar links to the rail stations. So far, Minneapolis has resisted deals. Just a month ago, its City Council unanimously opposed a plan to spend $160 million to hide the light-rail line in tunnels to satisfy homeowners concerned about the noise and sight of trains running at ground level.

But cracks began to appear in that resistance last week after the Metropolitan Council, the agency overseeing the project, approved the tunnel plan as part of the $1.68 billion project. Now it goes to Minneapolis for its consent.

“It would be tough to vote no,” said newly elected Council Member Blong Yang, who represents part of north Minneapolis. “To reject Southwest LRT, I would definitely catch some negativity.”

The project could force Minneapolis officials to choose between their declared support for mass transit and influential Kenilworth corridor homeowners who object to the Southwest line running near their property.

http://www.startribune.com/local/west/255042221.html

From Streets MN:

Dense Ideas: Southwest And Other LRT Lines

By Doug Trumm on April 17, 2014 in Uncategorized

One criticism often glossed over by SWLRT boosters is that the alignment lacks density. David Levinson expertly laid out the trade-offs in his recent piece. Low population density will limit the value added by the line. The line could still be a success, but its ceiling will be that much lower. It appears Met Council will succeed in getting the Kenilworth alignment built. However, it’s crucial we select denser corridors in the future to maximize our investment and connect as many people as possible to high quality mass transit. Once SWLRT is built, we need to continue to make improvements to mitigate the shortcomings of a less than ideal alignment. (Matt Steele had some good ideas in his piece Triage Now And Rehabilitate Later.)

Density can’t tell us everything and there are other factors to be considered in selecting a route, but it’s a damn good starting point–one that has not been taken seriously enough when planning Northstar, Southwest, Bottineau, Rush Line, Red Rock, or Gateway. Why are LRT lines that could serve more density overlooked and delayed while its full steam ahead on suburban commuter rail? We need to start learning the right lessons from our past transit projects.

Do Not Follow The Northstar

Northstar by now is widely recognized as a boondoggle, but who in their right mind was predicting a well-used line given its route? In residents per square mile, Big Lake has a density of 1,455, Elk River: 543, Ramsey: 821, Anoka: 2,558, Coon Rapids: a whooping 2,719, and Fridley: 2,675. Northstar then passes through Columbia Heights, the densest suburb in Minnesota at 5,717, and about five miles worth of Minneapolis (7,019) and inexplicably does not stop until its final destination: Target Field. Wouldn’t want the train to get too crowded!

The root of Northstar’s problems isn’t that it doesn’t plow through 30 more miles of cornfield to reach that veritable mecca, Saint Cloud. The Granite City has a population of about 66,000 and a density of 1,644. It’s neither enough people nor density to save the line, and most Saint Cloud residents don’t commute to Minneapolis for work, anyway. Plus, the Northstar doesn’t run at night and only sparsely on the weekend, which vastly reduces its use for recreational purposes.

Southwest: A Dense Idea?

A major drawback of SW is that its Minneapolis stations do not directly serve walkable neighborhoods. Overall, Minneapolis has a density of 7,019 residents/square mile, but the Kenwood neighborhood has just 2,200. It’s the wrong neighborhood in Minneapolis to target. Cedar Isles Dean’s density, 4,440, is better but still below average for Minneapolis, and West Calhoun’s musters a mere 2,600. We can project for and plan for growth, but even with 100% growth in these neighborhoods they would still be below average for Minneapolis. Whittier, on the other hand, already has a density of 17,000, as does Loring Park. And they are growing too.

http://streets.mn/2014/04/17/denseidea/