Politics & Government

Southwest LRT Plans Looking Good for Minnetonka

Cost for the line as a whole may have jumped, but Minnetonka didn't see many unexpected details in the latest light rail plans.

Southwest Light Rail planners caused some sticker shock last week when they presented estimates that revised forecasted costs from the initial $1.25 billion to as much as $1.82 billion. But at least when it came to Minnetonka issues, there weren’t too many surprises.

By and large, the design continues to develop along ways envisioned by city officials—as Thursday’s presentation showed.

The draft now plans for light rail to cross Highway 62 with a tunnel underneath. Minnetonka had recommended a tunnel because of the difficulty a bridge would create in getting tracks back down to ground level by the time they reached Opus, said Julie Wischnack, Minnetonka’s community development director.

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A tunnel makes for a better transition—and helped the project save $2 million in the area, to boot.

That’s not the only improvement in the works for the Opus area. The station has been moved more to the south, which better accommodates future redevelopment.

Find out what's happening in Minnetonkawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Plans also now call for better connections between the station and the trails, which should actually improve with light rail. Right now, all the trails cross Opus roads through tunnels underneath—except for the Bren Road crossing. After the improvements, the lone road crossing will become a tunnel, too, and Opus trail crossings will be completely underground.

“A lot of people don’t realize that there’s six miles of trails in Opus already,” Wischnack said.

Wischnack credits the community works process and other public feedback options for the way the project is meshing with Minnetonka’s vision. While the process isn’t always perfect, Southwest Light Rail planners are taking into account economic development considerations as well as technical challenges—something that hasn’t always happened at other light rail projects across the country.

“These are 50 to 100 year decisions we’re making,” Wischnack said. “I’m pretty proud of how that’s turning out.”



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