Monday, April 29, 2013
The Southwest Light Rail project needs park and rides so commuters can use the trains.
Minnetonka appears to have escaped without large concentrations of parking spaces at its Southwest Light Rail Transit station. Parking is among the biggest worries for cities along the line. Local planners frequently worry that parking could create traffic problems and take land that could be used for redevelopment. But the Southwest LRT project also needs sufficient parking for the commuters who will make the line financially viable. The Draft Environmental Impact Statement assumed 15 of the 17 new stations would have park-and-ride facilities and estimated that the project would need 3,500 park-and-ride spaces along the line. Yet Minnetonka’s Opus station is expected to have just 60 parking spaces, according to a Finance & Commerce …
Monday, January 28, 2013
The Pioneer Press reported that some east metro legislators say their regions are being left out of rail plans. Patch wants to know what you think.
Most of the recent debate over rail has been between those who want to spend more money on light rail and those who prefer spending the money on roads and buses. On Sunday, though, the Pioneer Press had a look at a light issue that hasn’t garnered as much attention: Is the east metro getting its share of rail projects? The paper notes that St. Paul’s only rail line right now is Amtrak and that the city is on track to add just one light rail line, the Central Corridor Light Rail line running between Minneapolis and St. Paul. Minneapolis, on the other hand, could someday be the starting point of the Hiawatha, Southwest, Bottineau, Central Corridor and Northstar lines. Some east metro legislators say that’s not fair. State officials and …
Thursday, January 3, 2013
A look at the details for the four light rail projects closest to completion.
Whether you like it or not, light rail is the talk of the metro at the moment. Businesses along the Central Corridor have another year of construction to look forward to. St. Louis Park residents are protesting the proposed relocation of freight rail in respone to the Southwest Transitway project as supporters continue to seek the necessary funding. In Golden Valley, residents are waiting to see what their City Council will do when it comes to supporting a resolution that would send a light rail train through their community. Many Golden Valley residents urged the City Council to vote no on the resolution that would allow more studies to be conducted about the Bottineau Transitway’s locally preferred alternative (LPA). Meanwhile, the …
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
Whether an increased sales tax or a new taxing jurisdiction, advocates say a reliable funding stream could insulate transit from political winds.
The Southwest Light Rail Transit project hasn’t had an easy time securing state funding over the past couple years. It faced stiff opposition from Republicans, with the former transportation committee head promising to stop the Southwest LRT "in its tracks." DFL wins in the 2012 Election bode well for the project, but there’s no way of knowing how long that will last. With the line years away from operation, and the Bottineau Transitway moving forward, some light rail advocates are questioning whether transit should rely so much on state funding. That was the question brought up multiple times Tuesday during a meeting with national and local development experts about making the most of Southwest LRT. Instituting a reliable revenue stream, …
Friday, November 2, 2012
With Hopkins High School so far from the planned light rail line, School Board Director Kris Newcomer questioned whether students would actually be able to use LRT to travel to courses offered at the University of Minnesota.
One of the benefits of the proposed Southwest Light Rail Transit line, promoters say, is that west metro high schoolers could use the line to take college classes at the University of Minnesota. School Board Director Kris Newcomer was skeptical, though. Hopkins High School is about four miles from the nearest station. At a joint meeting with the City Council on Tuesday, she wondered how the students are going to get there. The discussion centers on Southwest’s green line extension,which would allow riders to get all the way from Eden Prairie to the University of Minnesota and on to St. Paul. That’s a perfect fit for the state’s Post-Secondary Enrollment Options program, light rail advocates say. That program allows high school juniors and …
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Hopkins Public Schools Hopkins High School
2400 Lindbergh Dr, Minnetonka, MN
/articles/how-much-will-southwest-lrt-really-help-hopkins-students
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Tuesday, September 11, 2012
The project tied for the lowest score among 37 applicants competing for $47.5 million in bonding money.
Rep. Ryan Winkler (DFL-District 46A) didn’t mask his thoughts when news came down that the Southwest Light Rail Transit project had come in behind a new minor league ballpark in St. Paul, a wastewater project in Litchfield and a downtown development initiative in Duluth that includes a new parking ramp. Winkler took to Twitter to express his frustration, firing off a series of tweets Tuesday criticizing the Department of Employment and Economic Development: Other west metro leaders were more tactful, but the news remained a downer for many supporters who’ve seen Southwest LRT repeatedly fail to secure funding. The $14 million request tied for last place among the 37 projects that applied for a piece of the $47.5 million available in …
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Met Council is currently applying for $47.5 million in state funding for Southwest Light Rail.
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Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Editor's Note: The following is a letter written and signed by the mayors of Edina, Eden Prairie, Hopkins, Minnetonka, Minneapolis and St. Louis Park. The letter was sent to Mark Phillips, commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development. Dear Commissioner Phillips: As the Mayors of six cities in the western metropolitan area, we write today regarding the $47.5 million Business Development Through Capital Project Grants Program to be administered by the Department of Employment and Economic Development. We understand that the Metropolitan Council is applying for a grant for Southwest Light Rail Transit (SW LRT) from this program. We strongly support that request. SW LRT will benefit each of our cities. The …
Thursday, May 31, 2012
The Minnesota senator said it’s a shame the Legislature didn’t approve the money.
Sen. Al Franken said the Minnesota Legislature’s rejection of Southwest Light Rail Transit funding could have ramifications at the federal level. "It's certainly not good, and it definitely affects the federal side of things," Franken told Patch in a brief interview Thursday during a tour through the Lake Minnetonka area. Gov. Mark Dayton asked the Legislature to set aside $25 million for Southwest LRT. Lawmakers rejected that, and the project needs at least $14 million more to continue preliminary engineering. Rail advocates say a state commitment is necessary to assure the federal government that Minnesota is on board. Failure to set aside the money could put the project behind others across the country. But some opponents are wary about…
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
The District 44 senator criticized his colleagues’ decision to leave Southwest Light Rail Transit out of the bonding bills approved Monday.
Both chambers of the Minnesota Legislature left Southwest Light Rail Transit out of the bonding bills the House and Senate approved Monday. During the Senate debate, Sen. Ron Latz (DFL-District 44)—who represents Golden Valley, Hopkins and St. Louis Park—criticized opponents of the project for ignoring infrastructure that he argues is essential. Light rail supporters wanted the Legislature to set aside $25 million that was to be part of a $125 million total state contribution to the Southwest project. Latz argued that money would leverage millions more in federal funds, which includes a federal share of $625 million. “And while there are those who have, it appears, a moral objection to transit funding—especially rail funding—the fact is …
The $496 million bill passed the House on a 99-32 vote and the Senate 45-22 Monday.
A late-hour contribution to the Southwest Light Rail Transit line is still not on the horizon. The bonding bills the state House and Senate signed off on Monday does not include the $25 million for Southwest LRT that supporters want. The money is to be part of a $125 million total state contribution to the project—which will run from Minneapolis to Eden Prairie, through suburban communities such as St. Louis Park, Hopkins and Minnetonka. Federal money and county funds that are required to be spent on transit would match that, including a federal share of $625 million. Gov. Mark Dayton included the $25 million in his $775 million bonding proposal at the beginning of this year’s legislative session, but the project has so far failed to gain …
Matthew Kilanowski
3:25 pm on Monday, January 28, 2013
No idea why Texas has it. And that's not even the full system, the map is from around 20 years before the peak build-out. If I get a moment, I'll flip through my copy of Twin Cities by Trolley. I'm pretty sure that the book lists the most profitable streetcar lines, and I'm also sure that the light rail lines currently in the works generally follow the most profitable lines from the old system. … more ›