Twin Cities Chambers Condemn Failure of Transit Tax

The proposed sales tax for transit improvements did not make it into the final transportation bill.

The presidents of the Minneapolis Regional Chamber and Saint Paul Area Chamber on Sunday condemned the Legislature’s inability to approve a dedicated funding source to expand Twin Cities transit. Last month, the Minneapolis and Saint Paul chambers endorsed a metrowide sales tax of up to half a cent that would have funded transit improvements. Transit tax proposals presented during the session ranged from a quarter of a cent to three-quarters of a cent. However, a sales tax for transit did not make it in to the final version of the Omnibus Transportation Finance bill. The bill did include $37 million to keep the Southwest Light Rail Transit project moving forward. But Minneapolis chamber President Todd Klingel and Saint Paul chamber …

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One Minnetonka Site Shortlisted for Southwest LRT Maintenance Facility

Many communities along the line worry about the loss of tax base and redevelopment potential should the site move in.

Minnetonka has just one site on a short list of possible locations for a Southwest Light Rail Transit operation and maintenance facility that will service trains along the corridor, according to a list the Metropolitan Council released Thursday. The project’s draft environmental impact statement identified just six possible sites where the facility could be located—five sites in Eden Prairie and one in Minneapolis. However, planners decided that the start of preliminary engineering was a good time to take a look at more sites and they eventually identified 18 sites. The latest list narrows the candidates to nine sites. Those sites are: The maintenance facility is the site where light rail vehicles will be cleaned, stored and undergo light …

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Southwest LRT Planners Eyeing Minnetonka Site for Maintenance Facility

Many communities along the line worry about the loss of tax base and redevelopment potential should the site move in.

A group of Minnetonka properties are now among the options for a Southwest Light Rail Transit operation and maintenance facility that will service trains along the corridor. The project’s draft environmental impact statement identified just six possible sites where the facility could be located—five sites in Eden Prairie and one in Minneapolis. However, planners decided that the start of preliminary engineering was a good time to take a look at more sites. They’ve now identified 18 sites, including a site made up of five parcels on K-Tel Drive. (Click on the PDFs to the right to see a map of the site and a list of all 18 proposed sites.) Communities along the line are not exactly welcoming the proposed facility. Although Hopkins officials …

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Editor's Notebook

What Does SimCity Say About Southwest LRT?

Using video games like SimCity to investigate the real world can be informative, but players must also beware of the games’ underlying assumptions.

The debate over the Southwest Light Rail Transit project has been a bitter one, but it’s one that video gamers may be able to investigate from the comfort of their living rooms and home offices this week. That’s the promise offered by the quarter-century-old video game series SimCity—the latest version of which comes out Tuesday. The game offers a variety of transportation options and a development model that centers on how well a virtual community’s transportation corridors are operating. There’s just one problem, though. Just as critics and supporters in the Southwest LRT debate have their biases, the SimCity model has its own assumptions, as well as simplifications made for the sake of gameplay. The result can be a less-than-faithful …

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Sequestration Shouldn’t Delay Southwest LRT

Federal New Starts funding is still a couple years away.

The Southwest Light Rail Transit project shouldn’t face any immediate setbacks if cuts from the looming sequestration take effect. The federal New Starts grants program, which helps fund transit expansion and will pay for some of the Southwest project, would be cut by 6 percent in the event of sequestration, according to Streetsblog. However, the Southwest LRT Project has not yet received federal funding, said Laura Baenen, the project’s communications manager. It continues advancing toward that goal in the next couple years.

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How Should Southwest LRT Be Funded?

With several proposals before the Legislature, Patch wants to know what ideas, if any, you favor.

Last legislative session, the big question about Southwest Light Rail Transit was whether there was enough political will to fund the project. The tables appear to have turned this year, though. With at least three funding proposals floating around, the focus has lately been more on how to fund it than whether it deserves any money. Edina Sen. Melisa Franzen (DFL-District 49) introduced Senate File 257 and Senate File 258, which would provide $118 million and $37 million, respectively, in bonding money for the 15-mile light rail project. Watch Franzen explain her bills in the YouTube video above. Gov. Mark Dayton, on the other hand, has proposed a quarter-cent sales tax increase that would set up a dedicated revenue stream for transit—some…

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Transit Tax Proposal Creates Uncertainty About Southwest LRT’s Next Steps

Supporters have historically pushed for funding in the state’s bonding bills, but a proposed tax increase raises questions about whether that’s the right path this year.

Southwest Light Rail Transit supporters have largely praised the governor’s proposal for a quarter-cent sales tax increase that would set up a dedicated revenue stream for transit, but the proposal has created uncertainty about what the Legislature’s role is in moving the project forward this session. In the past, Rep. Steve Simon and Sen. Ron Latz, whose districts includes Hopkins and St. Louis Park, have been the chief authors on bills that would have provided money for the project. But Gov. Mark Dayton’s proposal aims to remove transit funding from the hands of the Legislature—where it’s sparked intense debate and faced repeated setbacks. With Dayton’s proposal still under discussion, though, there’s some confusion about what the …

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Survey Finds Broad Support for Transit, Southwest LRT

Metro chambers commissioned the study to find out voters’ opinions about public transportation.

Support for the Southwest Light Rail Transit project has grown significantly over the past year and a majority of Minnesotans support a sales tax increase for transit, according to survey results announced Thursday. The memo that the bipartisan survey team produced on behalf of the TwinWest Chamber of Commerce, St. Paul Area Chamber of Commerce and Minneapolis Regional Chamber of Commerce paints a picture of widespread support for transit in both the Twin Cities and greater Minnesota. “Minnesotans understand that planning for economic growth and improving our region’s transportation system is just common sense,” a news release quoted Minneapolis Regional Chamber President Todd Klingel. “This survey shows there is strong support for …

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Study: Transportation Investment Could Have $10B Payback

A study commissioned by the Itasca Project examined the return on investment for fully funding the regional transportation plan—which includes roads, buses and two more light rail lines by 2030.

A study commissioned by a group of Twin Cities business leaders estimates that the region could more than double the return on its investment by fully funding the Metropolitan Council’s transportation plan—which includes road and bus upgrades and the addition of two more light rail lines by 2030. “The Regional Transit Project Return on Investment Assessment” was commissioned by the Itasca Project—a group of more than 50 people that is made up mainly of private sector CEOs, with a small number of public and nonprofit leaders. Cambridge Systematics, the Massachusetts-based firm that did the analysis, estimates that implementing the Met Council’s plan would generate between $6.6 billion and $10.1 billion in direct benefits between 2030 and …

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Southwest LRT Typo Underestimates Co-location Costs by $100M

The error, which arose out of editing and formatting changes, does not change the conclusions of the project’s draft environmental impact statement.

Engineering consultants have identified a $100 million typo in a Southwest Light Rail Transit report that understates the cost of putting the Twin Cities & Western freight line in the same corridor as the light rail—an option known as “co-location.” The draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) listed the “professional services” cost of option 3A-1—the co-location alternative—as “$99,357 (in thousands).” That should have read “$199,357 (in thousands).” The difference between the two figures is $100 million but does not alter the conclusions of the DEIS. “While I'm dismayed that an error of this nature was made, we all think it's important to be transparent, to identify the error and make the correction immediately,” Hennepin County …

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