Politics & Government

LRT Tea Leaves: Met Council Chair Calls Co-Location Option 'Promising'

Whether to co-locate the Southwest LRT Green Line with freight rail or to re-route freight rail lines through the city has caused a stir.

(With reporting by Zac Farber.)

For those who oppose the re-routing of freight lines to accommodate the proposed Southwest LRT Green Line, recent comments by Met Council Chair Sue Haigh could be comforting.

According to MPR News, Haigh hinted Friday that she may be leaning in favor of an option to co-locate light rail and freight rail, which would spare homes and the St. Louis Park football field. MPR said the comments came near the end of an interview with Tom Weber on The Daily Circuit.

"I think one of the most promising ones is the Kenilworth shallow tunnel alternative," she said. "I think it is a more promising option than we believed before we got these cost estimates [for other options] and before we got to this level of alternatives analysis."

As it's currently proposed, the light rail line is scheduled to be built in the corridor housing St. Louis Park's freight rail line and the Kennilworth Bike Trail. The Met Council has proposed eight different alternatives to "reroute" the freight lines or "co-locate" them with light rail lines.

In recent weeks, St. Louis Park's city council, school board and multiple local legislators have come out against rerouting freight rail lines through St. Louis Park, and Haigh's comments will come as good news to many residents in the city.

The Kennilworth shallow LRT tunnel is one of the more expensive co-location options, expected to cost $150 million to $160 million (on top of $85 million to $90 million in improvements common to all options), but is still cheaper than both of the council's relocation options.

A decision by the Met Council is expected in late August.

Read: LRT Cost Estimates Show Most Co-Location Options Cheaper Than Relocation
Many residents expressed their outrage at the prospect of re-routing the freight lines through the city during an open house Thursday at St. Louis Park High School.

“There are some people who don’t want the train in their backyard—namely Kenilworth—and they want to push it over on us,” Francis Schmit, a Library Lane resident, said Thursday. “Why not put the bike path over here?”

Read: 'An Outrage': SLP Residents Speak Out at Met Council LRT Open House
Which option do you favor? Tell us in the comments section below.

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