Monday, May 20, 2013
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 …
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
The Excelsior Boulevard location is one of seven sites the Met Council is moving forward with for a potential Operation and Maintenance Facility, according to Community Development Director Kevin Locke.
UPDATE: The Met Council recently released the full list of candidate sites, which is larger than initially reported. Those sites are: ORIGINAL STORY One St. Louis Park site is among the list of seven finalists for the Southwest LRT Operation and Maintenance Facility (OMF), according to a St. Louis Park official. During a study session on Monday, April 22, St. Louis Park City Council members received an update on the Southwest LRT project from Community Development Director Kevin Locke. Locke reported the Met Council had narrowed its initial list of 18 sites to seven, including one St. Louis Park location. The site is located right on the border of Hopkins and St. Louis Park, sandwiched between Excelsior Boulevard and Cedar Lake Trail. It …
Thursday, April 18, 2013
Hennepin County officials will host the open house from 5:30-7:30 p.m. at the St. Louis Park Rec Center.
Hennepin County officials are hosting a Southwest LRT station area planning open house at the St. Louis Park Rec Center from 5:30-7:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 18. The meeting is meant to engage the public in planning work around proposed light rail transit (LRT) stations for the Southwest LRT line, which is set to open in 2018. For each of the 17 stations along the route, initial concepts have been put together to show options for pedestrian, bike, bus and vehicular connections, in addition to future land use and development opportunities. The meeting is free and open to members of the public, with attendees able to see initial station alternatives and provide their reaction and comments to further guide planning efforts. Community members…
Monday, April 15, 2013
Many communities along the line worry about the loss of tax base and redevelopment potential should the site move in.
St. Louis Park seems to be at the center of Southwest Light Rail Transit disputes. First it was the freight rail reroute. Now it’s the location of an operation and maintenance facility needed to service trains along the corridor. The controversy was initially not one that St. Louis Park faced. 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 the following four St. Louis Park sites: (Click on the PDFs to the right to see a map and list of all 18 proposed sites.) …
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
Two Southwest LRT committees will discuss technical issues surrounding the controversial proposal.
The Southwest Light Rail Transit project’s freight rail reroute and co-location alternatives will be discussed at two meetings this week. The Southwest LRT Business Advisory Committee will take up the issue at a Wednesday morning that begins at 8 a.m. Technical issues having to do with the freight rail reroute and co-location options are expected to begin at 9:05 a.m. The Southwest LRT Community Advisory Committee will discuss the issue at a Thursday meeting that begin at 6 p.m. Discussion of the freight rail issues is scheduled to begin at 7:35 p.m. Both meetings are in Suite 500 of the Park Place West Building (6465 Wayzata Blvd., St. Louis Park). Freight rail routing has been particularly contentious part of the Southwest LRT project—…
Monday, March 4, 2013
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 …
Thursday, February 28, 2013
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.
Sunday, February 10, 2013
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…
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
St. Louis Park has a handful of notable properties within a short distance of the proposed line.
The Southwest Light Rail Transit planning process isn’t just about ridership numbers and costs; it’s about minimizing the impact that’s inherent in any project of this size. Part of that process involves surveying historic buildings on and near the routes being considered. A team examined properties within a so-called “area of potential effect”—an area-within 300 feet of the railroad corridor’s centerline—to see if they met National Register Criteria for Evaluation. For the areas around the proposed stations, they broadened their search to sites within a quarter mile. In St. Louis Park, surveyors examined 264 total properties. Of those, they selected six properties for further review. Only two were judged worthy of inclusion on the …
The pair of bills offer substantially different financing options for the project, but would both see millions of dollars go to the Metropolitan Council.
Two different funding options for the Southwest Light Rail Transit (LRT) line are being considered at the Capitol, after being introduced by Sen. Melisa Franzen (DFL-Edina) Monday morning. Senate File 257 and Senate File 258 both appropriate millions of dollars in bond proceeds to the Metropolitan Council to make the 15-mile light rail route a reality, though they do offer dramatically different amounts. SF 257 would provide $118 million for the project, fully covering the remainder of the state contribution toward the project. SF 258 would provide $37 million. "It is time to move this project forward," Franzen said. "The business community, cities and residents are all on board. We need the Legislature to step up and make an investment …
Matt
8:25 pm on Wednesday, April 24, 2013
The OMF also serves as a garage since we keep trains/buses indoors in MN. You couldn't fit them all in the existing Franklin Ave (MPLS) and Lowertown (STP) facilities once Southwest is online. Plus you'd have to run a few empty trains from St. Paul ALL the way out to Eden Prairie to get started in the morning. Hopefully we won't have to build another one for Bottineau as well...another reason to … more ›