While legislators talked about early plans for the Little Crow Transit Way last week, officials were planning for more public meetings for the Southwest Light Rail Transit (LRT) line.
The 14-mile line is projected to open in 2015 between Minneapolis and Eden Prairie and cost an estimated $865 million to $1.4 billion to build, excluding operating costs.
Several open houses will be held in mid-August to present evaluations of route alternatives and give updates on the project. They aren't intended to provide a platform for public comment, according to a statement. For comment, a public hearing is scheduled for mid-September in Hopkins.
The Southwest Policy Advisory Committee is expected to make its final decision on the route later this fall, according to a statement. The route in some places would utilize the same corridor also used by regional trails, but the trails would be left intact.
Aug. 11: 6:30-8 p.m. at Hopkins City Hall, 1010 First St. S.
Aug.13: 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. at the downtown Minneapolis Library, 300 Nicollet Mall in Minneapolis; 6:30-8 p.m. at Marriott Southwest Hotel in Minnetonka, 5801 Opus Parkway in Minnetonka.
Aug. 18: 6:30-8 p.m. at St. Louis Park City Hall, 5005 Minnetonka Blvd.
Aug. 19: 6:30-8 p.m. at Eden Prairie City Hall, 8080 Mitchell Road in Eden Prairie.
Public hearing
Sept. 17: 6:30 pm at Hopkins Eisenhower Community Center lunch room, 1001 Highway 7.
Legislators doing the legwork to add commuter rail service from Minneapolis to Wayzata to Willmar are betting that if such a line is built, enough people would use it to justify the cost.
On July 28, Sen. Terri Bonoff (DFL-Minnetonka) and Rep. Dean Urdahl (R-Grove City) hosted a meeting at the Wayzata Depot to gain support for the Little Crow Transit Way - a nearly 100-mile commuter line that they said could be added with upgrades to the existing freight line.
The planning for such a line is in the early stages compared to other suburban-serving rail projects like the Southwest Light Rail Transit (LRT) project between Minneapolis and Eden Prairie that could be finished in 2015, and the Northstar Commuter Rail Line between Minneapolis and Big Lake, set to open later this year.
The Little Crow line would extend beyond the suburbs and into small town Minnesota.
"Thousands travel on a two-lane highway each day to the Twin Cities to work. Now is there a better way?" Urdahl said to a crowd of about 30 that included other legislators and officials from cities, Hennepin County, the Metropolitan Council and the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT).
In the last legislative session Bonoff and Urdahl authored bills for funding the study of such a line, along with Sen. Ann H. Rest (DFL-New Hope), Rep. Al Juhnke (DFL-Willmar) and others.
Those bills didn't make it out of committee, but MnDOT is still looking at the corridor along with others that fan out from the metro area.
Praveena Pidaparthi, passenger rail plan developer with MnDOT, said the line will be added to the agency's state rail plan, which includes other possible lines and will be completed in December.
Incorporating the line into that plan was a positive development for Bonoff.
"So we are actually very hopeful," Bonoff said.
Bonoff said she didn't know how the line would fit into the broader context of passenger rail in the area, and cost estimates weren't discussed in the presentation.
While the existing rail bed could be used, the line would require stations, a maintenance facility, additional sidings for passing, and changes to signals to accommodate faster trains.
Bonoff said the line could benefit businesses, knit together communities, help the environment and make the overall transportation system more equitable. Supporters said it would reduce congestion on I-394.
They also said population shouldn't be the only factor in deciding whether to build passenger rail outside the metro. Rather than wait for the population growth to occur, it would be better to build transit before development makes it more costly, they said.
Urdahl said transportation planning has been lacking when it comes to west central Minnesota.
"You basically have [I-394] and then there's the rest of the state. The state doesn't end at 394," he said.
Urdahl said 40 percent of Wright County residents commute into the Twin Cities metro area to work, adding pressure to Highway 12.
Wright County is adjacent to Hennepin County and also includes Highway 55 and I-94.
Near I-94, the Northstar line between Big Lake and Minneapolis is nearly complete. Some say that if that line exceeds expectations like the Hiawatha Line did in Minneapolis and Bloomington, the planning assumptions for rail transit could change.
"If Northstar does the same thing obviously everything will have to be recalculated again," said Judd Schetnan, director of government affairs with the Met Council.
There's also federal money to think about, the legislators said.
Rep. Frank Hornstein (DFL Minneapolis) said there's a favorable environment for such a project at the state and federal levels.
"We have leadership that's supportive of this type of transit," Hornstein said.
Reader Comments
Posted: Tuesday, August 04, 2009
Article comment by:
John Walker
The legislative "media event" at the Wayzata Depot regarding possible commuter rail to the west raises more questions than it answers. Ironically there was no mention of future pools of potential riders in such places at Maple Plain, and Delano and the micro-mini communities to the immediate west. These are the growth areas for the next decade or more. Population density is a key consideration. Other key considerations should be the revenue/passenger mile and the cost/passenger mile. The difference is what the taxpayer will contribute. The BNSF will make money regardless. These are the issues to watch. Since you are the last surviving true journalists in the western suburbs you' have your hands full providing meanful coverage.
If you have questions give me a call or e-mail me.
