Thatcher Imboden wrote:
IMO, it seems that Hennepin County had a desired route into downtown Minneapolis well before the study began. As a result, this whole study hasn't really taken viable options into consideration, and has tried very hard to make places like Uptown, Lyn-Lake, and even Nicollet-Lake as unnecessary to connect to the LRT alignment.
The line up Nicollet would use a tunnel, which is very expensive. It would also kill any possibility for a Midtown Greenway streetcar. The Greeway trench would need to be widened (another huge expense) with the possible loss of greenspace. It also requires a 90 degree turn at Nicollet, which is a bottleneck. The route between Ceder and Isles could connect with a Greenway trolley around Chowen Ave. That way, SW users have a convenient connection to Hiawatha. This is by far the best current plan for the northern alignment. A better one might be a route that hits the Hennepin Ave Uptown station and follows Hennepin (underground) into downtown. That's probably even more expensive than the Nicollet option but it would mean the Greenway streetcar wouldn't have to extend past Hennepin and could avoid the possible re-construction of the Hennepin Ave. bus terminal. Of course, having LRT run near there might require its reconstruction anyway. Ultimately, we want _access_ to the LRT from Uptown. This does not mean that the rails actually have to run near the area. If a frequently-run streetcar is available, that should be plenty sufficient and will give us more convenient access to _two_ LRT lines, not just one.
The first "urban" option they looked at was a joke. Everyone knew it'd be cut. Why waste the money on a poor-route analysis when they could have looked at a route that had more of a chance --- rule it out due to money, not poor design.
Which option was this? Can you provide the route number (1A, 4C, etc.) from http://www.southwesttransitway.org/maps.shtml? It would help us to get clearer in the discussion. If it's not on the web page anymore, can you point us to a resource that describes it? David Greene The Wedge REMINDERS: 1. Be civil! Please read the NEW RULES at http://www.e-democracy.org/rules. If you think a member is in violation, contact the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:mpls@mnforum.org Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
