I read earlier posts that suggested that SW lrt should run down Nicollet. Good way to kill all of the businesses on Eat Street. To run it at street level would remove all on-street parking. Zoning rules would undoubtedly require businesses to have parking lots for which there is no space. Tunnelling would be so costly that even the give-money-away FTA would choke. Check on the cost per mile of the L.A. Red Line subway.
Consider the effect on downtown Minneapolis traffic with a train passing by every 3 3/4 minutes in each direction. David Greene says that 34th Avenue works just fine with lrt near I-494. He should talk to the many employees who work near the so-called Bloomington central station. It's especially bad for those exiting westbound I-494 and highway 5 at 34th. Waits of 8 to 12 minutes are common since whenever a train comes by from either direction, the signals reset to allow the northbound 34th traffic to go first, then southbound 34th, and then the traffic on the ramp. The trains are usually spaced so that the cycle doesn't get all the way through before the other train comes along. If the trains are running at exactly 3 3/4 minutes between northbound and southbound trains, the only way to get through the intersection is to turn north and then U-turn to get a green. Of course, David only spoke of what he sees from the train in the seconds in which he passes by on the train. The trains do get stopped at intersections, though not regularly. Bill Kahn probably hasn't read that the CC lrt/brt is supposed to pass under the U east bank campus. I would recommend that the people actually read the 2004 DEIS, so that they understand what is proposed. David Greene says that brt "done right" is about as expensive as lrt and that the stations are the most expensive part. Here are the budget numbers from CC DEIS page 2-18 (millions of 2002 dollars.) Civil construction lrt $155 brt $ 38 Utility allowance lrt $ 27 brt $ 7 Structures lrt $ 41 brt $ 0 Stations lrt $100 brt $ 44 Maintenance facility lrt $ 20 brt $ 9 Traction power system lrt $ 15 brt $ 0 Signal system lrt $ 16 brt $ 0 Communications/GPS lrt $ 7 brt $ 20 Fare collection lrt $ 2 brt $ 4 Right-of-way allowance lrt $ 30 brt $ 1 Vehicle allowance lrt $ 99 brt $ 20 Engineering/admin lrt $120 brt $ 37 Contingencies lrt $103 brt $ 31 prelimary est. cost lrt $735 brt $211 2008 $ lrt $840 brt $241 Someone also said that there were no condemnations expected. According to the DEIS, there are expected to be 11 parcels totally acquired and 114 partially acquired. 0 residential buildings and 12 non-residential buildings to be acquired. Of note, from pages 3-66: "Pedestrian, bicycle, and vehicular crossings would be allowed only at designated signalized intersections." East of Lexington Parkway, these are spaced 1/2 mile apart. This means that you will have to travel up to 1/2 mile to cross University Avenue. Remember that the express bus will be eliminated and the 16 bus will only run once every 30 minutes. It's worth noting that the pedestrian crossing warning bells used at the Bloomington central station can easily be heard inside the building through new sealed windows 13 floors up and 100 horizontal feet away. They ring for more than a minute before a train gets there and can ring up to a minute after the train is gone. They ring about half the time. Imagine how that will sound in a business or residence on the Avenue. Energy consumption forecast, on page 4-56 (millions of BTU/year): baseline 150,072,932 lrt 150,097,285 brt 150,077,501 That's right, lrt consumes the most energy. A couple more issues. The DEIS has tables in the back (where nobody looks) that forecast backups and delays at intersections. To summarize, in the afternoon rush hour with lrt, there will be a backup on eastbound University from Prior to Rice with no more than two pairs of blocks free of the backups, which is hugely more than without lrt. On the delay front, eastbound delays from Eustis to Robert in the afternoon rush hour total about 10 minutes without lrt and 50 minutes with lrt. Westbound delays are about 6 minutes without lrt and 34 minutes with lrt. These additional delays will affect the 16 bus route. Remember that vehicles will be making a lot of U-turns at the few intersections with signals, only about 18 between Eustis (highway 280) and Robert. Visit www.EffectiveTransit.org The Independent Unsubsidized Voice of Citizens for Effective Transit in the Twin Cities * lrt isn't a potato chip, you can stop at just one * Bruce Gaarder Highland Park Saint Paul MN [EMAIL PROTECTED] 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:[email protected] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
