Green Line Extension - Southwest LRT

[MNdible]

Or,the stories accurately reflect how we act because of our parochial nature.

They're not making up these quotes.

People hear what they want to hear -- David was happy at the public meeting because he heard his equity concerns expressed in a way that they haven't been before. Somebody living along the corridor hears how they're being hosed at every turn. Somebody from SLP or Eden Prairie hears how their wish list is being ignored while MPLS is getting cool stuff.

[ECtransplant]

I didn't hear anything about 3C

[grant1simons2]

http://www.startribune.com/local/267104891.html

And now we wait... again

[David Greene]

David was happy at the public meeting because he heard his equity concerns expressed in a way that they haven't been before.

That's not accurate. I'm happy because a broad set of opinions was expressed. Not just mine but others, for and against. We finally went beyond the freight rail/bike path scope.

[mullen]

"remote, inaccessible and hard to find". pretty much sums up this line's path through the mpls. meh.
http://finance-commerce.com/transit/201 ... oken-down/

[twincitizen]

Sounds like CTIB wants to take the hatchet to Mitchell Road Station...and they should. $80MM to extend the route beyond the existing P&R facility at Southwest Station is not justifiable.

http://finance-commerce.com/2014/07/sou ... -counties/

[grant1simons2]

Mitchell road station will be one of the station that has the fewest riders get on. Although I would board there because it's much much easier to access by bike and closer to my house it won't have as large of an impact. There are new apartment buildings going in near it, and the Eden Prairie City Center, water management, and many other city services. The number will still be low. I'd project about 200-300 riders at this station a day

[acs]

http://blogs.mprnews.org/cities/2014/05 ... hwest-lrt/

2,964 riders per day, more than EP town center. I guess since I'm from the area I'll give a little support:
This station is much closer to the heart of EP's industrial/tech job center, which most people bypass while flying down 212 unless they are going to the middle school. the station isn't only about the park and ride but about the reverse commute to the roughly 6k jobs in that area. While having 2 park and rides this close may seem dumb, I still don't get how they can expand southwest station even more without making it obscenely tall. Plus, if you've ever driven 212 east during the morning commute it is often backed up well beyond the exit for prairie center drive due to I-494.

[grant1simons2]

I'm from the area too, so trust me I'm 100% on this project it's just hard to say. Who will suck it up and walk that extra 4 blocks into work, we live in a lazy world sometimes.

[FISHMANPET]

Are these "job clusters" in any way walkable from the station? They've been built for the automobile, I don't see how you can just drop a high amenity transit service into the center and it suddenly becomes a walkable Shangri-La.

[grant1simons2]

They're pretty walkable. Eden Prairie and the companies do a great job with keeping walk ability up. One of the reason they were ranked #1 a few years ago.

[acs]

The buildings are spread out, i'll give you that, but there aren't acres of surface parking like you'd expect. Lots of green space. The other thing is, IIRC, these roads get almost no auto traffic during the day. Maybe a few trucks coming and going to the warehouses during the day followed by the school buses around 3:40. Its scary quiet most of the time.

[grant1simons2]

I'm making a small map of the area in terms of how it relates to the station.

[Tom H.]

I've made the walk through this area from Southwest Station to my apartment near Mitchell & Valley View, and I'll say this: even though it is "able to be walked", it's a far cry from "walkable".

I'd say that if EP wants a station here, they should densify it first and get SWLRT extended to it, rather than the other way around.

ETA: Would a change like this even be possible at this point, since Eden Prairie has already agreed to the project scope with Mitchell Station included?

[mullen]

that's the whole selling point of this line to mpls. people who get on the magic train and get off in EP for the bountiful jobs. guess they'll need shuttle buses or something.

[grant1simons2]

Done. This is the map of some of the area surrounding the Mitchell station

https://mapsengine.google.com/map/edit? ... TqDj766ZtI

No shuttle buses are needed. Don't be silly, a lot of the streets I felt were easy to walk on and get around when I had a job at Eden Prairie City Center

[David Greene]

Done

The station is along Technology Dr. now.

http://www.swlrtcommunityworks.org/stat ... ll-station

[grant1simons2]

Thanks, that makes a ton more sense.

[Minneapolisite]

Mitchell road station will be one of the station that has the fewest riders get on. Although I would board there because it's much much easier to access by bike and closer to my house it won't have as large of an impact. There are new apartment buildings going in near it, and the Eden Prairie City Center, water management, and many other city services. The number will still be low. I'd project about 200-300 riders at this station a day

That and there's very little to walk to: the only destinations for non-residents, a JJ's Coffee & Wine and a Buca Di Beppo, are both found in Mpls and much more easily accessible: you don't need to walk across a long highway bridge to reach the latter off of Harmon in Downtown. That map highlights how the vast majority of jobs are inaccessible by foot from the SWLRT when instead by building LRT in the cities we can bring jobs to much more accessible, walkable, bikeable areas..

[grant1simons2]

The point of the map was not to highlight where you can eat. And how about you zoom in to see where all the sidewalks go. Click on Davids link as well, there are even MORE sidewalks planned. There's no Eaton or MTS in Minneapolis that those workers can just transfer too. Have you had a job in the burbs, or kids that are going into high school, kids in general. People aren't going to just hop up and move out of Eden Prairie. The schools are top notch and you have some great neighbors, there are good places to go and be at peace, plenty of conservation and parks. BUT THERE ARE PEOPLE WHO WORK AT THESE PLACES THAT LIVE IN AND LOVE MINNEAPOLIS AND THEIR COMPANY IS TREATING THEM WELL! That's why the line is being built out to here. I hate driving to Minneapolis. But I love Minneapolis. These people are stuck driving to work through the traffic and hassle when they could just hop on the train and then walk from the station to work, using the sidewalk then going across at technology drive for example and walk on the path the business has built for the employees. Sorry for the rant but it's true, and you don't seem to see any crap outside of your little foodie/coffee bubble.