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Re: Southwest LRT (Green Line Extension)

Posted: May 1st, 2017, 4:37 pm
by David Greene
The key is to *call Dayton!* He's the only one who can stop the legislature's defunding of transit, including SWLRT. Call and get your friends and family to call too.

Re: Southwest LRT (Green Line Extension)

Posted: May 1st, 2017, 11:07 pm
by Korh
with this hopefully most of the drama around SW dies down aside from a few shouts here and there from a small group of individuals. That being said funding for operating the line becomes the main issue (which might be better suited for the Minnesota Transportation Funding thread) but if I had one idea that might work is fallow Dallas' example of how they funded there light rail system and got it to grow into the biggest in the U.S. (93 miles) by having individual municipalities vote on whether or not to impose a 1 cent sales tax on themselves which could work for some cities along the current/proposed lines (I suggest cities rather than counties because 1. we know from CTIB what could go wrong 2. the individual cities can get a much a clearer idea by focusing on what its residents want.

Re: Southwest LRT (Green Line Extension)

Posted: May 2nd, 2017, 8:55 am
by David Greene
with this hopefully most of the drama around SW dies down aside from a few shouts here and there from a small group of individuals.
No, this is *not* a done deal. Don't think for a minute that it is. $10 million is a long way from $500 million. We need to keep the pressure on and Dayton is the primary target now. He's considering all kinds of crazy Republican proposals and if he accepts their notion of the state not funding LRT capital or operating costs, this line and Bottineau could be sunk.
That being said funding for operating the line becomes the main issue (which might be better suited for the Minnesota Transportation Funding thread) but if I had one idea that might work is fallow Dallas' example of how they funded there light rail system and got it to grow into the biggest in the U.S. (93 miles) by having individual municipalities vote on whether or not to impose a 1 cent sales tax on themselves
See above. The problem is the legislature. The legislature has to approve such a tax, or approve a citywide referendum for such a tax and no way in hell that's going to happen with the current legislature. It's only marginally more likely with future legislatures. And then we could very well have a Republican governor...

There is no easy solution here. The tool we have is organizing. We have to put real pressure on political leaders.

Re: Southwest LRT (Green Line Extension)

Posted: May 2nd, 2017, 4:32 pm
by LRV Op Dude
This visualization shows the design of METRO Green Line Extension passenger stations at Louisiana Avenue and Wooddale Avenue in St. Louis Park
https://youtu.be/OmxCUvuF8ho


Re: Southwest LRT (Green Line Extension)

Posted: May 2nd, 2017, 8:01 pm
by Anondson
The MNGOP legislators trying an epic Hail Mary to cripple providing mass transit in the five counties of the current CTIB.

http://www.startribune.com/republican-t ... 421087333/

It would be impossible to fund SWLRT with local funds with this.

Re: Southwest LRT (Green Line Extension)

Posted: May 2nd, 2017, 10:10 pm
by VacantLuxuries
So is this legislation, or is it the patented GOP "If you won't let me win I'll just change the rules" play?

Re: Southwest LRT (Green Line Extension)

Posted: May 6th, 2017, 8:58 am
by Mooglemuffins
So is this legislation, or is it the patented GOP "If you won't let me win I'll just change the rules" play?
The GOP still does legislation? :lol:

Re: Southwest LRT (Green Line Extension)

Posted: May 6th, 2017, 4:29 pm
by TroyGBiv
Dayton will evoke this...

Re: Southwest LRT (Green Line Extension)

Posted: May 23rd, 2017, 9:25 pm
by kirby96
Trump budget will exclude funding for transit projects without 'full funding grant authority', which includes SWLRT.

I'm interested to hear the opinion of people that know more than I, but my first thought is this could be the bullet to the head. Not because I think Trump's budget will pass, but because in the back and forth that will inevitably happen, funding for 'future stuff' will take a far back seat to the urgent need to to simply save funding for existing stuff. It also seems to give ammo to state Republicans for their hard line stance.

Re: Southwest LRT (Green Line Extension)

Posted: May 24th, 2017, 11:46 am
by VacantLuxuries
There's no way we don't have a federal government shutdown over these bills, and the final budget will undoubtedly look more like the Senate bill than this. There are a lot of House Repubs sweating 2018 and no one in the Senate wants to risk their career over this bomb of a bill.

Besides, while SWLRT and transit are wedge issues in Minnesota, transit has been bipartisan in many states. There will be many Republicans nationwide who find this unacceptable.

Re: Southwest LRT (Green Line Extension)

Posted: May 31st, 2017, 7:40 am
by Tom H.
http://m.startribune.com/southwest-ligh ... ection=%2F

Bidding delayed again. Are the stated reasons (technical challenges, bidder extension requests) legitimate, or does anyone think these delays are at least partially due to funding uncertainties?

Re: Southwest LRT (Green Line Extension)

Posted: May 31st, 2017, 7:50 am
by talindsay
Certainly could be a stalling tactic for funding, but actually I kind of doubt it. They already have a good portion of the money sitting there, and it would advance their position if they awarded some bids. These types of bids are really difficult, and if the bidders are wanting more information before they bid, it can take some effort to work through.

Re: Southwest LRT (Green Line Extension)

Posted: May 31st, 2017, 3:19 pm
by dajazz
http://m.startribune.com/southwest-ligh ... ection=%2F

Bidding delayed again. Are the stated reasons (technical challenges, bidder extension requests) legitimate, or does anyone think these delays are at least partially due to funding uncertainties?
I can't speak to the specifics of this situation but I deal with large RFPs on a daily basis and it's quite common for the initial dates to get moved back, sometimes by several months. Oftentimes the specs need to be clarified, the scope can change as items/features are added or removed, key onsite meetings will be rescheduled, etc... If a vendor contacts me requesting an extension I'll ask for specifics, then I'll contact the other vendors to determine if their is an issue with the RFP/specs or if the one vendor is in over their head or didn't start reviewing the RFP until the last possible minute.

Re: Southwest LRT (Green Line Extension)

Posted: June 27th, 2017, 2:06 pm
by LRV Op Dude

Re: Southwest LRT (Green Line Extension)

Posted: June 28th, 2017, 7:21 pm
by Korh
did they change the plans for future development around the Shady oak station or did they just not render it (kinda fell out of the loop on t he SWLRT progress)

Southwest LRT (Green Line Extension)

Posted: June 28th, 2017, 11:55 pm
by Anondson
These renders don’t show any of the hoped-and-planned development because the hoped development is not part of the actual SWLRT project. If it any development happens it’s private developers bringing proposals to their cities. Rendering that kind of stuff in official SWLRT material could get the project office in trouble.

Re: Southwest LRT (Green Line Extension)

Posted: June 30th, 2017, 9:19 pm
by min-chi-cbus
Yet, isn't that one of the key arguments FOR the corridor (I mean, from the business side of things....selling the project)?

Re: Southwest LRT (Green Line Extension)

Posted: July 19th, 2017, 2:45 pm
by Tom H.
http://www.swnewsmedia.com/eden_prairie ... f11de.html

Apparently Eden Prairie managed to obtain a federal grant which could allow the EP Town Center station to be built and ready by the time the line opens. This was news to me - anybody else heard this?

Re: Southwest LRT (Green Line Extension)

Posted: July 19th, 2017, 3:04 pm
by David Greene
No, but that would be awesome. That station is one of the more racially and economically diverse on the line. Lots of immigrants live nearby.

Re: Southwest LRT (Green Line Extension)

Posted: July 19th, 2017, 5:04 pm
by MNdible
It always seemed like there was a plan in their back pocket to fund that station, so not at all surprised to hear this.