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Re: Zip Rail to Rochester

Posted: August 19th, 2014, 1:00 pm
by bubzki2
We absolutely can't subsidize trains, but we sure can subsidize highway 52.

Re: Zip Rail to Rochester

Posted: August 19th, 2014, 7:38 pm
by ProspectPete
What a Scott Walker wanna be. His initial claim to fame was this tweet which he then retracted:

"Let's be honest, 70% of teams in NBA could fold tomorrow + nobody would notice a difference w/ possible exception of increase in streetcrime."

Dooooah!

Re: Zip Rail to Rochester

Posted: September 19th, 2014, 1:37 pm
by mulad
MnDOT is citing a large number of public comments for delaying the completion of the Final Scoping Decision document until November 15th.

http://www.dot.state.mn.us/newsrels/14/ ... prail.html

Re: Zip Rail to Rochester

Posted: September 19th, 2014, 1:40 pm
by bubzki2
MnDOT is citing a large number of public comments for delaying the completion of the Final Scoping Decision document until November 15th.

http://www.dot.state.mn.us/newsrels/14/ ... prail.html
Somehow I doubt the "large number" of public comments are mostly positive. Some of the towns along the way are not going to go without a fight on this project.

Re: Zip Rail to Rochester

Posted: September 19th, 2014, 3:56 pm
by mattaudio
There were people at the meetings I attended who literally thought this would cut off any way to get from one side of the line to the other between Dodge Center and Hampton.

Re: Zip Rail to Rochester

Posted: January 10th, 2015, 1:04 pm
by acs
This is why we can't have nice things...

http://finance-commerce.com/2015/01/leg ... -zip-rail/

Re: Zip Rail to Rochester

Posted: January 10th, 2015, 2:41 pm
by seanrichardryan
Choo-choo boondoggle moar roads hooray!

Re: Zip Rail to Rochester

Posted: January 10th, 2015, 4:25 pm
by EOst
I'm not surprised that there are people pushing for this, but does it have any chance of passing (especially getting past the Senate and Dayton)?

Re: Zip Rail to Rochester

Posted: January 10th, 2015, 4:54 pm
by phop
After the destination medical center wrangling, I can't imagine Dayton or the Senate torpedoing a complimentary high-speed rail service.

Re: Zip Rail to Rochester

Posted: January 10th, 2015, 11:53 pm
by xandrex
I'm honestly surprised this isn't a bill aimed at stopping the NLX project rather than Zip Rail. Over Christmas, I got into quite the debate with my dad about the purpose of intercity rail and he was very adamant about how NLX was being foisted upon people by politicians of a certain party (if you can't guess, he's got a bit of an ideology...haha).

Re: Zip Rail to Rochester

Posted: January 20th, 2015, 9:05 am
by mulad
The Final Scoping Decision Document has been released, along with a couple of large appendices. The files are here, with today's date: http://goziprail.org/info_center/

Re: Zip Rail to Rochester

Posted: January 20th, 2015, 9:16 am
by Silophant
Man, the FHWA is really not a fan of this project. Understandably, I suppose.

Re: Zip Rail to Rochester

Posted: January 20th, 2015, 9:45 am
by RailBaronYarr
On the last page of the document, they explicitly state:
This project is not a connected action related to the Twin Cities to Chicago HighSpeed Rail project. The Chicago-Milwaukee-Twin Cities Passenger Rail Corridor Project is a wholly separate project.
I guess I understand the reasoning there, given the complete uncertainty of MSP-CHI HSR, but it sure would seem odd to plan this without any consideration for it.

Re: Zip Rail to Rochester

Posted: January 20th, 2015, 9:49 am
by mattaudio
True, but the current MSP-CHI "HSR" is 110 MPH on the River Route. So while I don't think they're planning MSP-RST as an explicit component of MSP-CHI, I don't think anyone sees it as out of the question in the long term. Future MSP-CHI just can't be used to justify it, which is a shame.

Re: Zip Rail to Rochester

Posted: January 20th, 2015, 10:13 am
by grant1simons2
These comments in Appendix B are entertaining. At least there's a page of mostly support due to people from the Twin Cities and Rochester commenting. :lol:

Re: Zip Rail to Rochester

Posted: January 20th, 2015, 10:26 am
by mattaudio
If anyone was looking to update their press distribution list... check out Appendix A.

Re: Zip Rail to Rochester

Posted: January 20th, 2015, 10:29 am
by FISHMANPET
I don't see streets.mn anywhere on that email blast list...

Re: Zip Rail to Rochester

Posted: January 20th, 2015, 10:37 am
by Silophant
I am a huge supporter of Pine Island's request for a Light Rail stop for their bio-business park.

Re: Zip Rail to Rochester

Posted: January 20th, 2015, 10:40 am
by acs
Judging by the tone of the report, I'd say they are leaning towards the Union Depot via Robert street route in the north and the "hybrid" route near US-52 in the south. Its likely the lowest cost with no new river crossings while maintaining the highest possible speed. The Eagan/airport shuttle station idea seems pretty stupid and inefficient. I am impressed they are still talking about true electrified HSR (they repeatedly mention 186 mph+ top speeds) along this stand-alone corridor, even though I think that's overkill. I still would have hoped they would at least give us some indication of what service speeds they were considering for the corridor.

Re: Zip Rail to Rochester

Posted: January 20th, 2015, 10:50 am
by mattaudio
Biggest takeaway? While cursive may be all but dead in the Twin Cities and Rochester, it's alive and well in and around Kenyon.