B Line Lake St Rapid Bus, Midtown Rail Transit

[alexschief]

Probably belongs in the fantasy category but wouldn't it work to having Midtown Rail Line enter a tunnel right after Cedar travel under Pioneers & Soldiers Cemetery the Hi Lake Shopping Center have an underground stop below the Blue Line then day light and stop on east side of Minnehaha? You would probably need to close 27th and tear down the building on that corner to make it work but it's currently boarded up according to Google Street View. Trains could reverse out of the station and head back to West Lake Station.

Plus it would set very well for an extension on to East Lake & to Marshall if the demand was ever there. Of course the downside is no interlining.

I've also come around to thinking that the ideal connection would be an underground station at East Lake. There are significant reliability challenges to interlining when we have a network that contains so many at-grade crossings and other potential sources of delay.

From a tunnel, you could then head north again, reconnect with the Midtown corridor, and potentially cross the river to serve either the University of parts of St. Paul. I think the options on either end still require a lot more study, but between West and East Lake, there are relatively few good options and they basically all require grade separation.

[seanrichardryan]

Next rip live signs are on and working for the current Rte 21!

[Tcmetro]

Haven't really thought about this until now, but the turns to/from Snelling to get between Marshall and Selby are likely going to be a big driver of delays on the B Line when it opens next month. Before the system restructure for the Blue Line opening in 2004, the 21 used Marshall to Fairview to Selby. The reroute to use Marshall all the way to Snelling made sense at the time to eliminate one set of turns, but without the Midway detour it would be more efficient to use Fairview.

Luckily, the stops at Fairview are west of the intersection, so a reroute would only require a new set of stops to be built on Selby at Snelling. It would require a short walk to the A Line stop at Dayton, which would be similar to the connections between the B and D at Chicago & Lake and the B and E at Hennepin & Lake. That being said, those transfers should be made better and consideration should be made for moving the A Line stops if the B Line is rerouted.

[daveybabymsp]

Haven't really thought about this until now, but the turns to/from Snelling to get between Marshall and Selby are likely going to be a big driver of delays on the B Line when it opens next month. Before the system restructure for the Blue Line opening in 2004, the 21 used Marshall to Fairview to Selby. The reroute to use Marshall all the way to Snelling made sense at the time to eliminate one set of turns, but without the Midway detour it would be more efficient to use Fairview.

Luckily, the stops at Fairview are west of the intersection, so a reroute would only require a new set of stops to be built on Selby at Snelling. It would require a short walk to the A Line stop at Dayton, which would be similar to the connections between the B and D at Chicago & Lake and the B and E at Hennepin & Lake. That being said, those transfers should be made better and consideration should be made for moving the A Line stops if the B Line is rerouted.

I think being able to share stations with the A line is a very nice convenience for transfers and just for having people at the station at all times. The left from snelling to Selby does usually get really backed up with people going to Ayd Mill. I wonder if they could give signal priority to the bus to extend the left turn arrow.