Blue Line Extension - Bottineau LRT

[thespeedmccool]

One caveat: when Republicans last had a trifecta and a chance to cut transit funding, they had a lot more suburban and urban members. They're almost 100% rural now, so very few of their constituents will care if transit funding gets cut.

I tend to agree that transit funding is probably safe, but I wouldn't underestimate how extreme this new trifecta could be either.

[BikesOnFilm]

That might matter less than you think. Rural constituents are more likely to be defensive of Amtrak, and the Met Council has been proud of pointing out that the Southwest Light Rail hired contractors from almost every one of Minnesota's counties.

And there's also the vast difference between how legislators behave behind closed doors making sausage and how they behave when they're fishing for airtime on CSPAN and Fox News.

[uptownbro]

Assuming this stays on the current timeline im not worried about it. If it gets delayed I would be more worried. Musk and co are a blue ribbon committee that congress and Trump will use for PR and likely ignore when real legislation is made. They also will have the weakest house majority in a very long time. All it will take is a small number of house member from PA or NY to tank any massive cuts.
The bigger issue will be any major project after this.

[Bakken2016]

https://metrocouncil.org/Transportation ... ation.aspx

Metro Transit is looking at doing early construction related to the Blue Line Extension at Target Field Station in 2026 to prevent impacts to revenue operations of the Green Line Extension.

[BigIdeasGuy]

I'm usually the guy who rips public bodies for not thinking and planning 3 steps ahead on stuff like this so when they do it plan and design ahead to prevent future problems I will give them the credit they deserve.

Getting this done would be a great move by the Council I hope they get it done in time

[COLSLAW5]

I have been watching the construction on this bridge and screaming to myself that they should just be doing all the work for blue line so its good to see someone else thinking ahead

[COLSLAW5]

Also just noticed that they are now showing a two way bike lane on 6th ave into the north loop that was not there in municipal consent plans

[twincitizen]

I have been watching the construction on this bridge and screaming to myself that they should just be doing all the work for blue line so its good to see someone else thinking ahead

Yeah I would think they could have added this work onto the change orders for Southwest, given how large the contingency budgets are for these projects. It would seem germane to the project since it will prevent disruptions for southwest after it opens.

[Bakken2016]

I have been watching the construction on this bridge and screaming to myself that they should just be doing all the work for blue line so its good to see someone else thinking ahead

Yeah I would think they could have added this work onto the change orders for Southwest, given how large the contingency budgets are for these projects. It would seem germane to the project since it will prevent disruptions for southwest after it opens.

The Powerpoint says they are looking into change orders for SWLRT as an option.

[twincitizen]

This update is a couple months old now, but they chose a new design for Lowry Station: https://metrocouncil.org/News-Events/Tr ... ation.aspx

The new design not only avoids any at-grade crossings of tracks and streets, it also completely disconnects the parkway from Lowry/Oakdale. On paper this seems like a pretty ingenious solution, though I don't know the area well enough to gauge the impacts to local traffic patterns. Any vehicles wanting to enter/exit the parkway would need to do so away from this area, with the nearest parkway intersection being at 29th/Parkview. Seems like a big win from MPRB's perspective, and really simplifies the intersections even if it causes some traffic diversion onto quieter side streets.

The only concern I see with this design is that seems to hide the station a little too well between the two road bridges. Maybe not the best design as far as public safety / "eyes on the platform", but really good on all other fronts. I suspect this design will stick.

[Nick]

Pretty sure those are screenshots from Cities: Skylines.

[Silophant]

Heartbreaking setback for the Minneapolis Parking and Recreation Board, but it looks like a huge improvement for non-car users of the parkway.

[kdo5581]

Big fan of the new design but why are these pictures so tiny lol

[BigIdeasGuy]

This seems to be a winning design overall to me, hopefully they can do something to lower the visual impact of the bridges along with tossing some money at a really good connection directly into North Memorial

[zlkahn]

Big fan of the new design but why are these pictures so tiny lol

- https://metrocouncil.org/News-Events/Tr ... n-H-1.aspx
- https://metrocouncil.org/News-Events/Tr ... n-H-2.aspx
- https://metrocouncil.org/News-Events/Tr ... n-H-3.aspx
- https://metrocouncil.org/News-Events/Tr ... n-H-4.aspx
- https://metrocouncil.org/News-Events/Tr ... n-H-5.aspx
- https://metrocouncil.org/News-Events/Tr ... n-H-6.aspx
- https://metrocouncil.org/News-Events/Tr ... n-H-7.aspx

[kdo5581]

Big fan of the new design but why are these pictures so tiny lol

- https://metrocouncil.org/News-Events/Tr ... n-H-1.aspx
- https://metrocouncil.org/News-Events/Tr ... n-H-2.aspx
- https://metrocouncil.org/News-Events/Tr ... n-H-3.aspx
- https://metrocouncil.org/News-Events/Tr ... n-H-4.aspx
- https://metrocouncil.org/News-Events/Tr ... n-H-5.aspx
- https://metrocouncil.org/News-Events/Tr ... n-H-6.aspx
- https://metrocouncil.org/News-Events/Tr ... n-H-7.aspx

Lovely! Thanks!

[mattaudio]

Good thing Hennepin County rebuilt those bridges 3 years ago.

[BikesOnFilm]

If it gets a generational transit investment through the process before the reality star running the DOT cancels all the grant programs, I think we can stomach a bit of rework. Not ideal, but neither is sitting around waiting for the perfect solution that doesn't bother anyone while the clock is ticking.

[MNdible]

The only concern I see with this design is that seems to hide the station a little too well between the two road bridges. Maybe not the best design as far as public safety / "eyes on the platform", but really good on all other fronts. I suspect this design will stick.

Revisiting these images, this really seems like the biggest knock on the new design. The platform is so far removed from any street with visibility to the platform, I'd have to imagine sitting there alone waiting for a train would be pretty unnerving.

[daveybabymsp]

The only concern I see with this design is that seems to hide the station a little too well between the two road bridges. Maybe not the best design as far as public safety / "eyes on the platform", but really good on all other fronts. I suspect this design will stick.

Revisiting these images, this really seems like the biggest knock on the new design. The platform is so far removed from any street with visibility to the platform, I'd have to imagine sitting there alone waiting for a train would be pretty unnerving.

I mean, you could say the same about a subway station. Not to say that there can’t/won’t be safety issues at this station.