Green Line Extension - Southwest LRT

Roads - Rails - Sidewalks - Bikeways
fehler
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Re: Southwest LRT (Green Line Extension)

Postby fehler » March 13th, 2015, 10:07 am

Benches you can sit on, not just lean on.

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FISHMANPET
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Re: Southwest LRT (Green Line Extension)

Postby FISHMANPET » March 13th, 2015, 10:13 am

For that matter, some wood benches might be nice. I've got a long coat but I can't sit on a cold metal bench for more than a few seconds before my butt is cold, I feel like it would be better with a wood bench.

Right now we just got off the tail end of some cold weather so that's what mine and other's mind is on. But if I think about an enclosed heated space, that wouldn't really be desirable in the summer. In the summer I'd want something that's open and airy to let the breeze through to keep you cool. And shelters big enough to keep the rain off. I haven't dealt with the rain on the train much, but I did spend years waiting at a 3 sided bus shelter and that was usually miserable in the rain. I'm not sure if the light rail shelters provide much more shelter than that.

mulad
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Re: Southwest LRT (Green Line Extension)

Postby mulad » March 13th, 2015, 10:50 am

Yeah, wood, fiberglass, or some other sort of plastic/composite would be best in my book. Metal always feels too hot or too cold. Stone benches can be really bad too, partly since they often have huge mass to store heat/"cold". Concrete is slightly less bad than stone, but often has a rough surface (the result depends on the concrete mix, and how well it is finished/maintained, though).

I've been wishing someone would come up with a good design that acknowledges that we have varying seasons. On a hot day, you really want to be out of the sun, but may want a breeze. In the winter, you might want the opposite -- an enclosed space that gets warmed by sunlight (maybe solar heating panels could be used for this?). In my experience, I really don't get caught out in the rain very often. The proper balance of shelter from the wind and sun is more important for me personally.

xandrex
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Re: Southwest LRT (Green Line Extension)

Postby xandrex » March 13th, 2015, 11:03 am

Benches you can sit on, not just lean on.
I noticed a few of these on at least a few platforms along the Green Line. I was kind of surprised, since I thought all they had were the leaning benches.

No doubt some of this is to prevent people from sleeping on them (and bench hogs that like to sprawl all their stuff across the empty space if they can), but you'd think there'd be better ways to prevent that while also providing a bench. Arm rests? A narrow bench like a lot of bus stops seem to have?

mulad
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Re: Southwest LRT (Green Line Extension)

Postby mulad » March 13th, 2015, 11:09 am

Yeah, it's one of the more baffling design choices. I think all of the stations have 1-2 regular seats, but it takes a moment to find them. I don't see what the problem is with just using regular seats with armrests between to discourage people from sleeping on them.

(Also, we need free housing for the homeless.)

MNdible
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Re: Southwest LRT (Green Line Extension)

Postby MNdible » March 13th, 2015, 12:43 pm

I've heard anecdotally that the leaning seats has something to do with accessibility guidelines. That probably isn't the full story, but may be part of it.

Aville_37
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Re: Southwest LRT (Green Line Extension)

Postby Aville_37 » March 15th, 2015, 10:25 am

Agree on stations with better protection from the elements. Real time schedules are a must. Also - put the swipe card stations at the entrance to the stations, and more than just one/two as there can be lines that form.

Silophant
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Re: Southwest LRT (Green Line Extension)

Postby Silophant » March 15th, 2015, 1:59 pm

Agree on stations with better protection from the elements. Real time schedules are a must. Also - put the swipe card stations at the entrance to the stations, and more than just one/two as there can be lines that form.
-1, especially the last point. I realize that, until the extensions are built, that my use case of walking to DTE station from the east to catch a westbound train is an uncommon one, but it sucks to have to walk more than half the platform to get to a GoTo pedestal.
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Munch'n
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Re: Southwest LRT (Green Line Extension)

Postby Munch'n » March 17th, 2015, 4:35 pm

http://www.minneapolismn.gov/news/WCMS1P-138861

Southwest light-rail station design open house
5:30 –7:30 p.m. Thursday, April 2
7:30 –9:30 a.m. Wednesday, April 8
Dunwoody College of Technology
818 Dunwoody Blvd.
Meet me in Wells

twincitizen
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Re: Southwest LRT (Green Line Extension)

Postby twincitizen » March 18th, 2015, 2:27 pm

Hmm...

Hennepin County's SWLRT Community Works station area planning page for Louisiana still shows two options for a Louisiana North or Louisiana South.

Louisiana South is unequivocally the better station to build. Louisiana North would stay in line with the existing RR, which would basically put the station in a Sam's Club parking lot and have very little development opportunity at all. It would almost not be worth building.

Louisiana South would divert the line several hundred feet south of the existing ROW to get much closer to the hospital campus and also open up a lot of development opportunity.

I know that Louisiana South was favored at one point but was perhaps scuttled due to lack of funding. Is it possible that somehow this decision has not been made yet? How can that be?

mulad
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Re: Southwest LRT (Green Line Extension)

Postby mulad » March 18th, 2015, 3:14 pm

This station area overlaps with the space where the rail interchange between the Twin Cities & Western and CP's MN&S line would have gone, so I think the Kenilworth debacle needed to be settled before they figured out the right LRT station location at Louisiana.

Anondson
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Re: Southwest LRT (Green Line Extension)

Postby Anondson » March 18th, 2015, 3:43 pm

I was pretty sure the last I heard was that the south option was ditched. I like the north's street realignment more, but I favored the south location. At the open houses the south location overwhelmingly was more popular.

In more recent north area plans there was going to be surface parking in the lot between the power substation and the rail line, with a pedestrian tunnel to the station. This feature doesn't appear in this north area plan now. Huh.

froggie
Rice Park
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Re: Southwest LRT (Green Line Extension)

Postby froggie » March 19th, 2015, 6:59 am

It should be noted that the preliminary engineering plan for Louisiana (dated September, 2014), shows the North location.

seanrichardryan
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Re: Southwest LRT (Green Line Extension)

Postby seanrichardryan » March 31st, 2015, 9:53 am

'Opus Woods Conservation Association' sues Met Council over SWLRT design in Minnetonka

http://www.startribune.com/local/west/298155301.html
Q. What, what? A. In da butt.

acs
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Re: Southwest LRT (Green Line Extension)

Postby acs » March 31st, 2015, 10:03 am

Can I sue the Met Council over this line too?

RailBaronYarr
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Re: Southwest LRT (Green Line Extension)

Postby RailBaronYarr » March 31st, 2015, 11:33 am

Isn't this the group that wanted the line moved to preserve their view/mitigate noise (but also putting it above wetlands) and also a new station to give better access? Why even give the pretense that this is about the impact "on the woods, parks and a public trail in the west metro suburb"? This is all because the line would come within 100' of the apartment.

Fun note. 16% of the residents in this immediate area work in Minneapolis, the #1 destination. I'd bet close to 100% of them drive in and have no problems ruining the "sanctity" of special places various freeways/roads cross.

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Tiller
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Re: Southwest LRT (Green Line Extension)

Postby Tiller » March 31st, 2015, 6:33 pm

'Opus Woods Conservation Association' sues Met Council over SWLRT design in Minnetonka

http://www.startribune.com/local/west/298155301.html
“If the rail line is built as planned, we will lose the beauty and peacefulness that this setting offers to all families who live here,”
Welp, game over. There's no winning against someone as authoritative as a professional dog walker. :lol:

Rich
Rice Park
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Re: Southwest LRT (Green Line Extension)

Postby Rich » April 1st, 2015, 10:27 am

I wonder if the “residents” are really just the owner, Jerry Kavan, and a few folks he recruited so that he could say the suit was brought by “residents” and not he alone. The guy bought the property 10 years ago and poured millions into it, assuming the wooded backyard would remain a selling point. Suddenly the woods will be replaced by a railroad and an industrial park, and now he’s in a panic.

David Greene
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Re: Southwest LRT (Green Line Extension)

Postby David Greene » April 1st, 2015, 10:43 am

Good CAC meeting last night. A representative from the disability community came to have a discussion about station design. This gave me an opening to harp on the West Lake station again. Why are we requiring people to walk up a steeply-inclined bridge only to take an elevator down to the platform? For people coming from Whole Foods or the strip mall north of Lake, just build a damn sidewalk at grade over to the platform! Ditto on the other side of the tracks (which, to be fair, has the additional challenge of freight trackage).

I honestly don't see why we need elevators at all because there is no other way to get to the top of the bridge other than to walk from a point where an at-grade sidewalk would get you there more easily and more quickly. I talked to Jim Alexander about this but he was pretty stuck in "because budget" mode. Sidewalks would require easements or acquisitions and he's afraid of those costs. But how much cost savings would come from eliminating an elevator?

mattaudio
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Re: Southwest LRT (Green Line Extension)

Postby mattaudio » April 1st, 2015, 10:47 am

There are plenty of places around the country where pedestrians accessing rail transit have the option to cross freight tracks at grade. I hope that's still under consideration at West Lake.


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