Even More Public Comments on Bottineau Line

Post and photo by the Hawthorne Hawkman.

On Tuesday, June 12, the Hennepin County Regional Railroad Authority held a meeting seeking public comments on the Bottineau LRT proposal.  There's about sixteen different local government bodies that will weigh in on the merits of various aspects of the Bottineau line, and that's probably an understated number.  The HCRRA is one such entity, which was created to plan, design, and implement light rail transit in Hennepin County.  The commission is expected to take action on a locally preferred route at their June 26 meeting, and is accepting public comments until the end of the business day on June 18th.

As part of the staff report, the committee was updated on previous north Minneapolis meetings about the two proposed routes.  The most recent public vote on D1 (through Theo Wirth Parkway and down Highway 55) and D2 (Penn and Broadway down to Highway 55) resulted in...

City Council Votes to Support Streetcar Study

Post by the Hawthorne Hawkman, photo from the MN DOT website.

In Mayor Rybak's recent state of the city address that focused primarily on north Minneapolis, he highlighted an amenity that has received much promotion on this blog:  Streetcars along the West Broadway corridor.  Specifically, Rybak announced city council support for an application for federal funding of a streetcar study.  This however, is such a wonkish move that many people either don't know about it, dismiss it out of hand, or believe that streetcars simply won't happen in today's hyper-partisan political environment.

And there is a part of me that tries to picture how this might have gone down..."Streetcars are vital to West Broadway's economic development, and I say we need to take IMMEDIATE action!  I therefore propose we take a non-binding voice vote in support of applying for funding for a feasibility study, with two other local partners as well, providing they support the application, so that we can then ask the federal government for funding that could potentially allow us to maybe keep on thinking about the issue."

On the other end of the spectrum, the Southwest Corridor LRT system is still bogged down in partisan bickering and concerns over a contractor that are actually quite valid.  It's easy to be the cynic and say either that the proposed action is so minimal it amounts to very little, or that even steps in the right direction will get stonewalled in today's political and economic climate.

I would contend that regardless of the current political landscape, this kind of a study is one of the required steps towards a streetcar line along West Broadway.  The study would help to demonstrate the economic benefits of streetcars; it would show how they might interact with other forms of transit on the northside such as LRT, BRT, bikes, pedestrians, and cars; and having two local partners in the Met Council and Hennepin County adds credence to the viability of this form of transit.

"Modern streetcars build vibrant streets.  We need that on West Broadway," said Rybak.

Northside Transit: All Aboard

Post and photos by the Hawthorne Hawkman.

The Northside Transportation Network held a meeting Thursday evening to discuss the next steps in planning both the Bottineau LRT line and forming a broader transit system for north Minneapolis.  Taking a larger view on transit options is a huge step forward.  Council Member Samuels previously said that choosing between the two light rail options was like having someone ask "Do you want to get passed by or run over?"  The D1 route through the park or D2 down Penn force a choice between whether our community is divided or simply ignored.  Neither choice is workable for successful transit-oriented development.

A city staffer was present to explain the Council's position, that they support D1 and expect to take another vote in May of this year.  Don Samuels added a motion that we examine the streetcar option as part of the transit development and LRT alignment.  Minneapolis really only has the capacity to make four LRT lines - the central corridor, Hiawatha, the southwest corridor, and Bottineau.  After that, we're done with LRT because there just isn't the space for it along other developable corridors.

But one advantage that streetcars have, as shown in the second photo, is that...

The 411 on How LRT Impacts Streetcars in NoMi

Post by the Hawthorne Hawkman, image from the city's Streetcar Final Report.

At last month's meeting to discuss possible LRT routes along Penn or Oliver as alternatives to the "D1" route that would go through Theo Wirth to Highway 55, I asked a very specific question of our moderators.  How would the various D2 options affect the proposed streetcar alignment along West Broadway?

After all, numerous streetcar corridors were proposed and only a few were approved.  The approval process was based on some rather objective criteria, such as cost and total ridership.  The streetcar route along West Broadway would go from downtown up Washington to Broadway, and then up to the Robbinsdale Transit Center.  If light rail comes down Broadway to Penn, then the proposed streetcar line would presumably stop at that intersection.  And if that were to happen, then the ridership on the streetcars could drop to a point where the Broadway alignment no longer qualifies.

Aside from the appropriate preservation of housing, my other main desire for LRT in or around NoMi is that we don't eliminate other viable transit network options.  So when I asked Bobby Joe Champion and Ray Dehn whether the D2 routes would affect streetcar proposals at all, and if so then how, their answer was...

Streetcars and Light Rail as Transit Options for NoMi

Post and photos by the Hawthorne Hawkman.

So the last post was, I admit, really not well-written.  Let's start from a little farther back in regards to northside transit options here.

Most folks may know the basics, but just to be sure:  "D1" refers to the route along the Bottineau transit corridor that would come from the northwest suburbs, down through Theo Wirth Park along existing rail lines, then connect with Highway 55 and head to downtown Minneapolis.  D1 has several advantages, in that it disrupts the least amount of housing, it doesn't cut off east/west streets, costs less, and does not take away parking.  The disadvantages would be that it does not have a connection to North Memorial, making jobs access more difficult, it wouldn't allow for as much economic development, and it would require a "feeder system" to bring residents to the light rail stops.  And people from outside of NoMi would be less likely to get onto that feeder system to come into our communities than if they got off on a light rail stop at Penn and Broadway.

"D2" refers to a variety of lines, D2a, D2b, D2c, D2d, and D2w, if I'm getting them all in.  Those options vary in terms of whether they go down either Penn or Oliver, and would need to take different amounts of housing/street right-of-way.  The purpose of the last meeting was to take a vote on which of the D2 alignments would be compared to D1.  The project is moving forward and the appropriate entities need to start doing cost and environmental/community impact comparisons.  In order to do that, they need to compare D1 with one of the D2 routes.

My notes are back in Minneapolis, so I guess this will have to be a three-part post when I return and write about which D2 route won out.  I personally favored D2w, as that would have disrupted the least amount of housing out of all D2 possibilities.  D1 still outdoes D2 in that regard.  Other D2 pros and cons are photographed above.

And although the conversations have been almost exclusively about light rail, I'm glad to see the Northside Transportation Network's website reference the northisde streetcar plan.  That's what I'll get into now...

Light Rail D1 or D2 is Discussed. What About Streetcars?

Post and photos by the Hawthorne Hawkman.


Part 1 of 2 light rail posts.

Last week, the Northside Transit Network hosted a community vote on various aspects of the light rail proposal for north Minneapolis.  I've stayed away from these meetings in the past because they haven't impacted me, and there's only so many such things one can go to.  But now that I live closer to the proposed lines and am looking at buying a house even closer still, I decided I'd better go and see what's been developing.

I started the meeting by finding Rep. Champion and saying the three words politicians almost never speak or hear:  I was wrong.  When the first meetings about light rail came about, I had strongly advocated for a rail system along Penn and Broadway.  I went further by criticizing Champion for not taking a stronger stance.  But the more I look at the proposals, the more I come to believe that the "D2" options do not really serve north Minneapolis well.  I haven't seen a proposal wherein every single aspect appeals to me, but D1 is looking better and better.

Why, you ask?  One word:  streetcars.

To be sure, NoMi doesn't benefit if light rail goes through Theo Wirth and along Highway 55, UNLESS we have a strong feeder system of other kinds of transit.  And a primary component of such a system would be streetcars along West Broadway.  The city of Minneapolis realized this several years ago, when they released a report that...