urbanMSP

In my experiences, European High Speed trains are built on new tracks and the existing tracks remain to serve local stations. I'm sure there are some exceptions, but generally high speed railways do not share tracks with slower trains. Assuming the high speed and the local routes need to be separate...

http://www.startribune.com/local/south/289245901.html Why on earth would a 168 MPH train stop in Pine Island? It's idiotic political posturing like this that makes riding on Amtrak awful. There's nothing like stopping for 10 minutes in Portage, Columbus and Tomah and watching no one enter or exit t...

Southwest Transit is running a double-decker bus today. What's the story behind this? Is it going to be a regular route bus from now on?

Considering the 5 runs on both sides of the city, and the distribution of riders is relatively even between the two, it would seem that Nicollet is the dominant corridor south of downtown. Chicago has really low usage south of 38th St. Buses make very few stops (especially off peak) between 38th an...

Could the BNSF Wayzata Subdivision branch be accomplished without elevated structures, pedestrian vertical circulation and bridge reconstruction at Cedar Lake Parkway and Highway 100? If so the extension should be a no-brainer. I think this is trying to accommodate too much into one corridor. How a...

Regarding a 1 track extension to West End, I think that would work perfectly, and would be all that is needed there. Princeton, New Jersey has a similar spur to get from the Princeton Junction stop on the Amtrak line into campus. Works like a dream. And the trip is short enough where only 1 car on ...

Regarding a 1 track extension to West End, I think that would work perfectly, and would be all that is needed there. Princeton, New Jersey has a similar spur to get from the Princeton Junction stop on the Amtrak line into campus. Works like a dream. And the trip is short enough where only 1 car on ...

The B-line might be dead in the water. The Metro Transit site now has C-Line documents on the webpage and still nothing for the B-line. http://www.metrotransit.org/arterial-study http://www.metrotransit.org/Data/Sites/1/media/about/improvements/2014-05-13-general-abrt-fact-sheet_penn.pdf Nice job St...

ultra low-density mhm. Eden Prairie is roughly half as dense as Houston. Houston!!! You just compared a major city of 2 million plus to a suburb of about 55,000 who has a wonderful amount of parks and conservation areas which take up where density I guess could be.. To bad the point of this rail in...

Very good points - I love the letter-naming convention, but it would be better if they chose meaningful letters. C-line for Chicago, P-line for Penn, S-line for Snelling (M for Midway maybe?), F-line for Fort Road. Obviously, they would have to compromise on some, but the order of implementation wil...

If St Paul is opposed,maybe we should skip this one and move forward with Penn and Chicago. I'm sure 5 & 19 riders would love the improvement.

Is anyone surprised that St. Paul politics are creating the delays? We're talking about a city that has been turning down or devaluing infrastructure improvements for 40 years; look at 35E. Last year, they even stopped a cupcake shop from opening in an existing retail vacancy due to parking concerns...

Of course, Metro Transit could always move around some service hours and start running a no-frills limited stop service (i.e. Route 54) in ~6 months time. Frankly, I think they should be doing that anyways. It's insane that we don't have limited stop service overlaid on Nicollet (18) and Chicago (5...

...and substandard rapid transit options to avoid congestion.

The westside has 5 stories and the eastside has 6 and it's almost impossible to notice unless it's pointed out. Well, I'll be... you're right! I never would have guessed and can only tell by counting. Do you know the history of that building? Was it done in two phases? I'd love to see what it's lik...

Thresher Square might be the greatest building in either city because it is magical. The westside has 5 stories and the eastside has 6 and it's almost impossible to notice unless it's pointed out. Magic! The renovation of the neighboring building should create a 7 story building that continues the e...

Marq2 & 35W are already over capacity. The 535 is already ridiculously unreliable during evening rush due to congestion on both. It's nice watching traffic get gridlocked at Marquette and 9th while the police office ensures drivers can exit the Young and Quinlan Ramp. Unfortunately, there aren't...

Here's the rundown of MetroTransit's choice of the Knox Ave. underpass with 2 stations rather than 1 on-line station at American Blvd: http://www.metrotransit.org/Data/Sites/1/media/metro-orange-line/2013-11-18-knox-avenue-handout-for-city-councils.pdf Ultimately, if they built the American Blvd. st...

And not at Franklin or 36th? The original plans have 38th Street as 'future on-line station', which seems to make more sense than 36th (crosstown bus, equal spacing between Lake and 46th). I have never seen Franklin in any plans. I suspect engineering an on-line station at Franklin on 35W would be ...

As wasteful and silly as the shallow tunnels might be, it isn't in the City's best interest to kill the project. If I had Mayor Hodges ear, I would recommend her to offer approval in exchange for some pro-City infrastructure, perhaps a guarantee that the Midtown line would open be prioritized and op...