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Re: Blue Line (Hiawatha LRT)

Posted: June 1st, 2018, 9:10 am
by amiller92
More than just proximity to the Blue Line, they didn't carry Interior 3 very far north from the A Line.

But now that I'm looking, 34th Ave north of 46th Street is both near the Blue Line and served by the 46 and could probably get corridor treatment too.

The area around the 38th Street station seems okay to me, in part because 38th doesn't carry as much or as important bus traffic as 46th. Also because north of 38th is the "Interior 2 everywhere" area.

Re: Blue Line (Hiawatha LRT)

Posted: June 26th, 2018, 4:31 pm
by DanPatchToget
Happy 14th birthday to the Blue Line/Hiawatha Line!

Was anyone else there for the first day? I was lucky enough to get a seat at the front on my first ride.

Re: Blue Line (Hiawatha LRT)

Posted: June 26th, 2018, 5:19 pm
by twincitizen
Last night at the Mpls2040 meeting, fishmanpet pointed out how much Interior 1/2 is planned immediately to the west of Blue Line LRT stations. It seems crazy to have Interior 1/2 designations within three or four blocks of stations such as 38th, 46th, and 50th. Go to minneapolis2040.com and comment if you feel the same way.

Also, 34th Ave between 42nd-46th got overlooked as a bus route, and should be corridor 4, not interior 1. Route 46 runs on this stretch as it transitions between 42nd & 46th, but I guess they missed it. This change, plus filling in the 4400 block of 35th Ave with Corridor 6, would be a big improvement at 46th Street Station. Send your comments by the deadline and copy CM Johnson

Re: Blue Line (Hiawatha LRT)

Posted: June 26th, 2018, 6:25 pm
by mattaudio
Don't tell them that they proposed Corridor 4 for the segment of 50th St between 28th and 34th avenues which has zero transit.

Re: Blue Line (Hiawatha LRT)

Posted: January 30th, 2019, 9:42 am
by dajazz
Portion of the track cracked this morning likely due to the cold weather:

http://www.startribune.com/cracked-trac ... 505073132/

Re: Blue Line (Hiawatha LRT)

Posted: February 15th, 2019, 7:00 am
by Qhaberl
I have been paying close attention to the development around Bloomington Central station and American Blvd., Station; does anyone know where I can find, or would be able to find for me, information regarding average daily boarding is at these stations?

They just started construction on the second development just south of the first one, west of American Boulevard station. I’m curious if boarding is at the stations have increased since people started moving into the completed development.


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Re: Blue Line (Hiawatha LRT)

Posted: February 15th, 2019, 9:10 am
by alexschief
28th Avenue Station is the 53rd most popular station that Metro Transit serves. Park and Ride!

Average Daily Rides (Q3):
2017 - 919
2016 - 958
2015 - 984
2014 - 1065


American Blvd Station is the 207th most popular station that Metro Transit serves.

Average Daily Rides (Q3):
2017 - 256
2016 - 249
2015 - 259
2014 - 195


Bloomington Central Station is the 245th most popular station that Metro Transit serves.

Average Daily Rides (Q3):
2017 - 220
2016 - 228
2015 - 203
2014 - 201

The planning that justified these three stations was B-A-D.

Re: Blue Line (Hiawatha LRT)

Posted: February 15th, 2019, 9:39 am
by Silophant
Interesting that American Boulevard is actually more popular than Bloomington Central. Maybe we can eventually have a conversation about closing the latter, though it'll probably have to wait until after we've managed to take the baby step of closing the original Target Field platform outside of events.

Also interesting to see the Park and Ride usage declining, even as total Blue Line ridership goes up. (Though I'm sure it spiked up in 2018 when 35W closed down).

Re: Blue Line (Hiawatha LRT)

Posted: February 15th, 2019, 10:38 am
by tmart
The Mall has always had the official stance that commuters cannot use their massive parking garage and should instead go to 28th. I assume the station was a demand or bargaining chip in dealing with the Mall folks. (This is, of course, dumb; reusing the staggering amount of parking at the Mall would have been far more sensible.)

The numbers comparing BCS and American are so terribly low that I don't think there's any real significance to which one has more passengers. The point is that they're basically stations serving one or two buildings each. Given their proximity we could flip a coin to pick which one to kill.

The bigger question, IMO, is why Bloomington has failed to create anything of value around those stations in the 15 years since they opened. Why do they think seas of surface parking, a single-use condo building, two hotels, and half a dozen office buildings are an effective use of the assets that the state gifted them in the form of two LRT stations? Why, a decade and a half later, are there no services, no street life, hardly any residences, not even street-facing entrances on most of the office parks and hotels they do have adjacent to the stations?

Re: Blue Line (Hiawatha LRT)

Posted: February 15th, 2019, 10:43 am
by Tcmetro
The original plan for the area was high-rise office (high-rise meaning the height limit for airplanes to land) but the suburban office market has not been doing so well since the recession in 2008. They have slowly been changing the plans to residential and hotel, but there is probably an excess of land for development to be realized in the short term.

Re: Blue Line (Hiawatha LRT)

Posted: February 15th, 2019, 10:47 am
by mattaudio
Also, the massive 28th Ave Station parking garage was *NOT* built with the original Blue Line. It was originally a smaller surface lot. The garage was built about five years later.

Re: Blue Line (Hiawatha LRT)

Posted: February 15th, 2019, 10:50 am
by NickP
The American Blvd station was also built after the original blue line opened.

Re: Blue Line (Hiawatha LRT)

Posted: February 15th, 2019, 10:55 am
by tmart
The original plan was bad and the new plan is bad. Of course a district made up strictly of high-rise office is not economically resilient. But why pivot to residential if you have no plans to actually create neighborhoods? Who wants to live in a condo in the HealthPartners parking lot? Do they really not see why offering the Mall of America as the only retail services in the district is not actually conducive to people living and walking to and around these stations?

Re: Blue Line (Hiawatha LRT)

Posted: February 15th, 2019, 11:27 am
by mattaudio
True, and I've long wondered if money spent on infill stations at 26th St or 42nd St would provide far more ROI.

Re: Blue Line (Hiawatha LRT)

Posted: February 16th, 2019, 3:36 pm
by Oreos&Milk
The original plan was bad and the new plan is bad. Of course a district made up strictly of high-rise office is not economically resilient. But why pivot to residential if you have no plans to actually create neighborhoods? Who wants to live in a condo in the HealthPartners parking lot? Do they really not see why offering the Mall of America as the only retail services in the district is not actually conducive to people living and walking to and around these stations?
um... there is a subway in the 28th Ave parking ramp ya know. Oh and I think a few other food places near there and a credit union too. Oh and a Snap Fitness that says it's open to the public but a bit tricky to get to unless ya know where it's at since it's across from the skyway in a parking ramp I think..

Plus maybe there is a vending machine or two somewhere too.. eh.. so not the ONLY retail option being MOA. Just saying..

Re: Blue Line (Hiawatha LRT)

Posted: February 16th, 2019, 11:53 pm
by LRV Op Dude
um... there is a subway in the 28th Ave parking ramp ya know. Oh and I think a few other food places near there and a credit union too. Oh and a Snap Fitness that says it's open to the public but a bit tricky to get to unless ya know where it's at since it's across from the skyway in a parking ramp I think..

Plus maybe there is a vending machine or two somewhere too.. eh.. so not the ONLY retail option being MOA. Just saying..
I think the Subway at 28th Ave Park & Ride is closed.

Re: Blue Line (Hiawatha LRT)

Posted: February 17th, 2019, 10:30 am
by DanPatchToget
Doesn't show up on Google Maps so it looks like it's closed. It would be nice if they used the space for a little convenience store.

Re: Blue Line (Hiawatha LRT)

Posted: February 17th, 2019, 2:18 pm
by Oreos&Milk
what? no way! I know they had weird hours but it was really neat to go there and eat a sub and watch the trains go by and the airplanes land overhead. Was such a neat spot to have lunch, even if the food was just Subway. I hope they have a little fast casual restaurant there. It's a nice location to meet people when they come into town via the airport.

Being that the new MOA station has a retail shop, I wonder if that franchise owner wanted that spot instead, or if he just closed up shop entirely. Would be a nice spot for outside seating (with tables) Likely it was tough given the low foot traffic, but still it's a nice spot.

Who wants to loan me 100K? I'll open up a nice off-name chipotle, with a mini coffee bar! Thow up some pattio seating, and outside smooth jazz for background noise... and give it a unique site specific name like "28 Burrito Bar" or "28th Burrito Station" in blue font ...it be like a hot dog stand on steroids! :ugeek: eh?

Re: Blue Line (Hiawatha LRT)

Posted: February 18th, 2019, 7:34 am
by Qhaberl
I didn’t know the new transit station had a retail spot in it, that’s awesome!


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Re: Blue Line (Hiawatha LRT)

Posted: February 18th, 2019, 8:52 am
by Rube Dali
what? no way! I know they had weird hours but it was really neat to go there and eat a sub and watch the trains go by and the airplanes land overhead. Was such a neat spot to have lunch, even if the food was just Subway. I hope they have a little fast casual restaurant there. It's a nice location to meet people when they come into town via the airport.

Being that the new MOA station has a retail shop, I wonder if that franchise owner wanted that spot instead, or if he just closed up shop entirely. Would be a nice spot for outside seating (with tables) Likely it was tough given the low foot traffic, but still it's a nice spot.

Who wants to loan me 100K? I'll open up a nice off-name chipotle, with a mini coffee bar! Thow up some pattio seating, and outside smooth jazz for background noise... and give it a unique site specific name like "28 Burrito Bar" or "28th Burrito Station" in blue font ...it be like a hot dog stand on steroids! :ugeek: eh?
I'm wondering if the new transit station is also the reason the Subway inside MOA closed as well. Figure the franchise owner decided to consolidate the two locations into one.