urbanMSP

Metro Transit has launched B and E Line pages.

The E Line will be studied for University/4th and "south of Lake St" extensions this year also.

https://www.metrotransit.org/b-line-project

https://www.metrotransit.org/e-line-project

I’m torn between running the E line through the “Linden Hills village”, vs running the extension from the West Lake Station down France Ave.

I think that Xerxes lends itself to being more suitable for BRT than France. France has the retail node at 50th, but is generally less dense.

Counterpoint: This line should run as essentially "express" between West Lake Station and Southdale. Only stop at 44th and 50th.

Linden Hills Village is not a particularly important driver of transit use, and can be served by the regular 6 just fine.

Maybe so. It feels like an opportunity to connect the seeming dense transit oriented node of the West Lake Station area that is in our near future to Southdale by running past Ellipse, 44th, and 50th.

More selfishly, though I don’t know what kind of demand there even is for it, but I’ve looked at taking transit from Hopkins to Southdale. Right now it’s pretty much gross. My fantasy-urbanism brain fantasizes about SWLRT to West Lake then BRT down France. Won’t ever be as fast as driving across Edina side streets, and maybe the demand would never be there.

It's a bit disheartening that the time from conception to shovels in the ground doesn't seem to scale down for these projects in the way that the cost does. Given that it's mostly a change to routing/stops and construction is limited to shelters, it's hard IMO to justify the 10 years between the 2012 study and the 2022 planned groundbreaking for the E line. Even the 3 year planning cycle specific to the E line strikes me as excessive.

These are basically just optimized bus service. They're a great investment and service, but it feels like we should be able to roll these things out as immediate aid for our underdeveloped transit network, and not treat them like they're friggin' SWLRT.

Well I'm really excited that we're getting a study of 4th and University. That's all I can say. This area is so underserved for the density and lack of car dependency.

A large part of the extended planning period for the E Line is that they're coordinating the station builds with already planned street reconstructions to minimize costs and disruptions. As I understand it, the line will start running pretty much immediately after the Lake-Douglas reconstruction wraps up.

E line is our first real chance for a line with majority floating bus stops!

Until if/when Midtown LRT is built, the E Line should operate to West Lake. May not be as great as Southwest LRT through Uptown, but it would be a convenient bridge between West Lake and Uptown.

Until if/when Midtown LRT is built, the E Line should operate to West Lake. May not be as great as Southwest LRT through Uptown, but it would be a convenient bridge between West Lake and Uptown.

And if neither line is built, we get an E Line that can be extended down Excelsior and a B Line on Lake. It would be something at least.

Until if/when Midtown LRT is built, the E Line should operate to West Lake. May not be as great as Southwest LRT through Uptown, but it would be a convenient bridge between West Lake and Uptown.

Meh, the B Line will already do that. Having the E Line will double the frequency, sure, but I'd much prefer Rapid Bus service to points south over that extra frequency.

It could still go south on France, but not on the current Route 6 alignment through Bde Mka Ska and Lake Harriet.

This discussion about the routing of aBRT, such as the E Line, begs the question:

When do we start looking at smaller, electric, self-driving buses as the “last mile” that pick up people in neighborhoods, such as Linden Hills, and deliver them to aBRT on major routes such as Excelsior Blvd. and France Ave.?

Did anyone take a ride on the Hennepin County self-driving bus over the weekend? It seems like it could be really useful for the last mile problem.

https://www.hennepin.us/av-demo

In terms of E Line stops, yes 44th & France and 50th & France are must-haves.

But I think so is 54th & France (the old terminus of the streetcar system), which has some commercial development, and 62nd & France, which would serve east of France and allow a quick walk to Wooddale & Valley View neighborhood hub.

If E line goes France, and if a stop at 62nd is in the cards, I’d like Edina to consider allowing that string of duplexes on France right there be upzoned to allow more than duplexes.

Are we all in agreement that whatever alignment is chosen, an E line extension should serve Southdale?

Yeah, the E-Line obviously needs to end in Southdale. That's a must. As for the France vs Xerxes debate, I think France is the obvious choice. There are activity nodes at 44th, 50th, and 54th. The only node on Xerxes is not even on Xerxes, at 44th and Upton.

While we're talking about aBRT extensions, I'm disappointed that Metro Transit isn't studying extending the B-Line further along Selby to downtown St. Paul. It should be a like-for-like replacement with the 21.

Are we all in agreement that whatever alignment is chosen, an E line extension should serve Southdale?

What with all the density that’s developing in the Southdale area, that would be a Yes.

If E line goes France, and if a stop at 62nd is in the cards, I’d like Edina to consider allowing that string of duplexes on France right there be upzoned to allow more than duplexes.

That’s a good question. Those duplexes seem to comprise a “lost neighborhood”, that doesn’t neatly fit into the half-dozen neighborhood nodes Edina has defined. It’s in between Southdale and the Wooddale-Valley View nodes.

If a cap (not another cap!) were built over 62 between France & Xerxes, connecting Southdale with Strachauer Park, would that tie in the lost neighborhood of duplexes? Is that a natural area for a bump in density?

Edit:

There are also the duplexes on Valley View itself, north of 62. Not technically part of Southdale or Wooddale-Valley View.