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Re: Southwest LRT

Posted: July 3rd, 2012, 7:09 am
by mplsjaromir
Southwest LRT Alignment (Google map view)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Li9jTCH_ ... ture=g-u-u

still don't understand why 21st. Street still exists but hey it might turn that area into a nice beach spot right off the LRT
There already is a cool beach there. I like it because it has almost no parking so suburbanites are not tempted to go.

Re: Southwest LRT

Posted: July 3rd, 2012, 9:19 am
by mplser
Southwest LRT Alignment (Google map view)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Li9jTCH_ ... ture=g-u-u

still don't understand why 21st. Street still exists but hey it might turn that area into a nice beach spot right off the LRT
There already is a cool beach there. I like it because it has almost no parking so suburbanites are not tempted to go.
Hidden beach has just had way too many people lately. I used to go there a few years ago before it was discovered by the hordes of people and it was just kind of the beach in the woods where those hippies hung out. (they still do, last time i checked, but it's just too crowded with other beachgoers now) I do think that there should be some kind of a corner store or ice cream shop or something down there if they build the light rail. I doubt the uptight neighbors would want that though.

Re: Southwest LRT

Posted: July 3rd, 2012, 10:17 am
by Nick
Southwest LRT Alignment (Google map view)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Li9jTCH_ ... ture=g-u-u

still don't understand why 21st. Street still exists but hey it might turn that area into a nice beach spot right off the LRT
There already is a cool beach there. I like it because it has almost no parking so suburbanites are not tempted to go.
Hidden beach has just had way too many people lately. I used to go there a few years ago before it was discovered by the hordes of people and it was just kind of the beach in the woods where those hippies hung out. (they still do, last time i checked, but it's just too crowded with other beachgoers now) I do think that there should be some kind of a corner store or ice cream shop or something down there if they build the light rail. I doubt the uptight neighbors would want that though.
"How can my children play in the street with an ICE CREAM shop on the corner?! They are LACTOSE INTOLERANT! This is like NAZI GERMANY!"

Re: Southwest LRT

Posted: July 3rd, 2012, 10:44 am
by MNdible
At least it's an ethos!

Re: Southwest LRT

Posted: July 3rd, 2012, 11:34 am
by trkaiser
Ha! That's great.

Re: Southwest LRT

Posted: July 10th, 2012, 7:33 pm
by Nick
Wasn't sure where exactly to post this thought, but I'm concerned that if St. Paul is trying to get $27 million in DEED money for the Lowertown stadium, and the Met Council is trying to get $14 million in DEED money for the Southwest Corridor, out of a total pot of $47 million, that probably spells trouble? During the Vikings stadium negotiations, it sort of seemed like St. Paul was going to get that $27 million as a consolation prize by default. What are the odds that $41 million out of $47 million of any statewide funding source will go to the metro area?

Re: Southwest LRT

Posted: July 10th, 2012, 7:43 pm
by ECtransplant
What are the odds that $41 million out of $47 million of any statewide funding source will go to the metro area?
I'm going to put that at slim to none. A large portion of this legislature would be happy to kill as many LRT projects as possible.

Re: Southwest LRT

Posted: July 10th, 2012, 7:56 pm
by minntransplant
Wasn't sure where exactly to post this thought, but I'm concerned that if St. Paul is trying to get $27 million in DEED money for the Lowertown stadium, and the Met Council is trying to get $14 million in DEED money for the Southwest Corridor, out of a total pot of $47 million, that probably spells trouble? During the Vikings stadium negotiations, it sort of seemed like St. Paul was going to get that $27 million as a consolation prize by default. What are the odds that $41 million out of $47 million of any statewide funding source will go to the metro area?

Applications totaling $288 million were submitted. See http://www.startribune.com/politics/blo ... 88275.html

There is a link to a spreadsheet in the Strib article that breaks down the proposals.

Here are the most costly proposals:
$27 million -- Saint Paul Regional Ball Park
$25 million -- Mayo Civic Center Expansion
$25 million -- Nicollet Mall Redesign
$14.5 million -- Mankato Civic Center Renovation/Expansion
$14 million -- Southwest LRT

I think the Southwest LRT and Ball Park are highly meritorious when you look at how many people would directly benefit, the extent to which they would generate tax revenue, etc. And, both projects were backed by Dayton. I wouldn't be surprised if both got approved.

Re: Southwest LRT

Posted: July 10th, 2012, 9:40 pm
by spectre000
I don't think the cities or municipalities will necessarily get all the money they ask for. I can see St. Paul getting $15-20 million. Southwest getting $5-10. They'll pull something silly. Try to appease as many as possible and so on. St. Paul can probably make up the difference with the $2.7m there getting in debt relief on the RiverCentre. I think DEED will try to make as many people happy as possible. Though in the end they may make it harder for the Mankato's, Rochester's, etc to come up with the rest of the money for their projects.

Re: Southwest LRT

Posted: July 11th, 2012, 2:29 pm
by MNdible
I think it's a real stretch to argue that the Saints stadium has "regional significance". SW LRT seems like it should be a no-brainer. Nicollet Mall, while I'd love to see it get funded, gets passed over this round, I think. The outstate convention centers probably get a little love to share the wealth.

Re: Southwest LRT

Posted: July 11th, 2012, 3:53 pm
by Nick
http://www.startribune.com/local/162117405.html
DEED Commissioner Mark Phillips says his agency will narrow its list by the end of August after weighing each project's potential for job creation, return on investment and criteria like geographic balance.
Toooootally merit-based....

Re: Southwest LRT

Posted: July 11th, 2012, 6:43 pm
by LRV Op Dude
I could be off my rocker but could this DEEDS money be a backroom deal between Governor Dayton and the Republican leadership. This way Dayton gets to fund Southwest LRT and maybe the Saints stadium and the Republicans can say they did not vote yes for it.

Gov. Dayton Says He'll Pick Projects for $47.5M Fund

I would be disappointed if Gov Dayton gave the money to some civic center project instead of Southwest LRT.

Re: Southwest LRT

Posted: July 11th, 2012, 6:58 pm
by min-chi-cbus
I could be off my rocker but could this DEEDS money be a backroom deal between Governor Dayton and the Republican leadership. This way Dayton gets to fund Southwest LRT and maybe the Saints stadium and the Republicans can say they did not vote yes for it.

Gov. Dayton Says He'll Pick Projects for $47.5M Fund

I would be disappointed if Gov Dayton gave the money to some civic center project instead of Southwest LRT.
You're thinking like a true politician! So maybe you're on to something....

Re: Southwest LRT

Posted: July 12th, 2012, 6:13 am
by mullen
he will throw the project some money. we have to show the feds we are committed. having some likeminded people win an election to the state legislature would help to.

Re: Southwest LRT

Posted: July 12th, 2012, 8:27 am
by min-chi-cbus
he will throw the project some money. we have to show the feds we are committed. having some likeminded people win an election to the state legislature would help to.
Good point. You'd think that by investing $25M to secure -- what, $500M? -- would be a smart move! Talk about ROI!!

Re: Southwest LRT

Posted: July 12th, 2012, 8:39 pm
by MSPtoMKE
It may be metro-centric, but I could see Southwest and the Saints ballpark getting funded, with the rest being split for smaller outstate projects. The Nicollet Mall rebuild was championed by Dayton (his office used one of my photos on his blog to promote the idea), but I don't think it is as high a priority. I do seem to recall in one of the articles it saying that they intended to only grant full requests, not partial funding to any of the projects. That makes it politically a little tougher to justify all that money going to two big Metro Area projects, but I think the two have strong merits. It is a little tough to justify the Southwest funding on job creation alone, since it is mostly just money to continue planning. Job creation isn't the only function of the bonding bill, however, it is a popular buzz word in this economy.

On a different note, it seems the me that there are not a lot of detailed figures that have been released showing the configuration of this line. Most of what has been released has been pretty conceptual and "big picture", not the nitty-gritty details that I am interested in. If the line is to open in 2018, then it is about as far along as where the Green Line was in 2008. I have preliminary engineering plans saved on my computer from then that show a pretty detailed layout of how University Ave was proposed to look. Some details have changed of course, but they were pretty far along on the design. I have not seen the same level of detail from the Southwest Line. I suppose there are fewer concerns about the details of what will happen to a rail corridor than what will happen to a busy commercial avenue.

Re: Southwest LRT

Posted: August 30th, 2012, 5:27 pm
by LRV Op Dude
Has anyone heard anything new about the DEED money? I thought they was suppose to make a decision in Aug.

Re: Southwest LRT

Posted: August 30th, 2012, 8:42 pm
by Le Sueur
Has anyone heard anything new about the DEED money? I thought they was suppose to make a decision in Aug.
I've been looking too. News might show up here:
http://www.positivelyminnesota.com/News ... index.aspx
but nothing yet.

Re: Southwest LRT

Posted: September 10th, 2012, 1:14 pm
by minntransplant
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/displa ... aluations/

"Of the projects that received scores, The Metropolitan Council and Carver County ranked last, with only 24 points apiece. The Met Council wanted $14 million to go toward a light rail line through the southwest suburbs."

Oh, joy. It would be a shame to see this project stalled because we can't pony up.

Re: Southwest LRT

Posted: September 10th, 2012, 2:06 pm
by mulad
Not all that surprising, though it's really annoying that a parking ramp in Duluth is beating it according to their evaluation.