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Re: Southwest LRT (Green Line Extension)
Posted: September 2nd, 2014, 12:15 pm
by FISHMANPET
I rode through the Kenilworth corridor a week or two ago, and I realized that if I was riding a light rail train through there, I'd sure as hell want to be able to see the nice green space, and not be stuck in a tunnel.
Re: Southwest LRT (Green Line Extension)
Posted: September 2nd, 2014, 4:35 pm
by Archiapolis
Yes, which is why we need to undo all the government regulation that is a handout to large-scale developers at the expense of the small-scale and incremental developments that made our cities dense and vibrant a century ago.
-1
Re: Southwest LRT (Green Line Extension)
Posted: September 2nd, 2014, 11:09 pm
by illman00
The tunnel also isn't going under the channel is my understanding. It will start just north of lake st and go under cedar lake blvd coming up just before the channel and will go over the channel.
Re: Southwest LRT (Green Line Extension)
Posted: September 8th, 2014, 11:23 am
by HoratioRincewind
Ain't no fun if the homies can't get some (litigation that is, and by homies I mean very very well paid attorneys)
http://www.startribune.com/local/274339231.html
Group files suit to stop Southwest light rail
A Minneapolis nonprofit group filed a lawsuit Monday in federal court seeking to halt the $1.6 billion Southwest Corridor light-rail project, at least until more environmental studies are conducted along the controversial transit line.
The Lakes and Parks Alliance of Minneapolis filed the 24-page complaint in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis, naming the Federal Transit Agency, the Metropolitan Council and its chair Susan Haigh as defendants....
Met Council officials could not be immediately reached for comment. But spokeswoman Meredith Vadis told the Star Tribune last week that legal action is not uncommon on these types of projects. Vadis also said in August that work on the project will not be halted by a lawsuit, unless ordered by a court.
The Alliance is expected to hold a news conference on the lawsuit noon Monday.
Re: Southwest LRT (Green Line Extension)
Posted: September 8th, 2014, 11:31 am
by grant1simons2
But the Alliance claims that new environmental studies are in order because significant changes have been made to the original light-rail plan, and none of the alternatives initially proposed for the area included any tunnels.
Isn't there already a study planned?
Residents in the Kenilworth area “will be injured by the environmental harm that will result if the [Southwest light-rail] project moves forward without the required environmental review which must precede the municipal consent process,” the suit states.
I hope people know this is really just about the people not wanting to hear construction
Re: Southwest LRT (Green Line Extension)
Posted: September 8th, 2014, 11:32 am
by David Greene
Ain't no fun if the homies can't get some (litigation that is, and by homies I mean very very well paid attorneys)
Easy technical solution to this lawsuit: drop the tunnel.
Re: Southwest LRT (Green Line Extension)
Posted: September 8th, 2014, 11:33 am
by grant1simons2
I agree, why does the MET want the tunnel anyways?
Re: Southwest LRT (Green Line Extension)
Posted: September 8th, 2014, 11:33 am
by David Greene
Make them post mortgages on their precious homes as part of the injunction bond.
Ding ding ding ding ding!
Re: Southwest LRT (Green Line Extension)
Posted: September 8th, 2014, 11:36 am
by FISHMANPET
I'd be much happier if more lawsuits required large cash bonds to file. Like the 2320 Colfax lawsuit, that should have required a bond big enough to buy the property. But I'm sure there are very easy ways that could be abused, and it could lead even more to a society where the rich have all the power, so on the whole its probably best it doesn't happen very often.
Re: Southwest LRT (Green Line Extension)
Posted: September 8th, 2014, 11:40 am
by David Greene
I agree, why does the MET want the tunnel anyways?
It's why I said "technical" solution. It is not at all realistic because it doesn't solve the political problem.
The Met Council doesn't want the tunnel.
Re: Southwest LRT (Green Line Extension)
Posted: September 8th, 2014, 11:43 am
by Archiapolis
Ain't no fun if the homies can't get some (litigation that is, and by homies I mean very very well paid attorneys)
Easy technical solution to this lawsuit: drop the tunnel.
You have said all along that lawsuits are just part of the process so I guess we will see.
Re: Southwest LRT (Green Line Extension)
Posted: September 8th, 2014, 11:52 am
by David Greene
Ain't no fun if the homies can't get some (litigation that is, and by homies I mean very very well paid attorneys)
Easy technical solution to this lawsuit: drop the tunnel.
You have said all along that lawsuits are just part of the process so I guess we will see.
They are. My post was very much tongue-in-cheek.
Nothing to see here.
Re: Southwest LRT (Green Line Extension)
Posted: September 8th, 2014, 12:37 pm
by MNdible
The Southwest line, the largest public transportation project in Minnesota history...
From the Strib article above, this is the kind of hyperbole that you see in just about every single media reference to the project.
Yes, in non-inflation adjusted dollars, this may be the most expensive single project. But clearly, it doesn't even come close to the cost of, for example, building I-94 through the metro area. That may technically have been broken up into a multitude of smaller projects, but to any objective eye it's certainly a much much larger public transportation project than SWLRT.
This would be like saying that the construction of a standard McMansion in Eden Prairie is bigger than the construction of the James J. Hill mansion in St. Paul, just because the dollar value of the construction budget was bigger.
Re: Southwest LRT (Green Line Extension)
Posted: September 8th, 2014, 12:49 pm
by mullen
these kenilworth residents don't even want the at grade routing. they want no line through. tunnel is just a smoke screen.
Re: Southwest LRT (Green Line Extension)
Posted: September 8th, 2014, 1:27 pm
by David Greene
these kenilworth residents don't even want the at grade routing. they want no line through. tunnel is just a smoke screen.
Of course it is. That's why I made the tongue-in-cheek call for the Met Council to call their bluff.
It'll never happen, of course, nor should it.
Re: Southwest LRT (Green Line Extension)
Posted: September 8th, 2014, 2:48 pm
by HoratioRincewind
I'm not a judge but I've made it to the 3rd page of the complaint and I'm already pretty sure I just figured out where their lawsuit gets thrown out due to lack of standing.
Re: Southwest LRT (Green Line Extension)
Posted: September 8th, 2014, 2:54 pm
by HoratioRincewind
Also, in case anyone is curious (aside from the fact that the litigants probably don't have standing) the Government response is previewed in paragraph 42.
The Lakes and Parks Alliance wrote to the FTA in July 2014 to inform the
FTA that the SWLRT environmental review process did not meet the requirements of
federal and state law, and asking that the FTA refuse to provide further federal funding
for the SWLRT project unless and until the Metropolitan Council appropriately
supplemented the environmental review and fully complied with all applicable
environmental laws and regulations. In response, the FTA sent a letter to the Lakes and
Parks Alliance dated August 15, 2014, stating that it monitors all federally assisted
projects for NEPA compliance and that no cessation of funding is warranted for the
SWLRT under the circumstances.
Re: Southwest LRT (Green Line Extension)
Posted: September 10th, 2014, 8:40 pm
by seanrichardryan
Re: Southwest LRT (Green Line Extension)
Posted: September 16th, 2014, 9:14 am
by Tcmetro
Met Council is looking for a firm to provide advanced engineering services to finalize the line before construction.
http://metrocouncil.org/Council-Meeting ... 1-ppt.aspx
Re: Southwest LRT (Green Line Extension)
Posted: September 20th, 2014, 9:26 pm
by grant1simons2
I feel like this is important. I stumbled upon this website when trying to find out whether Eden Prairie has a plan for bike lanes (they don't). Anyways, it's a site where you can post your opinion on what should be by the stations, how the stations should look and all for the SWLRT. Hopefully they use this info in the final plan, you do need an account
http://www.swbeyondtherails.com/