urbanMSP

Good. Call. Now let's get this done.

But first the $500 million question; does the tribe still support this project?

But first the $500 million question; does the tribe still support this project?

Why wouldn't they? They could EASILY have a shuttle bus service, which would be far less costly than what Mystic Lake Casino does with there dozens of routes and trips around the metro. Maybe they could buy an "old" Red Line bus

I just got an email announcing some open houses to discuss possible railroad grade crossing changes. The only one in/near the metro area is in Cambridge -- I suppose there probably aren't significant changes planned south of there, but we'll have to see. They will just be open houses without formal presentations.

https://content.govdelivery.com/account ... ns/1682677

• Hinckley
  Tuesday, Oct. 18
  5 – 7 p.m.
  Hinckley-Finlayson High School
  201 Main St. East, Hinckley
• Cambridge
  Wednesday, Oct. 19
  5 – 7 p.m.
  Cambridge City Center Mall
  140 Buchanan St. North, Cambridge
• Askov
  Monday, Oct. 24
  5 – 7 p.m.
  Pine County History Museum
  6333 H C Andersen Alle, Askov
• Superior
  Tuesday, Oct. 25
  5 – 7 p.m.
  Superior Government Center
  1316 North 14th St, Superior, Wisconsin

I went up to Cambridge yesterday evening for one of the grade crossing open houses. The project's meetings page has files for the display boards and handouts, plus a comment sheet:

http://www.dot.state.mn.us/nlx/meetings.html

http://www.dot.state.mn.us/nlx/document ... boards.pdf
http://www.dot.state.mn.us/nlx/document ... ndouts.pdf
http://www.dot.state.mn.us/nlx/document ... -sheet.pdf

Here's a photo of the timeline, though there's a note at the bottom about funding.


IMAG1021 by Michael Hicks, on Flickr

The current Tier 2 Environmental Assessment is expected to wrap up in early 2017, followed by about 2.5 years of design and construction work, then about 6 months of testing before the line could go into operation, currently targeted for the start of 2020. I hope we get a shift in the state legislature that can pass a budget that includes something for this (a one-time allocation would be okay, but it'd be better to create a long-term funding source to help other projects too).

One of the display boards showed a concept layout of the local station behind Cambridge's City Center Mall (which is where the meeting was held). There are layouts for other towns with stops in the first .pdf from the meetings page.


IMAG1023 by Michael Hicks, on Flickr

They also had a big pile of printouts of crossing-by-crossing sections of the corridor. Unfortunately they didn't have a nice overview map, which might have helped people get an idea of the scale of what they're up to (though the piles of printouts were a few inches thick). I didn't have any particular crossings that I cared about, so I just thumbed through those a little bit, but didn't find anything of particular interest.

The people I spoke to at the meeting said that BNSF is handling improvements for the private crossings along the line (driveways, farm access, etc.), while MnDOT will coordinate upgrades for the public street and highway crossings. I tried to get an idea of how many crossings need upgrades, but I couldn't get many numbers out of them. There are 169 crossings on the corridor, at least as reported to the Start Tribune. MnDOT is aiming to close as few crossings as possible (which would be the cheapest and simplest way to make safety upgrades, though obviously it reduces flexibility in the road network). One guy I spoke to said they were looking at closing about six crossings, but are trying to push that down to zero.

The current conditions are apparently best on the very southern end of the Hinckley subdivision (the branch line that heads toward Duluth from Coon Rapids). The Staples subdivision south of there already carries Northstar and is also in good shape for crossings. It sounds like all of the public crossings will end up getting lighted signals and gate arms, with the exact configuration depending on the amount of traffic (just a standard layout with arm on each side of the crossing for low-volume roadways, a center median added where traffic is higher, and quad gates blocking both directions of travel on the road in busier areas where a median couldn't fit.

Anyway, not a whole lot of new info to be gleaned for an interloper from the Twin Cities. The meetings are more meant for local input for the crossings and stations.

October 2016 meeting material is online now. They're doing a great job of marketing this and using effective public process. I'm pretty optimistic about this project still. Especially if it can get funding next session.

https://www.dot.state.mn.us/nlx/documen ... boards.pdf

https://www.dot.state.mn.us/nlx/documen ... ndouts.pdf

I went up to Cambridge yesterday evening for one of the grade crossing open houses. The project's meetings page has files for the display boards and handouts, plus a comment sheet:

http://www.dot.state.mn.us/nlx/meetings.html

http://www.dot.state.mn.us/nlx/document ... boards.pdf
http://www.dot.state.mn.us/nlx/document ... ndouts.pdf
http://www.dot.state.mn.us/nlx/document ... -sheet.pdf

Here's a photo of the timeline, though there's a note at the bottom about funding.


IMAG1021 by Michael Hicks, on Flickr

The current Tier 2 Environmental Assessment is expected to wrap up in early 2017, followed by about 2.5 years of design and construction work, then about 6 months of testing before the line could go into operation, currently targeted for the start of 2020. I hope we get a shift in the state legislature that can pass a budget that includes something for this (a one-time allocation would be okay, but it'd be better to create a long-term funding source to help other projects too).

One of the display boards showed a concept layout of the local station behind Cambridge's City Center Mall (which is where the meeting was held). There are layouts for other towns with stops in the first .pdf from the meetings page.


IMAG1023 by Michael Hicks, on Flickr

They also had a big pile of printouts of crossing-by-crossing sections of the corridor. Unfortunately they didn't have a nice overview map, which might have helped people get an idea of the scale of what they're up to (though the piles of printouts were a few inches thick). I didn't have any particular crossings that I cared about, so I just thumbed through those a little bit, but didn't find anything of particular interest.

The people I spoke to at the meeting said that BNSF is handling improvements for the private crossings along the line (driveways, farm access, etc.), while MnDOT will coordinate upgrades for the public street and highway crossings. I tried to get an idea of how many crossings need upgrades, but I couldn't get many numbers out of them. There are 169 crossings on the corridor, at least as reported to the Start Tribune. MnDOT is aiming to close as few crossings as possible (which would be the cheapest and simplest way to make safety upgrades, though obviously it reduces flexibility in the road network). One guy I spoke to said they were looking at closing about six crossings, but are trying to push that down to zero.

The current conditions are apparently best on the very southern end of the Hinckley subdivision (the branch line that heads toward Duluth from Coon Rapids). The Staples subdivision south of there already carries Northstar and is also in good shape for crossings. It sounds like all of the public crossings will end up getting lighted signals and gate arms, with the exact configuration depending on the amount of traffic (just a standard layout with arm on each side of the crossing for low-volume roadways, a center median added where traffic is higher, and quad gates blocking both directions of travel on the road in busier areas where a median couldn't fit.

Anyway, not a whole lot of new info to be gleaned for an interloper from the Twin Cities. The meetings are more meant for local input for the crossings and stations.

So is this project going to be under construction this year?

Environmental Assessment is going to the the FRA next week. So that's basically done. They're targeting Fall construction if the funding goes through.

$600MM total
$480MM from the feds
$120MM from the state (with shares from Hennepin & St. Louis Counties, I suppose, but still probably $100MM from the state)

Does anyone really think this is going to happen given the current political situation?

Does anyone really know what the hell the Trump administration is going to vote for when it comes to transit? They're going to be shovel ready by late Summer. That's the big point here.

I'll cede that point...we don't have a damn clue what's going to happen with federal funds for transit or passenger rail. Not exactly optimistic, but that's where were at.

As for the state/local funds...my prognosis on getting ANY money from the legislature in 2017 is not bloody likely. Aside from the whole GOP control issue, the other thing is that it's going to be a slog just to pass last year's failed bonding bill. Authors of the bonding bill are not going to entertain the idea of adding massive new projects (especially rail, which Republicans hate). If it's not in Dayton's budget nor bonding proposal, then I haven't a damn clue where any of this money would come from.

The MNDOT passenger rail office has no doubt been talking to Dayton and legislators over the past couple of years, but it seems impossible that there would be a 2017 allocation. If there is a 2nd bonding bill in 2018...maybe? I doubt Hennepin County would even be able to contribute much towards that $120MM when they've got Southwest and Bottineau on deck. St. Louis County probably isn't exactly flush with funds either...

Easy fix.

Rename "Northern Lights Express" to "Northern Trump Express" and it will pass so quick your head would spin. BELIEVE ME! ...3 years and 11 and a half months from now we can just rename it again.

But how can it get through when the ridership projections plummet?

But how can it get through when the ridership projections plummet?

The ridership projections will be the highest ever in the history of rail transit! Anyone who reports otherwise is "False news". Take in the alternative facts!

There were 250,000 riders in the first car alone.

Since at the moment it looks like the project is using the same rolling stock (Siemens Charger) as Brightline in Florida I wonder if the service proves successful this summer, it might make BNSF or MNDOT take a few notes for the NLX.

What are the chances this could be extended to Two Harbors sometime down the (rail)road, and what are the chances of having an intercity bus carrier such as Greyhound or Jefferson Lines operating a couple roundtrips per day between Duluth and Thunder Bay (with some stops in between)?

It all comes down to demand, and Americans hate buses.

Not sure that I see what the market is for extending the line to Two Harbors. There's already a scenic-route train that heads that direction. Can't imagine there are a huge number of Twin Cities residents that really want to make it up to TH, don't want to stop in Duluth, and also aren't driving in the first place.

if we can fund a train to two harbors, but still fail to finish the train to st. cloud we got seriously wrong priorities. A connection bus to two harbors seems more adequate, although I admit I didn't research the projected ridership numbers.