Green Line Extension - Southwest LRT

Roads - Rails - Sidewalks - Bikeways
kirby96
Union Depot
Posts: 335
Joined: June 4th, 2012, 11:30 am

Re: Southwest LRT (Green Line Extension)

Postby kirby96 » April 27th, 2018, 4:45 am

Y'know, we used to have good corporate citizens; companies that did things for the city/region/state even if it cost them a little. 40 years of extreme capitalist rhetoric has destroyed our collective memory of it. Now, "it's just business," and, "this is normal business practice," and "they're just looking out for the company.'

Yes, that's exactly the problem.

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Well, to be completely fair, 40 years ago when a company did something as a ‘good corporate citizen’ they probably also had a reasonable expectation that they would subsequently win that next contract to build a bridge. Purely on the merits of their quality bid, of course...

tmart
Rice Park
Posts: 488
Joined: October 6th, 2017, 10:05 am
Location: Expat

Re: Southwest LRT (Green Line Extension)

Postby tmart » April 27th, 2018, 1:55 pm

SW Journal has much more detail in their coverage.

http://www.southwestjournal.com/news/20 ... ral-court/

MNdible
is great.
Posts: 5989
Joined: June 8th, 2012, 8:14 pm
Location: Minneapolis

Re: Southwest LRT (Green Line Extension)

Postby MNdible » April 27th, 2018, 2:02 pm

Dylan Thomas has been doing consistently great reporting on SWLRT. Tip of the cap to him.

Didier
Capella Tower
Posts: 2511
Joined: June 3rd, 2012, 10:11 am
Location: MSP

Re: Southwest LRT (Green Line Extension)

Postby Didier » April 29th, 2018, 7:29 am

Y'know, we used to have good corporate citizens; companies that did things for the city/region/state even if it cost them a little. 40 years of extreme capitalist rhetoric has destroyed our collective memory of it. Now, "it's just business," and, "this is normal business practice," and "they're just looking out for the company.'

Yes, that's exactly the problem.

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:roll:

JT$
City Center
Posts: 34
Joined: July 14th, 2012, 5:12 pm

Re: Southwest LRT (Green Line Extension)

Postby JT$ » April 30th, 2018, 2:38 pm

Y'know, we used to have good corporate citizens; companies that did things for the city/region/state even if it cost them a little. 40 years of extreme capitalist rhetoric has destroyed our collective memory of it. Now, "it's just business," and, "this is normal business practice," and "they're just looking out for the company.'

Yes, that's exactly the problem.

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I think your recollection of the past is rather romanticized.

David Greene
IDS Center
Posts: 4617
Joined: December 4th, 2012, 11:41 am

Re: Southwest LRT (Green Line Extension)

Postby David Greene » May 1st, 2018, 5:49 pm

Perhaps. But businesses spearheaded the creation of the Met Council, still one of the most empowered MPOs in the country.

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NickP
Target Field
Posts: 508
Joined: June 4th, 2012, 5:00 pm

Re: Southwest LRT (Green Line Extension)

Postby NickP » May 2nd, 2018, 8:47 am

At least in the Twin Cities, I can understand the feeling that we had stronger cooperate citizenship in the past. Not only the Met Council, but the Daytona Company started the 5% club, and a lot of local companies participated. The 5% club required that companies give 5% of their pretax profits back to the community, which was the most allowed by law. It was a pretty impressive thing that I think showed the strong community focus of the companies. It wasn’t until I lived in other places that I realized how unique this concept was. There are many horror stories in the histories of many companies around the country, and I completely understand why there is distrust of big business. However, I haven’t heard such tales regarding the twin cities business community as often until recently.

tmart
Rice Park
Posts: 488
Joined: October 6th, 2017, 10:05 am
Location: Expat

Re: Southwest LRT (Green Line Extension)

Postby tmart » May 2nd, 2018, 9:14 am

Here's a Times article from about 10 years ago about the 5% club. It still exists! Although it also has a 2% tier now. And to their credit, I'm pretty sure most of the major downtown businesses have come out strongly in support of SWLRT. It's much easier to support things when they don't directly interact with your core business.

HiawathaGuy
Wells Fargo Center
Posts: 1636
Joined: June 4th, 2012, 12:03 pm

Re: Southwest LRT (Green Line Extension)

Postby HiawathaGuy » May 3rd, 2018, 4:29 pm

I'll be curious to read more...

Lunda-McCrossan is low bidder for Southwest Light Rail Transit work
*LOCKED*

Its $800 million civil construction bid was $3 million higher than the initial bid the Met Council rejected as too high.

Bakken2016
Wells Fargo Center
Posts: 1019
Joined: September 20th, 2017, 12:40 pm
Location: North Loop

Re: Southwest LRT (Green Line Extension)

Postby Bakken2016 » May 4th, 2018, 8:19 am


Bakken2016
Wells Fargo Center
Posts: 1019
Joined: September 20th, 2017, 12:40 pm
Location: North Loop

Re: Southwest LRT (Green Line Extension)

Postby Bakken2016 » May 4th, 2018, 9:46 am

I'll be curious to read more...

Lunda-McCrossan is low bidder for Southwest Light Rail Transit work
*LOCKED*

Its $800 million civil construction bid was $3 million higher than the initial bid the Met Council rejected as too high.
[IMG]//uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201805 ... fb95c3.jpg[/IMG]
Image



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David Greene
IDS Center
Posts: 4617
Joined: December 4th, 2012, 11:41 am

Re: Southwest LRT (Green Line Extension)

Postby David Greene » May 4th, 2018, 5:49 pm

Not really kosher.

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Bakken2016
Wells Fargo Center
Posts: 1019
Joined: September 20th, 2017, 12:40 pm
Location: North Loop

Re: Southwest LRT (Green Line Extension)

Postby Bakken2016 » May 15th, 2018, 12:51 pm

SWLRT price increases to $2 billion


Totally saw that coming.

helsinki
Landmark Center
Posts: 289
Joined: October 9th, 2012, 2:01 am

Re: Southwest LRT (Green Line Extension)

Postby helsinki » May 15th, 2018, 1:01 pm

sunk cost fallacy

the idea that a company or organization is more likely to continue with a project if they have already invested a lot of money, time, or effort in it, even when continuing is not the best thing to do:

Economists would point out that the sunk cost fallacy is irrational, and could be described as "throwing good money after bad".

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dic ... st-fallacy

EOst
Capella Tower
Posts: 2424
Joined: March 19th, 2014, 8:05 pm
Location: Saint Paul

Re: Southwest LRT (Green Line Extension)

Postby EOst » May 15th, 2018, 1:03 pm

Still worth the cost.

Bakken2016
Wells Fargo Center
Posts: 1019
Joined: September 20th, 2017, 12:40 pm
Location: North Loop

Re: Southwest LRT (Green Line Extension)

Postby Bakken2016 » May 15th, 2018, 1:10 pm

Still worth the cost.
100% agree. Critical transit options for residents in Minneapolis, Saint Paul, and the SW Burbs. So many jobs, housing, and more.

MNdible
is great.
Posts: 5989
Joined: June 8th, 2012, 8:14 pm
Location: Minneapolis

Re: Southwest LRT (Green Line Extension)

Postby MNdible » May 15th, 2018, 1:11 pm


tmart
Rice Park
Posts: 488
Joined: October 6th, 2017, 10:05 am
Location: Expat

Re: Southwest LRT (Green Line Extension)

Postby tmart » May 15th, 2018, 1:17 pm

Hopefully this means they're actually accepting a bid and we can put shovels in the ground.

Sunk Cost Fallacy only applies if you think (a) we could somehow still build the Uptown route even after spending all this money on design and engineering and federal approvals and fighting all these political battles, or (b) the no-build option is better than finishing the line.

We all wish they would have gone for the Uptown route, but I'm also fairly confident that building on this corridor will become political poison if we don't get this done now. It's still a good project even if it's not the optimal possible project.

phop
Landmark Center
Posts: 207
Joined: May 28th, 2013, 8:58 pm
Location: Minneapolis

Re: Southwest LRT (Green Line Extension)

Postby phop » May 15th, 2018, 1:38 pm

Yep, this feels like preparation for finally accepting a bid and getting construction moving. Original bid target was probably ~100 million lower, but that just doesn't seem attainable in the current construction climate.

mattaudio
Stone Arch Bridge
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Joined: June 19th, 2012, 2:04 pm
Location: NORI: NOrth of RIchfield

Re: Southwest LRT (Green Line Extension)

Postby mattaudio » May 15th, 2018, 2:13 pm

Is it, uh, too late to...
1. Eliminate 21st St Station
2. Single track the LRT between West Lake and Penn Ave
3. Not do the shallow tunnel, but instead run a single track of LRT next to a single track of freight
4. Save piles and piles of money?


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