Green Line Extension - Southwest LRT

[Hero]

I'm guessing the green line extension will be hard pressed to match the ridership of the current blue or green line.

[Trademark]

I'm guessing the green line extension will be hard pressed to match the ridership of the current blue or green line.

Agreed but it will raise the ridership on the Blue and current Green lines.

[Korh]

Are they even gonna list the ridership for the separate sections of the lines or is it gonna be a mess of digging in official reports for individual station boardings to figure that out.

[Nick]

Looking forward to being gaslit when the ridership numbers are 80% below projections rather than 50% below projections and they blame the whole 80% on work from home.

[Hero]

I'm guessing the green line extension will be hard pressed to match the ridership of the current blue or green line.

Agreed but it will raise the ridership on the Blue and current Green lines.

I think a cheaper way to raise ridership would be to increase bus service to existing LRT stations.

[DanPatchToget]

I was surprised at the amount of chain link fencing between the trail and the rail. Even the segments that look to only have a purpose of being a linear stormwater retention pond. I would be glad to see weed trends pop up grow back there fast to replace all the trees cut out for construction.

A couple days ago I checked out construction from Belt Line to downtown Hopkins and noticed the chainlink fencing you're referring to. I wonder why they put that in certain segments, but on other segments it's wooden posts and a few cables. I prefer the latter much more, but it would be nice if they could plant some shrubbery or vines to hide the chainlink fence.

Construction is still going on of course, so I'll hold off thinking the new Cedar Lake Trail will be less aesthetically pleasing than the pre-construction trail. On one hand the now-removed trees in between the old trail and rail provided nice shade, but on the other hand as a train enthusiast I like that there will be clear views of the light rail and freight rail for a long distance.

[Anondson]

Looks like work to switch the freight line from the south to the north is happening between Excelsior Blvd and Blake, sending the freight rail under the LRT bridge.

[Tom H.]

Met Council and Hennepin County are chipping in $211M to close the budget gap on SWLRT.

The elephant in the room for me is whether there is enough political will to use some of the state surplus to fill the remaining gap, given the legislative audit that's underway. I would imagine there would have to be some strings attached from the legislature to at least give the optics that they're exercising sufficient oversight of transit planning cost overruns.

[Bakken2016]

Met Council and Hennepin County are chipping in $211M to close the budget gap on SWLRT.

The elephant in the room for me is whether there is enough political will to use some of the state surplus to fill the remaining gap, given the legislative audit that's underway. I would imagine there would have to be some strings attached from the legislature to at least give the optics that they're exercising sufficient oversight of transit planning cost overruns.

It's good to see leftover Covid relief funds be used to help fill in the gap, even with a DFL majority I'm not sure if the political will exists to use the state surplus, but I guess time will tell.

[MNdible]

I'd have to imagine that the Minnesota delegation is lobbying like crazy to get federal infrastructure bill money to fill in the rest of the gap.

[VacantLuxuries]

Didn't the Purple Line in Maryland get a second FTA grant/loan from a 'project restarts' pile of money? This seems like an obvious way to fill what's left of the budget gap, especially since the project is already far along.

[Bakken2016]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBvxQx1HxoM

2021 to 2022 recap of construction video, project is now 70% complete on construction.

[StandishGuy]

It doesn't make sense that the project is 70% done, but the remaining 30% is expected to take until 2027 to complete, an additional 5 years. It is understandable that the Kenniworth tunnel is complex, but it is only .5 miles long and very shallow. Anyone here know why this is so hard to build and will take so long? I watch a lot of Youtube videos about transit projects in other cities and countries that seem far more complex including tunnels under rivers or seas. I mean, how long would it have taken to construct a deep bore tunnel under Hennepin Avenue through Uptown, for example?

[Silophant]

I'm confident that a Hennepin tunnel would also have taken a year or two longer than expected due to complex buried utilities, just like the Nicollet Mall rebuild. Still would have been worth it though.

[Trademark]

It doesn't make sense that the project is 70% done, but the remaining 30% is expected to take until 2027 to complete, an additional 5 years. It is understandable that the Kenniworth tunnel is complex, but it is only .5 miles long and very shallow. Anyone here know why this is so hard to build and will take so long? I watch a lot of Youtube videos about transit projects in other cities and countries that seem far more complex including tunnels under rivers or seas. I mean, how long would it have taken to construct a deep bore tunnel under Hennepin Avenue through Uptown, for example?

I think it's the case of wanting to under promise vs over promise. Compare it to the crenshaw line in LA where it was at 86% in 2018, 93% in 2019, over 99% complete in 2021, and now finally opened (a little over half the line) in late 2022. Original planned opening was in 2019.

[Bakken2016]

It doesn't make sense that the project is 70% done, but the remaining 30% is expected to take until 2027 to complete, an additional 5 years. It is understandable that the Kenniworth tunnel is complex, but it is only .5 miles long and very shallow. Anyone here know why this is so hard to build and will take so long? I watch a lot of Youtube videos about transit projects in other cities and countries that seem far more complex including tunnels under rivers or seas. I mean, how long would it have taken to construct a deep bore tunnel under Hennepin Avenue through Uptown, for example?

Also, I believe 70% for construction of stations, structures, and rail. They are not including systems construction in that number, since it it a separate contract of construction.

[Tom H.]

I believe I've heard that there are 30 "cells" in the Kenilworth tunnel, that must be completed sequentially due to the tight linear nature of the corridor, and that each cell takes approximately 1 month to complete. Does anyone know how many cells are complete to date? Is that tracked or published anywhere?

[thespeedmccool]

Awesome change coming to Beltline Blvd station: replacing a surface lot with a mixed use building.

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[Anondson]

It’s been covered in the Beltline Station Area thread in the Suburbs forum.

[Tom H.]

New underground 'impediment' discovered during Southwest LRT construction

Ruh-roh