Tag Archives: EIS

Who will the Southwest Transitway serve?

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Hiawatha LRT

Hiawatha LRT

I’ve never written a long post about my opinion on the Southwest Transitway LRT alignment alternatives, although I have participated in some intense discussion on the City of Lakes Urbanism blog.  I cynically believe that the routing decision will probably be made based solely on the numbers that allow the line to compete for federal dollars, rather than the best long range planning, but that won’t stop me from adding my two cents and possibly rousing rabble at the upcoming meetings.

When comparing the 3A and 3C alignments (Kenilworth Trail versus Uptown), the question for me has never been how easy is it to engineer and build (Kenilworth wins this one every time), but who will the line serve, or in other words, what is its purpose?  Is it a commuter line to get people from the far-flung suburbs to downtown Minneapolis rapidly a la Northstar, or is it an urban transit line a la the Hiawatha line?  3A represents a commuter line that would serve suburban customers and move them to downtown quickly, mostly bypassing any housing density, retail or transit-dependent populations.  3C would serve the “second downtown” of Minneapolis, Uptown, as well as some of the most dense housing, large employment centers and more people who depend on transit to get around.  In short, missing one of the most vibrant activity centers in the Twin Cities because you have an easy right of way would be a huge mistake.

Before I get too deep into a rant, I want to share some maps that I think illustrate the point.  I assume the data behind these maps has been factored in to the alternatives analysis, but I guess we’ll have to wait until August to find out.

Population Density and LRT Alignments

Employment density and LRT Alignments

Transit-dependent populations and LRT Alignments

Grey circles around stations represent one quarter-mile walk-shed.

Southwest Transit Route Selection Open Houses Scheduled

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Some transit-supportive development along the 3A alignment

Some transit-supportive development along the 3A alignment

The Southwest Transitway Route Selection Open Houses have been scheduled.  The purpose of these meetings is to release the evaluations done as part of the Draft EIS of the three potential LRT alignments. The evaluation measures include:

  • ridership forecasts
  • cost estimates
  • cost-effectiveness calculations
  • transit mobility measures
  • an inventory of potentially affected critical environmental resources

These evaluations will be used to select the Locally Preferred Alternative (LPA).  Two SW Transitway Advisory Committees will make a recommendation on the preferred alternative in the near future.  The preferred alternative will then need to be approved by the Hennepin County Regional Railroad Authority and the Metropolitan Council before it gets the full environmental review treatment.

The bottom line though is that this is the data that will get used to make the selection.  I’m very interested to see the results, and I hope I can attend at least the Minneapolis meeting.  I’m a little late on this news, but I assumed if I signed up for the mailing list I’d be notified of upcoming meetings.  Apparently this is not the case.

If you’re too lazy to click through to get the schedule, here are the meeting dates:

  • August 11: Open house at Hopkins City Hall from 6:30 to 8:00 PM
  • August 13: Open house at downtown Minneapolis Library from 11:30 AM to 1:00 PM
  • August 13: Open house at Marriott Southwest Hotel in Minnetonka from 6:30 to 8:00 PM
  • August 18: Open house at St. Louis Park City Hall from 6:30 to 8:00 PM
  • August 19: Open house at Eden Prairie City Hall from 6:30 to 8:00 PM

How to replace the Xcel Hiawatha project, without spending $15 million

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Let's just change our bulbs instead...

This post has been updated to account for my bad math.  Always make sure to check your Excel formulas!  Thanks Scott!

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According to Xcel, energy conservation alone cannot meet their forecasted demand for power in Southwest Minneapolis and they must build a new power line over the Midtown Greenway.  Quoted in a Southwest Journal article, and in their Project Need documents submitted to the Minnesota PUC, Xcel claims that they forecast an increased demand of 50 megawatts by 2018 in the “focused study area” (see map on page D2 – 7 of the link above).  I think I can save them about $14.5 $12.5 million dollars and a lot of public meetings.

I did some quick figuring using GIS and the 2000 census figures, and the “focused study area” contains roughly 94,000 housing units.  This seems to make sense given that this area encompasses some of the most dense parts of the city.  If Xcel were to take a proactive approach to conservation, perhaps going door to door and volunteering to install new light bulbs for example, could they make a dent?  YES!  They could effectively eliminate the need for the Hiawatha project!  In fact, if they installed ten new CFL bulbs in one tenth 70 percent of the housing units in the study area, they would more than offset the forecasted growth in demand.  And it would only cost about $360,000 $2.5 million.  Even if they hired five full-time installers to do the job, it would still only cost around $600,000 $2.75 million.  Xcel could save about $14.5 $12.25 million, and the neighbors could go back to worrying about the future of NRP.  Check my math.  Is it really that easy? Apparently not since I flubbed it the first time.

Perhaps they’ve already factored in some type of conservation efforts, but the forecasted growth chart in the above document doesn’t seem to support that.  And even if they have, if you can get this much effect by simply replacing light bulbs, imagine what you could do if you spent the rest of the $15 milion on conservation.  Hopefully the EIS will include an independent estimate of just that.

Public meeting on Xcel’s proposed Hiawatha transmission project – get your comments in!

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This Thursday, June 18th, the Minnesota Office of Energy Security is hosting a scoping meeting for Xcel Energy’s proposed transmission project.  The meeting will be held at the Midtown Global Market at 6 pm.  If you care about this project, you should attend, or submit your comments online.  All comments submitted must be responded to in the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), and may even be able to shape the alternatives that are studied during the process.

This project would run a new overhead line along a 1.25 mile stretch of the Midtown Greenway between Midtown and Hiawatha Avenue.  Xcel says that increased electrical demand in the southwest portion of the city requires new infrastructure and conservation measures are not up the task.  The need is in the realm of 50 megawatts, according to an Xcel spokesperson.  An above ground line would cost $3 million while a buried line would cost $15 million, according to Xcel.

The Midtown Greenway Coalition, among others are asking that the power line be buried, or perhaps not built at all if conservation measures could be used to address the need.  Their concerns include aesthetics, health impacts, reduced development potential, and the removal of greenspace near the Sabo Bridge for installation of a substation.

If you go to this meeting, drop a comment here and tell me about your experience or your views on the project.