Net Density

What with the holidays and all, Net Density has been on a bit of a hiatus.  Many pieces of news dropped while I was enjoying some relaxation, and in order to catch up I simply don’t have time to give them all the detail they deserve.  So, instead of skipping them altogether, I’ll try to cover them all, giving a few of my editorial comments for each.

A draft of the Minneapolis North Loop Small Area Plan was completed and put out for public comment, with a twist.  You can edit the document directly using a wiki, which the city and the neighborhood hope will encourage more participation.  Put me in the skeptical camp. Wikis work best when with a small audience who is very knowledgeable about the topic, or a really large audience (see Wikipedia) where the size of the audience enables content to be vetted and inaccurate information to be weeded out.  The North Loop plan wiki may see a small audience, which will mean little peer review, and they will also likely be unaware of the requirements for plan content.

TransForm, a transportation policy advocacy group from the Bay area, has released its GreenTRIP rating system to fill the gaps in LEED ND and rank developments based on their ability to reduce VMT.  I say hoorah for the premise, we need to tackle VMT to address climate change and other issues, but do we need another rating system?  How about some regulation?

Saint Paul adopted a requirement that all new buildings projects which receive $200,000 or more in city funding must meet the standards of one of seven ratings systems such as LEED. Projects must meet Minnesota Sustainble Buildings 2030 energy standards.  Saint Paul is a model.  Any development that receives public dollars should at least meet these basic energy requirements when the payoffs (and paybacks) are so obvious and available.

Last, but certainly not least, MNDOT released its statewide Passenger and Freight Rail Plan.  The plan lays out near and long-term corridor priorities and shockingly (or maybe not shockingly) does not clearly pick the river route as a winner for high-speed rail to Chicago.  The alignment saga will continue, but if MNDOT’s cost-effectiveness figures are correct, building a link to Chicago makes good sense (and not just because of the lack of full-body scanners).

Welcome to 2010!  I hope your best laid plans all reach the implementation stage this year!

Tags: leed, minneapolis, mndot, north loop, rail, train, transportation

The Star Tribune says yes to the proposed high-speed rail line between Minnepolis and Duluth.  Some highlights: it may be able to support itself financially if it ran 110 mph and stopped at the Grand Casino in Hinckley, it will cost $400 million, and it would make the trip in two hours (again, assuming 110 mph speeds).

I’m a big supporter of rail, especially the high speed variety, but again I’ll say I think we should complete the first natural spoke in a midwest wheel, which is to Chicago, before we go working on second tier routes like Minneapolis to Duluth.  And seriously, a casino?  That is the destination we’d be counting on to support the line?

Tags: amtrak, duluth, minneapolis, northern lights express, rail, train, transit

Midwest Network from MHSR

It only took an energy crisis, a climate crisis and a horrible train accident, but Congress has finally taken a first step towards providing a real transportation alternative.  The House and Senate have both approved a rail safety bill that includes $680 million a year for five years for high speed rail projects.  This same bill includes safety improvements, and doubles Amtrak’s funding to $13 billion over five years.

Of greatest interest to this Chicago-lover is the possibility of high-speed rail in the Midwest.  Always one to provide the bacon for Minnesota (not to be confused with pork), Congressman Oberstar says that this bill could mean a high-speed connection between Chicago and the Twin Cities in the next five years.  That seems like an awfully ambitious timeline, especially given the last sentence in the story, “…matching funds need to come from state and local sources”.  But, if we get some new, pro-rail leadership in the White House in January (McCain’s position, Obama’s position), perhaps things really could start to happen in less than a decade.

One question for the readers, why is a line from Duluth to the Twin Cities a higher priority than the Chicago-Twin Cities line?  Have they already “stud[ied] the impact” of the Chicago route (I assume this means a EIS process)?  Why is Duluth a viable destination for a train line anyway?

Tags: amtrak, congress, midwest high-speed rail, rail, transit, transportation