A few days ago our house was hit with a flier urging us to pledge our support for the the 3C route at the upcoming public hearing. It’s a bit text-heavy, but I agree with the talking points in general.
I didn’t need convincing to go to the meeting, but I guess I’m impressed that public support is ramping up. Another website that the flier tipped me off to is Connect Uptown. It has some background on the project, and arguments about why you should support 3C.
Today Hennepin County Commissioners received analysis from HDR showing the projected ridership and costs of the two potential alignments for the Southwest LRT. 3A would cost $1.2 billion while 3C would cost $1.8 billion. Hennepin County Commissioner Gail Dorfman, who chairs the Policy Advisory committee, implied that 3A was the better choice.
“Dorfman says the projected cost of the line ranges from $1.2 billion to $1.8 billion, depending on the final route. Those numbers put the proposal give the project a Cost Effectiveness Index of $30 per rider for the length of the line, just outside the range required by the Federal Transit Administration for federal funding.
In order to move into the next step which would be to begin preliminary engineering you have to reach that $29 CEI number, so we’re very close to that,” she said.
Dorfman says the new numbers show the less costly option is to build the line along the Kenilworth trail near Cedar Lake and Lake of the Isles in Minneapolis.
Neither the MPR nor Star Tribune coverage of the meeting makes clear the difference in ridership between the two alignments.
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.