148 replies to this topic

[Sloan]

 

 

Minneapolis City Council transportation committee approves SWLRT plans

The Kennilworth Trail alongside a current freight train track that has been a proposed route for the Southwest Corridor light-rail line.

 

The Minneapolis Transportation and Public Works Committee on Tuesday voted in favor of the $1.77 billion Southwest light-rail line, despite concerns by several area residents about the safety of the state’s largest transit project.

http://www.startribu...lans/327727901/

Edited by Sloan, 15 September 2015 - 12:46 PM.

[KevinKorell]

Minneapolis, MN Star-Tribune, 9/15/15:

 

 

Minnetonka, Eden Prairie and Hopkins approve scaled-back SWLRT plans

 

 

Three cities along the Southwest light-rail line have approved scaled-back plans for the controversial $1.77 billion transit project this week.

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[KevinKorell]

Minneapolis, MN Star-Tribune, 9/25/15:

 

Minneapolis City Council gives OK for SWLRT — again

 

The $1.77 billion Southwest light-rail line cleared an important hurdle Friday, winning approval for a second time from Minneapolis. But legal opposition and stubborn budget challenges continue to dog the most expensive transit project in state history.

The latest

[KevinKorell]

KARE-TV, Channel 11 in Minneapolis, MN, 11/8/15:

 

Light rail protest highlights loss of trees

 

Dozens of people held a protest Saturday along Minneapolis' Kenilworth Trail.

 

Those in attendance oppose plans to build the Southwest Light Rail Transit next to the trail because they say thousands of trees will be lost. They believe it would significantly damage Minneapolis air quality.

More here.

[KevinKorell]

Progressive Railroading, 12/30/15:

Minneapolis Green Line Extension funding passes 80 percent mark

The Minneapolis area's Metropolitan Council has secured more than 80 percent of local funding for the Metro Green Line light-rail extension project.

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[KevinKorell]

Minneapolis, MN Star-Tribune, 4/18/16:

 

Franken urges state funding for Southwest Corridor light rail

 

U.S. Sen. Al Franken visited the proposed future light rail stop in Hopkins Sunday morning to warn that nearly $900 million in federal funding for the Southwest Corridor light-rail line will be lost if state legislators don’t fund the state’s smaller share this year.

More

[KevinKorell]

Minneapolis, MN Star-Tribune, 4/3/16:
 

 

Affordable housing a must along Southwest LRT, according to strategy

 
Despite the widespread notion that the Southwest light-rail line would cater to professionals commuting from the wealthy western suburbs, the train also will cut past working-class homes with incomes well below the metro median.

 

Read

[KevinKorell]

Minneapolis, MN Star-Tribune, 2/22/16:

 

8-year-old Hopkins boy wants to donate his cancer money to Southwest light rail line

 

Karlis Barobs, 8, hopes to see the Southwest line come to his hometown. So he wants to donate a share of the $300 his classmates raised for him after they learned he has cancer. 

 

Article

[Sloan]

 

 

Feds release final environmental review of Southwest light rail

Plans for the Southwest Corridor light rail project have passed another milestone: The Federal Transit Authority has published the 17,000-page final environmental impact statement for the proposed Minneapolis-to-Eden Prairie line.

 

http://www.mprnews.o...west-light-rail

[CNJRoss]

Progressive Railroading, 5/16:
 

FTA issues FEIS on Minneapolis' Green Line light-rail extension

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) late last week published a final environmental impact statement (FEIS) for Metro Transit's $1.79 billion Green Line light-rail extension project in Minneapolis and nearby suburbs.

 

The document's release follows years of public feedback and technical analysis completed in conjunction with project staff from the Metropolitan Council. The FEIS responds to comments received on a draft environmental statement and a supplemental environmental statement, which were released in 2012 and 2015, respectively.

Some of the key adjustments examined by the FEIS include installing resilient track fasteners in a Minneapolis light-rail tunnel, adjusting horn and bell usage and building sound walls. The document also calls for moving the alignment in Eden Prairie, Minn., to address concerns about impacts to business entrances along Technology Drive and bringing the line closer to the Eden Prairie Center mall.

 

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