MINNEAPOLIS-ST. PAUL | Central Corridor LRT | U/C - Page 7

mgk920 · February 22nd, 2012, 09:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ajknee

Hahaha.... I'm officially losing it. I knew that and thank you for correcting me.

Ahem... Minneapolis and St Paul are the only cities on Earth that would make the completion of the skywalk the top priority.

They're now planning to build a skywalk between their downtowns? KEWL!

Mike

spectre000 · April 2nd, 2012, 01:17 AM

They've begun installing a nice copper trim on the station in front of the Union Depot.

spectre000 · April 15th, 2012, 12:40 AM

Some photos from downtown St. Paul.

Future site of the 10th and Cedar station.

There was a huge gap in the track on 4th Street from last year that I always wondered why it hadn't gotten filled in.

Turns out this will be a section where the tracks will cross paths. The rail pieces showed up recently.

spectre000 · April 27th, 2012, 05:40 PM

http://stpaulphotos.com/2012/04/progress-3/

Avian001 · April 28th, 2012, 02:11 AM

After the Central Corridor and the Southwest Line, what is the next step? Are there solid plans for a 4th line?

Jschmuck · April 28th, 2012, 04:21 AM

Quote:

After the Central Corridor and the Southwest Line, what is the next step? Are there solid plans for a 4th line

well the southwest line is having a little trouble....and might be cancelled? can someone verify that? i forgot, it was just in the news couple weeks ago.

spectre000 · April 28th, 2012, 05:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Avian001

After the Central Corridor and the Southwest Line, what is the next step? Are there solid plans for a 4th line?

I think there are plans for a line that runs NW out of downtown Minneapolis. But I wouldn't be surprised if a line went from St. Paul's Union Depot into the SE suburbs (Woodbury, Cottage Grove, etc). The east metro's been complaining about a lack of rail development in their parts.

spectre000 · April 28th, 2012, 05:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jschmuck

well the southwest line is having a little trouble....and might be cancelled? can someone verify that? i forgot, it was just in the news couple weeks ago.

SW LRT isn't getting cancelled. Maybe just delayed a little bit. It took 20 years for the Central Corridor line to get funded.

confused04 · April 28th, 2012, 07:29 PM

Its not dead yet, but it is at a critical juncture.

Essentially, in the next few days or during a special session of the Minnesota Congress, they need to plop down a down payment of $25 million to maintain federal match guarantees. Failing to do so will jeopardize the federal match and perhaps even derail the project for the short to medium term (especially given the Federal Governments reluctance to fund mass transit anymore).

DFL want to put this in the bonding bill but House and Senate Republicans have both refused to put this in their bonding proposals. Dayton of course has but with a $1 billion stadium on the docket, its unlikely his bonding proposal will even be taken seriously. I'm wondering if there will be some back door dealings to perhaps guarantee $25 million in a bonding bill for a few yes votes for the Stadium, although the attention seems to be on Saint Paul DFL delegates regarding Xcel Energy Center debts/Saints stadium. I guess we'll know soon enough.

spectre000 · May 15th, 2012, 04:22 PM

http://www.stpaulrealestateblog.com/

Avian001 · May 16th, 2012, 04:23 AM

If LRT isn't a valid argument for increased development, I'll eat my hat. Is it the case that most inner-city development (in either city) is now dependent upon the LRT lines? If so, what does this say about the strategy of putting money into public transportation?

spectre000 · May 16th, 2012, 04:43 PM

I know a lot of advocates wanted the line built over I-94. That would've been much less disruptive to businesses and traffic. But it wouldn't lead to any of the development were seeing on University Avenue.

There's been a lot of development along the Hiawatha line in Minneapolis and Bloomington. But not nearly as much as I think we will see along the CCLRT. Hiawatha is too wide and really is a highway more than a typical street. University Ave is going to look crazy dense in 10+ years.

spectre000 · May 28th, 2012, 11:22 PM

Some pictures by me from today.

The Cedar Ave bridge over I-94. They cut a hole in the middle of the bridge for the tracks.

The Robert Street station by the Capital. They've started adding some signage, such as "Tickets".

The Central Station.

Union Depot Station. Glass and signage being installed here as well.

Avian001 · June 1st, 2012, 03:09 AM

I have to say that the Central Corridor LRT should have been a combination of a Streetcar running along University and an LRT line running along I-94 with stops in the Midway and the U of M and maybe a couple of other places (Lexington? Dale?). I think there is a good amount of business traffic between the two downtowns that goes unrecognized. But if it takes the bulk of an hour to travel the mere 8 miles between the two downtowns then I doubt that the LRT is an efficient solution.

Avian001 · June 1st, 2012, 03:20 AM

I would also posit that the most logical 4th line would be from the Mall of America/Airport through the West 7th street corridor into downtown St Paul. Eventually, that line would be extended east to Oakdale/Woodbury.

spectre000 · June 1st, 2012, 07:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Avian001

I would also posit that the most logical 4th line would be from the Mall of America/Airport through the West 7th street corridor into downtown St Paul. Eventually, that line would be extended east to Oakdale/Woodbury.

That's a logical route. But I don't see it happening. Waaay too much opposition from the residents and businesses. Of course the same thing didn't stop the CCLRT. It just took 20 years worth of time and effort to finally get this under construction.

Amazes me that it's already half finished.

spectre000 · June 8th, 2012, 07:53 PM

http://stpaulphotos.com/2012/06/four...uction-update/

spectre000 · June 13th, 2012, 07:39 AM

Some pictures from the http://lettherebelightrail.blogspot.com/ site.

spectre000 · June 25th, 2012, 01:43 AM

A couple pics by me today, first one is of the Operations&Maintenance facility in Lowertown, the second shows the start of work on the 10th Street station.

image hosted on flickr

DSCN1202 by spectre 000, on Flickr

image hosted on flickr

DSCN1210 by spectre 000, on Flickr

spectre000 · July 29th, 2012, 05:16 AM

A couple nighttime shots of the Union Depot station. Looks great lit up. Almost like it's open for business.

image hosted on flickr

DSCN1264 by spectre 000, on Flickr

image hosted on flickr

DSCN1265 by spectre 000, on Flickr

April 28th, 2012, 02:11 AM	#125
Avian001 Mostly Sane Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Earth. For Now. Posts: 1,143 Likes (Received): 16	After the Central Corridor and the Southwest Line, what is the next step? Are there solid plans for a 4th line? __________________ “A doctor can bury his mistakes, but an architect can only advise his clients to plant vines.” ― Frank Lloyd Wright

April 28th, 2012, 07:29 PM	#129
confused04 Registered User Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 68 Likes (Received): 0	Its not dead yet, but it is at a critical juncture. Essentially, in the next few days or during a special session of the Minnesota Congress, they need to plop down a down payment of $25 million to maintain federal match guarantees. Failing to do so will jeopardize the federal match and perhaps even derail the project for the short to medium term (especially given the Federal Governments reluctance to fund mass transit anymore). DFL want to put this in the bonding bill but House and Senate Republicans have both refused to put this in their bonding proposals. Dayton of course has but with a $1 billion stadium on the docket, its unlikely his bonding proposal will even be taken seriously. I'm wondering if there will be some back door dealings to perhaps guarantee $25 million in a bonding bill for a few yes votes for the Stadium, although the attention seems to be on Saint Paul DFL delegates regarding Xcel Energy Center debts/Saints stadium. I guess we'll know soon enough. Last edited by confused04; April 28th, 2012 at 07:34 PM.

May 16th, 2012, 04:23 AM	#131
Avian001 Mostly Sane Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Earth. For Now. Posts: 1,143 Likes (Received): 16	If LRT isn't a valid argument for increased development, I'll eat my hat. Is it the case that most inner-city development (in either city) is now dependent upon the LRT lines? If so, what does this say about the strategy of putting money into public transportation? __________________ “A doctor can bury his mistakes, but an architect can only advise his clients to plant vines.” ― Frank Lloyd Wright

June 1st, 2012, 03:09 AM	#134
Avian001 Mostly Sane Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Earth. For Now. Posts: 1,143 Likes (Received): 16	I have to say that the Central Corridor LRT should have been a combination of a Streetcar running along University and an LRT line running along I-94 with stops in the Midway and the U of M and maybe a couple of other places (Lexington? Dale?). I think there is a good amount of business traffic between the two downtowns that goes unrecognized. But if it takes the bulk of an hour to travel the mere 8 miles between the two downtowns then I doubt that the LRT is an efficient solution. __________________ “A doctor can bury his mistakes, but an architect can only advise his clients to plant vines.” ― Frank Lloyd Wright Last edited by Avian001; June 1st, 2012 at 03:29 AM.

June 1st, 2012, 03:20 AM	#135
Avian001 Mostly Sane Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Earth. For Now. Posts: 1,143 Likes (Received): 16	I would also posit that the most logical 4th line would be from the Mall of America/Airport through the West 7th street corridor into downtown St Paul. Eventually, that line would be extended east to Oakdale/Woodbury. __________________ “A doctor can bury his mistakes, but an architect can only advise his clients to plant vines.” ― Frank Lloyd Wright Last edited by Avian001; June 1st, 2012 at 03:25 AM.

April 2nd, 2012, 01:17 AM	#122
spectre000 Registered User Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: St. Paul Posts: 5,023 Likes (Received): 159	They've begun installing a nice copper trim on the station in front of the Union Depot.

April 15th, 2012, 12:40 AM	#123
spectre000 Registered User Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: St. Paul Posts: 5,023 Likes (Received): 159	Some photos from downtown St. Paul. Future site of the 10th and Cedar station. There was a huge gap in the track on 4th Street from last year that I always wondered why it hadn't gotten filled in. Turns out this will be a section where the tracks will cross paths. The rail pieces showed up recently.

April 27th, 2012, 05:40 PM	#124
spectre000 Registered User Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: St. Paul Posts: 5,023 Likes (Received): 159	http://stpaulphotos.com/2012/04/progress-3/

May 15th, 2012, 04:22 PM	#130
spectre000 Registered User Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: St. Paul Posts: 5,023 Likes (Received): 159	http://www.stpaulrealestateblog.com/

May 16th, 2012, 04:43 PM	#132
spectre000 Registered User Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: St. Paul Posts: 5,023 Likes (Received): 159	I know a lot of advocates wanted the line built over I-94. That would've been much less disruptive to businesses and traffic. But it wouldn't lead to any of the development were seeing on University Avenue. There's been a lot of development along the Hiawatha line in Minneapolis and Bloomington. But not nearly as much as I think we will see along the CCLRT. Hiawatha is too wide and really is a highway more than a typical street. University Ave is going to look crazy dense in 10+ years.

May 28th, 2012, 11:22 PM	#133
spectre000 Registered User Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: St. Paul Posts: 5,023 Likes (Received): 159	Some pictures by me from today. The Cedar Ave bridge over I-94. They cut a hole in the middle of the bridge for the tracks. The Robert Street station by the Capital. They've started adding some signage, such as "Tickets". The Central Station. Union Depot Station. Glass and signage being installed here as well.

June 8th, 2012, 07:53 PM	#137
spectre000 Registered User Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: St. Paul Posts: 5,023 Likes (Received): 159	http://stpaulphotos.com/2012/06/four...uction-update/

June 13th, 2012, 07:39 AM	#138
spectre000 Registered User Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: St. Paul Posts: 5,023 Likes (Received): 159	Some pictures from the http://lettherebelightrail.blogspot.com/ site.

June 25th, 2012, 01:43 AM	#139
spectre000 Registered User Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: St. Paul Posts: 5,023 Likes (Received): 159	A couple pics by me today, first one is of the Operations&Maintenance facility in Lowertown, the second shows the start of work on the 10th Street station. image hosted on flickr DSCN1202 by spectre 000, on Flickr image hosted on flickr DSCN1210 by spectre 000, on Flickr

July 29th, 2012, 05:16 AM	#140
spectre000 Registered User Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: St. Paul Posts: 5,023 Likes (Received): 159	A couple nighttime shots of the Union Depot station. Looks great lit up. Almost like it's open for business. image hosted on flickr DSCN1264 by spectre 000, on Flickr image hosted on flickr DSCN1265 by spectre 000, on Flickr

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