We were not considered.

Apparently, as it now stands, the Met. Council isn't even pretending that the proposed Central Corridor concrete project (for which the Ramsey County pays roughly $100 million to repave University Avenue and Hennepin County pays roughly $30 million to reinforce the 50-year old, fracture-critical, Washington Avenue Bridge) will serve the public transit riders, small independent businesses, and neighborhood residents along University Avenue. According to the notice for public hearings re: the Supplemental Draft EIS, "The Central Corridor Light Rail Transit Project is an approximately 11-mile line that would serve Downtown Minneapolis and St. Paul, as well as the University of Minnesota and the State Capitol complex." The service area between the Capitol and the U, which encompasses more than half of the 11-mile line, isn't even mentioned in the notice.

We were not considered.

Category:

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Tags:

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• grassroots
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• central
• corridor
• lrt
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[summerinside]

You're obviously against Central Corridor, and I'm not trying to change your mind. I've been around long enough to remember the fear and protests around the 55 reroute project leading up to the LRT, and can clearly say that in hindsight that fear was totally unfounded. I welcome new transportation options to and from my neighborhood. Additionally, I can see improvements such as the addition of the midtown farmers market, and new restaurants (The Town Talk Diner and El Nuevo Rodeo).

[centralcorridor]

You obviously don't know what you're talking about. The Hwy 55 project resulted in a horrible highway bypass road running thru Minnehaha Park from 54th Street to the River Road, the bulldozing of a neighborhood of very modest single-family homes, and the loss of greenspace and old growth trees.  The Town Talk diner was on Lake Street decades before the Hwy 55 project was completed.

[summerinside]

Thanks for telling me what I don't know about, and good work maintaining civil dialogue around around improvements to your neighborhood. (and way to make sure you're considered next time around!)

[centralcorridor]

It's a road construction project - not an lrt project. Most of the Longfellow neighborhood is not close to an lrt stop. Is your perspective that of the relatively few Longfellow residents who have walking distance access to the line? The ugly, 8-lane, motorway hellhole, pedestrian wasteland, concrete mess at Lake and 55 is not an improvement. The planned concrete project on University and Washington Aves. is to public transit what Springtime for Hitler is to musical comedy.

[summerinside]

Thank you for asking! My perspective as a resident of Longfellow is that the LRT is an overall addition to the neighborhood. I welcome yet another method of transportation, and the new business developments along the corridor have helped improve the neighborhood (one example being improvements to the area east and west of Lake and 55).

What is your perspective? Are you against the Central Corridor LRT project?

[centralcorridor]

What exactly is your perspective? Do you live near Minnehaha Ave. where the bus service was eliminated? Do you live further east where the HWY55/lrt is largely a non-issue? Are you one of the lucky few in Longfellow who has convenient access to the train? I suspect the Corcoran org. is no more representative of the residents along Cedar Ave., where I used to live, than the city-funded St. Paul orgs. that are backing the concrete project on University Ave.

[summerinside]

First, I live in Longfellow. Second, it's impossible not to see the improvements along the LRT spurred by the improvements to the corridor. You mention Corcoran, but go to the corcoran website (corcoranneighborhood[dot]org) and read about the improvements yourself.

I'm not trying to negate your argument (local residents believe they weren't listened to), I'm just trying to say that from my perspective, the LRT is an overall positive addition to the neighborhood.

[centralcorridor]

Look, I don't know which one, if any, of the neighborhoods you mentioned you actually live/work in. The Seward and Longfellow neighborhoods were doing reasonably well, well before the Hwy. 55 project was completed, and it is questionable whether either neighborhood benefited from the Hwy with the lrt add-on. The Powderhorn neighborhood isn't close to Hwy 55. The Corcoran neighborhood, which is, has seen a decrease in transit service on Cedar, and has not improved as a result of the Hwy55/lrt.

[summerinside]

But look at what the LRT has done for the Seward/Longfellow/Powderhorn neighborhoods. I know that everyone feels NIMBY about any large-scale project, but come to Minneapolis and see the neighborhoods around the LRT.