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I was living in Twin City at the time also, and the loss of the T-Mobile tower made finding loved ones a bit difficult. Your history of the metro light rail is

I was living in Twin City at the time also, and the loss of the T-Mobile tower made finding loved ones a bit difficult. Your history of the metro light rail is a bit off. The rail was pushed by Gov. Jesse Ventura (who the Republicans and Democrats would surely not claim). It was opposed by Pawlenty, but he relented on a smaller line to get the federal money. The state government under Pawlenty funded in via a bonding bill for $37.5 million. That didn't pay for it though. It took almost $100 million from the state and money from various other regional players with over $150 more million from the feds. It has not met its promised ridership goals, and it will never relieve congestion. All of this money could have gone to fixing the roads instead of funding a train that kills people because of a bad route in Minneapolis that once was a turn. Never mind the whole problem with the U. Check the stats on transportation to see how important those bridges are to business as commuter numbers are not the whole issue. Those daily congestion issues can be blamed on not wanting to expand the highways. The long proposed 294 and 894 would have done more than then the light rail.

knz 10y ago
I was referring to the new LRT corridors.The Hiawatha line was built before I came to MN. You are absolutely correct that metro funding via Met Council made up much of the cost. The most recent LRT line hit its ridership goals within one year (2014 instead of 2030 - https://www.mprnews.org/story/2014/09/19/green-line-ridership https://www.mprnews.org/story/2014/09/19/green-line-ridershi...). The Hiawatha line is also doing well - exceeding 2020 goals in 2016. People die on 94/694/494 all the time as well unfortunately. I'm not familiar with 294 and 894, will definitely read up on them. Thanks for the debate/information!
- protomyth 10y ago
  > I was referring to the new LRT corridors. The Hiawatha line was built before I came to MN. You are absolutely correct that metro funding via Met Council made up much of the cost. I left in 2008 but still visit. All my relatives and friends move to MN after I moved back to ND. I try not to take that personally :). Someone needs to seriously fix the north west metro. I think the working name for 294/894 switched a couple of time so it might be "extended loop" or some bypass name. It was supposed to surround the larger metro area since 494/694 is basically an interior road. I'm glad someone is using it, but I do believe the federal application had a different ridership goal / promise. I just wish they had elevated it. Thanks for staying civil, its been a rough couple of months here.

knz 10y ago

I was referring to the new LRT corridors.The Hiawatha line was built before I came to MN. You are absolutely correct that metro funding via Met Council made up much of the cost. The most recent LRT line hit its ridership goals within one year (2014 instead of 2030 - https://www.mprnews.org/story/2014/09/19/green-line-ridership https://www.mprnews.org/story/2014/09/19/green-line-ridershi...). The Hiawatha line is also doing well - exceeding 2020 goals in 2016. People die on 94/694/494 all the time as well unfortunately. I'm not familiar with 294 and 894, will definitely read up on them. Thanks for the debate/information!

protomyth 10y ago
> I was referring to the new LRT corridors. The Hiawatha line was built before I came to MN. You are absolutely correct that metro funding via Met Council made up much of the cost. I left in 2008 but still visit. All my relatives and friends move to MN after I moved back to ND. I try not to take that personally :). Someone needs to seriously fix the north west metro. I think the working name for 294/894 switched a couple of time so it might be "extended loop" or some bypass name. It was supposed to surround the larger metro area since 494/694 is basically an interior road. I'm glad someone is using it, but I do believe the federal application had a different ridership goal / promise. I just wish they had elevated it. Thanks for staying civil, its been a rough couple of months here.