[speedgibson] Speed Gibson: SWLRT? NIMBY!

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Posted by Speed Gibson:
SWLRT? NIMBY!
http://speedgibson.powerblogs.com/posts/1224091915.shtml


   The Central Corridor Light Rail Project is years away and already our
   central planners are floating the next turd: the Southwest LRT to Eden
   Prairie. Yesterday's Minneapolis Star Tribune reports that this one is
   [1]running into some Not In My Back Yard resistance.

     The 14-mile Southwest transitway will traverse an urban landscape
     far different from those of the Hiawatha Line and Central Corridor,
     which mostly were plotted along busy four-to-six-lane roads.

   I've walked and biked through the upscale Kenwood / Bryn Mawr / Lake
   of the Isles neighborhoods this train is supposed to use and it's just
   what the paper reports, with many homes within 100 feet at many
   points. This isn't an old train yard, this is prime real estate in
   Minneapolis due to the adjacent lakes and parks.

     "Choking a scenic byway with frequent rail crossings" is not in the
     park's best interest, said Matthew Dalquist, a member of the
     Cedar-Isles-Dean neighborhood board, at a hearing last week.

   Another option is to bypass via Nicollet to Lake Street, chugging
   through Uptown, or even further to the east, possibly via a tunnel.
   The residents worry about the noise. Indeed, have you noticed how
   squeaky the Hiawatha cars are? Business owners are concerned with the
   extensive disruption during construction, just like the business
   owners along the Central Corridor along University Avenue.
   The big loser of course will be the taxpayers, with yet another white
   elephant requiring endless subsidies.

References

   1. http://www.startribune.com/local/west/30924814.html?elr=KArksUUUU