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85-446: The Southwest LRT ( Metro Green Line Extension) is an under–construction 14.5-mile (23.3 km) light rail transit corridor in Hennepin County, Minnesota , with service between Minneapolis and Eden Prairie . The estimated one-way travel time from Southwest Station in Eden Prairie to Target Field Station in Minneapolis is 32 minutes. The Southwest LRT will extend through St. Louis Park , Hopkins and Minnetonka along

170-521: A light rail transit (LRT) option using light rail vehicles (LRVs). In May 2006 the CCCC concluded its study by publishing a Draft Environmental Impact Study, which concluded that LRT was the best option for the corridor. After a period of public meetings and public comment, the CCCC recommended on June 6, 2006, that the Metropolitan Council select LRT as the locally preferred alternative for

255-459: A 2010 budget of $ 3.5 million and generated $ 1.3 million in revenue (37% farebox recovery ratio). Route 16 carried about 5 million passengers, with weekday ridership averaging 16,880 and Saturday and Sunday ridership averaging 12,082 and 7,110, respectively. Route 50 carried about 1.5 million riders over the course of the year, with weekday ridership averaging 6,886. Metro Transit also provides weekday express bus service along Interstate 94 between

340-631: A bicyclist was stuck and killed by a light rail train at the Raymond Avenue Station, the tenth fatality since the line opened. The 11th fatality occurred on May 29, 2024, when a bicyclist was struck and killed by a Green Line train near the Minnesota State Capitol and the Rice Street station during the afternoon rush hour around 4:15PM. The 12th death happened shortly after 3:30 p.m. on July 23rd, 2024, when

425-547: A bridge, and enters the railroad corridor. It turns east into Hopkins, and passes under US 169 . It goes east, and has four more stations before entering Minneapolis. It turns north, and enters a tunnel. Upon exiting the tunnel, it has three stations, and passes under I-394 and I-94 . It leaves the railroad, enters Royalston, and terminates at Target Field . In 1988, the Hennepin County Regional Railroad Authority (HCRRA) identified

510-517: A city block parcel at 28th Street and Nicollet where the 3C Route would turn from the Midtown Greenway trench onto or under Nicollet Avenue. HCMC built a clinic on the site that does not incorporate a light rail station or easement into the building. That would have prevented the 3C route from turning at this location since there is not enough space for tracks to make the minimum required turning radius. During public input phases in 2007–2008

595-578: A day, seven days a week, but as of 2019 trains are replaced by buses from 2 am to 4 am on weekdays. In 2018, the line carried a total of 13.8 million passengers. The route is a descendant of the Twin City Rapid Transit Company 's St. Paul–Minneapolis streetcar line, also referred to as the Interurban line. Streetcars became practical along the route with the advent of electrification , and full service began along

680-569: A fleet of 27 vehicles for the Southwest LRT. An order for these 27 Siemens S700 vehicles was placed in October 2016. These used a modified center- truck design that allowed sideways-facing seating in the center section, for better passenger flow. In 2018, Siemens adopted a new model number, S700 , for S70 LRVs that used the new center-section design, and in 2020 it retroactively applied the new designation to all previous S70 LRVs built to

765-529: A male runner, was struck and killed on October 8, 2018, around 4:30 p.m., near Hamline Avenue; he died at the hospital. A seventh person, a male pedestrian at the Stadium Village station near the University of Minnesota, was run over and killed by a departing train early on April 20, 2019, after he fell between two of its cars. On August 30, 2019, the eighth fatality, a female pedestrian,

850-484: A neighboring condominium. In mid-April 2022, after inspecting the damage to the condo, engineers cleared the tunnel work to resume. In March 2023, however, condominium owners at the affected building reported that damage related to light rail construction was worsening, to which the Metropolitan Council replied that the condo owners association had not filed any claims related to new damage. In March 2023,

935-740: A pedestrian transit mall and have opposed using the Washington Avenue bridge, citing traffic concerns, along with the age of the bridge, when other bridges upriver could be used to cross the Mississippi River: the 10th Avenue Bridge , the new I-35W bridge or the Northern Pacific Bridge Number 9 . This last option was preferred by the University of Minnesota , which feared traffic disruption and vibration at some of their research facilities from use of

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1020-467: A pedestrian was struck and killed near the intersection of University Avenue and Syndicate Street. The Minnesota Metro Green Line had a causal impact of improving people's access to health care by providing reliable public transportation. Researchers from the University of Minnesota , Harvard Medical School , and the Urban Institute conducted a Difference in differences study and found that

1105-592: A rebuilt skyway in St. Paul and the construction of Green Line facilities at St. Paul Union Station. Due to scope of project, a venture was created by C.S. McCrossan and Ames to complete an area known as The Civil West Project. This area extended from the west side of the 35W abutment, over the Mississippi River, through the UofM campus and ending at Bedford St. From Bedford to Saint Paul, Walsh Construction served as

1190-596: A station at the north/western terminus of the Blue and Green Lines. The two light rail lines share trackage through downtown. The eastern terminus of the Green Line is a street level station in front of the Saint Paul Union Depot , considered one of the great architectural achievements in the city and formerly one of the main points of departure for area train riders up until passenger rail service in

1275-496: A trench, and passes under 37 bridges, with 20 (as of 2019) of them being built in 1916 or earlier. It has an at-grade junction with 28th Street, and then crosses Hiawatha Avenue on the Martin Olav Sabo Bridge . The trail continues east, and crosses Minnehaha Avenue at-grade. It continues east and crosses local streets. It crosses over 31st Avenue, and 36th Avenue, and passes north of Brackett Park. It then leaves

1360-697: A year after the original planned release in January 2014. To bring costs within the original budget, Metropolitan Council members proposed measures such as eliminating the Mitchell Road station in Eden Prairie or decreasing the size of the Hopkins maintenance facility. A reduced $ 1.744 billion budget for the line was approved by the Metropolitan Council in July 2015. Changes from the original plan included

1445-593: Is the case with many other light rail lines constructed in the U.S. during the last decade. This led to some delays for the Central Corridor project because local transit officials were forced to retool ridership models before submitting projections to the Federal Transit Administration (FTA). The Metropolitan Council, which operates Metro Transit, submitted numbers showing that a light rail line would carry 43,000 passengers daily by

1530-622: The Bottineau LRT as an official part of the Metro Council's project list. The Metropolitan Council began design work in 2013, after the completion of the draft Environmental Impact Statement. Several possible routing variations were evaluated to determine the final routing of the line. There was local debate about the route the line would take between the Chain of Lakes and downtown Minneapolis. Routes 1A and 3A (the chosen route) use

1615-533: The Central Corridor , the interurban corridor roughly following University Avenue in the Twin Cities area. After a long period of examination, this committee narrowed transit options for the corridor from a broad universe of choices to just three: a no-build option where services are only incrementally improved, a bus rapid transit (BRT) option, wherein buses run on semi-dedicated transitway, and

1700-608: The Federal Transit Administration has increased the Cost Effectiveness Index such that buildout of one station is now feasible. On January 25, 2010, the FTA announced that the three "infill" stations will be built. Upon opening, all five stations between Snelling and Rice Street were built - Hamline Ave, Lexington Pkwy, Victoria St, Dale St, and Western Ave. Many businesses along the line were opposed to its development because of reduced access for automobiles. Under

1785-699: The Mississippi River . The Freewheel Bike Center, consisting of a bike store and repair shop, as well as shower and locker facilities, opened in May 2008 at the Midtown Exchange near where the Greenway intersects Chicago Avenue, but closed. In 2023, Venture Bikes opened a bike store with similar amenities in the same location. Bike traffic on the Greenway has increased 261% between 2003 and 2011. A fifth phase, which would carry cyclists across

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1870-791: The Reinforced-Concrete Highway Bridges in Minnesota MPS , and then listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad Grade Separation. In 1993, the railroad property was purchased by the Hennepin County Regional Railroad Authority. Phase One of the Greenway opened in August 2000, starting at the intersection of 31st Street and Chowen Avenue, just inside Minneapolis city limits. Running between Lake of

1955-500: The University of Minnesota main campus). It is the second light-rail line in the region, after the Blue Line , which opened in 2004 and connects Minneapolis with the southern suburb of Bloomington . Construction on the Green Line began in late 2010. It opened to the public on June 14, 2014. The travel time between the downtown Minneapolis and downtown St. Paul stops is about 46 minutes. The entire line originally operated 24 hours

2040-681: The Central Corridor Coordinating Committee is now complete. A 2003 study commissioned by the Central Corridor Coordinating Committee placed the cost at US$ 840 million. Cost estimates placed the cost of the light rail line in 2003, at about US$ 957 million, with the increase primarily due to inflation over the following decade. On June 6, 2006, the light rail option was endorsed by the Central Corridor Coordinating Committee. The Metropolitan Council gave final approval to this decision on June 28, 2006. The existing Blue Line has exceeded ridership predictions, as

2125-556: The Central Corridor line which had a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) drawn up in 1982. It took another two decades before the Blue Line light rail line began operation. It began service on June 26, 2004, just over 50 years since the last regular-service streetcar ran on June 19, 1954. The Central Corridor Coordinating Committee was a workgroup in the Minneapolis - St. Paul area set up to explore transit options for

2210-670: The Council accepted an $ 800 million construction bid for a section of the construction by Lunda Construction and C.S. McCrossan. In 2018 construction of the line was the State of Minnesota's largest public works project and is happening in all five cities to be served by the line is. The project is known to disrupt major trails such as the Cedar Lake LRT Regional Trail and the Kenilworth Trail . The line

2295-566: The Green Line between St. Paul and Fairview Ave Station. Route 50 formerly operated alongside Route 16 during weekdays, but with stops generally spaced about one-half mile apart. It was discontinued when the Green Line entered service. After the Green Line opened, Route 16 service was cut back from 1 AM to 5 AM, frequency was reduced to every 20 minutes and the route was truncated at the University of Minnesota. In 2010, route 16 had an operating budget of $ 10 million and generated $ 3.7 million in revenue (a farebox recovery ratio of 37%), while Route 50 had

2380-526: The Hamline, Victoria and Western stations "with the understanding that, if the CEI increases or other dollars are made available by mid-summer 2008, the first claim on those dollars would be one of the infill stations." The Metropolitan Council has included this infrastructure work in their Draft Environmental Impact Statement and has also committed to building one station if any funds become available. As of 2009,

2465-815: The Isles and Bde Maka Ska , the Greenway enters the 29th Street trench near Hennepin Avenue. Phase Two opened in November 2004, running from 5th Avenue to Hiawatha Avenue. The rest of the Greenway to the Mississippi River opened as Phase Three in September 2006. In fall of 2007, the new Martin Olav Sabo Bridge was opened by Hennepin County and the city as Phase Four, eliminating a dangerous at-grade crossing at seven-lane Hiawatha Avenue. A 5.5 mile section of

2550-572: The Kenilworth Corridor (which routes '1A' and '3A' would run on). The corridor is home to the Kenilworth Trail , a scenic bike and pedestrian trail that runs adjacent to a rarely used freight rail line. In Whittier, disruption to Nicollet Avenue by the '3C' route had brought concern to business owners regarding Eat Street as a business, restaurant and retail corridor of the Whittier neighborhood. The Bryn Mawr neighborhood has favored

2635-548: The Kenilworth Corridor, a dedicated stretch of right-of-way owned by the HCRRA to be used for future rail transit. Route 3C would have the tracks run much further east through the trench used by the Midtown Greenway before turning north at Nicollet Avenue , where it would have run in a tunnel for part of the way downtown. On May 26, 2010, the Metropolitan Council approved route 3A as the locally preferred alternative for

Southwest LRT - Misplaced Pages Continue

2720-579: The Metropolitan Council ($ 103.5 million),the Counties Transit Improvement Board ($ 20.5 million) and Hennepin County ($ 20.5 million) to close the $ 144.5 million gap. On February 15, 2017, the Metropolitan Council announced that the Southwest LRT design and engineering phase would be complete at the end of 2017. As of late February 2022 work at the Kenilworth tunnel had been stopped since January that year due to damage to

2805-520: The Metropolitan Council sued the agency alleging fraud and mismanagement related to multiple change orders. In March 2024, a local resident identified poor workmanship on track lines. Safety regulations require 25 feet of separation between light rail track placement and freight tracks, but the light rail tracks were placed with only 24 feet of separation. The delays and cost overruns of the Southwest Light Rail line renewed calls to reform

2890-526: The Metropolitan Council, resulting a state legislative task force and a law passed in giving the Minnesota Department of Transportation more oversight of future transit projects. Construction bids were revealed publicly on August 15, 2017 but were rejected for being too costly and non-responsive (Bids did not meet the requirements). As of May 2018, the Metropolitan Council estimated the building costs to be at $ 2.003 billion. On November 15, 2018,

2975-588: The Metropolitan Council. A settlement between MPR and other involved parties will keep the light rail trains on Cedar Street and will also compensate MPR for the addition of sound-proof upgrades to their studios. Construction is in progress for an extension to the Green Line. The line is to be extended to Southwest Station in Eden Prairie along the Southwest LRT . The extension will add 16 additional stations and 14.5 miles (23.3 km) of trackage to

3060-538: The Minnesota Office of the Legislative Auditor reported that in planning construction for the Southwest LRT, the Metropolitan Council obligated funds that it did not have and failed to develop a contingency plan if the required project funding did not materialize. The Metropolitan Council had solicited bids for civil construction with project specifications it knew to be incomplete. After bidding

3145-565: The Mississippi River, has an undetermined completion date. Planners hoped to use the Short Line Bridge to St. Paul , though the Canadian Pacific Railway (successor to Milwaukee Road) has not been receptive to the proposal. In addition, engineers have expressed concerns over the safety of the bridge. Currently plans to use the extra Greenway right-of-way for a streetcar line is also under consideration and has

3230-551: The Southwest transitway from Hopkins to downtown Minneapolis as a future LRT corridor. In 2002 and 2003, the HCRRA conducted the Southwest Rail Transit Study to evaluate twelve possible light rail routes in the southwest transitway. Of the twelve routes, eight were eliminated and four were selected for further analysis: routes 1A, 2A, 3A and 4A. On March 4, 2009, the FTA approved a $ 2 million study of

3315-523: The St. Paul and Minneapolis downtown areas. Siemens Industry Incorporated built 47 S70 Light Rail Vehicles for the Green Line, at a per-LRV cost of $ 3,297,714 and a total contract value of $ 154,992,558. The LRVs were built in Florin, California , and the first vehicle was delivered on October 10, 2012. During testing of the Green line before it opened, there were four accidents recorded. One accident

3400-567: The United States was restructured in the 1960s and 1970s. The concourse of the Union Depot is planned to become a transfer point for people coming into St. Paul along the proposed Rush Line and Gold Line bus rapid transit lines. As of June 2014, Union Depot is a transit center for Metro Transit, MVTA, Jefferson Lines, Megabus, Greyhound buses, and Amtrak 's Empire Builder and Borealis trains. Metro Transit Route 16 parallels

3485-403: The Washington Avenue route. In late summer 2008, preliminary engineering reports showed that mitigation work could negate the effects of vibrations on university laboratory equipment. The University of Minnesota renewed its objections over vibration concerns along Washington Avenue in late 2009. Negotiations between the Metropolitan Council and the university continued into early 2010. A compromise

Southwest LRT - Misplaced Pages Continue

3570-489: The central business districts of Minneapolis and Saint Paul in Minnesota as well as the University of Minnesota. An extension is under construction that will extend the line to the southwest connecting St. Louis Park , Hopkins , Minnetonka and Eden Prairie . The line follows the path of former Metro Transit bus route 16 along University Avenue and Washington Avenue (which runs from downtown Minneapolis through

3655-418: The chair of the committee, Hennepin County commissioner Gail Dorfman, refused to allow debate over concerns with the Kenilworth Corridor alignment. They also allege that County planners manipulated cost benefit calculations of the different route options to lead to preference for the Kenilworth alignment. Advocates of the 3C route wanted the line to directly serve Uptown and Eat Street , and feel that routing

3740-582: The city. The Greenway lies in a former Milwaukee Road railroad corridor along 29th Street. This corridor had been abandoned west of Hiawatha Avenue but is still active east of Hiawatha as part of the Minnesota Commercial Railway . The rail line was originally built between 1879 and 1881; however, as traffic increased, the city of Minneapolis mandated a trench be built between Hiawatha and Irving avenues in 1910. The trench, bridges and retaining walls were evaluated in 1989 as part of

3825-583: The company was taken over by the Metropolitan Transit Commission, a precursor to Metro Transit. In 1972, the Regional Fixed Guideway Study for the Metropolitan Transit Commission (the forerunner of today's Metro Transit) proposed a $ 1.3 billion 37- or 57-mile (sources differ) heavy-rail rapid transit system, but the then-separate Metropolitan Council disagreed with that idea – refusing to even look at

3910-442: The corridor and apply for preliminary engineering to begin. On June 28, 2006, the Metropolitan Council concurred with the CCCC's decision and officially selected LRT as the locally preferred alternative. Metropolitan Council manages all transit, waterway, and other public resources for the seven-county area surrounding the Twin Cities, and as such, the Central Corridor project will now transition to Metropolitan Council. The work of

3995-458: The council accepted an $ 800 million construction bid by Lunda Construction and C.S. McCrossan, with early construction starting in December 2018. The project has had numerous construction delays, especially at the site of a tunnel near the Kenilworth Trail corridor. The delays have increased the cost of the project from an estimated $ 1.3 billion in 2013 to $ 2.86 billion in 2024 and pushed back

4080-518: The council released an updated analysis of the project, with projected costs raised by more than $ 300 million to $ 1.994 billion, largely as a result of additional sitework and ground preparation due to poor soil along the route. The expected opening date of the line was also pushed back to 2020, as a result of delays to the next draft of the Environmental Impact Statement, which was expected to be released in May 2015, more than

4165-554: The deletion of the Mitchell Road terminus, removal of planned station art, and the deferral of the Eden Prairie Town Center station. On May 22, 2016, the Minnesota Legislature was unable to agree on whether to fund the State of Minnesota's 10% portion of the project. On August 31, 2016, the State's 10% portion ($ 144.5 million) was funded by Certificates of Participation by three government bodies:

4250-429: The disruption to existing transit and pedestrian ways was a concern to some groups. There is also concern that stops for light rail will be placed too far apart and along with reductions in bus service, transportation options for people will be reduced. Others are concerned about gentrification , where rising property values and taxes could force out lower-income residents. Others have opposed using Washington Avenue for

4335-671: The expected opening date first from 2018 to 2023, then to 2027, resulting in criticism of the Metropolitan Council and Hennepin County for mismanagement. The Southwest LRT is the most expensive public works project in Minnesota history. The line begins at the Southwest Transit Station in Eden Prairie, passing Eden Prairie's Town Center and crosses US 212 and I-494 . It goes into the Golden Triangle, under MN 62 , and into Opus. It crosses into Minnetonka on

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4420-403: The final plans, 87% of on-street parking disappeared along University Avenue between Raymond Avenue and Rice Street. At least one restaurant has cited light rail construction as a reason for closing. The corridor contains working-class residents and immigrant populations from Laos and Vietnam . Although the Green Line construction is mostly on an existing roadway and no land will be condemned,

4505-401: The final three proposed routes faced opposition by some members of two Minneapolis neighborhoods, Kenwood and Whittier . Kenwood's neighborhood organization released an official neighborhood stance against the line with Whittier's organization debating to release a stance. In Kenwood, one of the wealthiest neighborhoods, their criticism involves disruption to natural parkland and noise though

4590-568: The future of the project was in doubt until May 18, 2008, when a revised bonding bill including the $ 70 million for the Central Corridor was passed in the Legislature and signed into law by the governor. In August 2009 the Central Corridor project received a Record of Decision from the Federal Transit Administration. The FTA found the project to have fully and accurately completed its environmental documentation with

4675-425: The general contractor. In July 2011, the Metropolitan Council officially named the Central Corridor as the Green Line. As of August 2013, construction was completed and test trains began running over the line which opened to the public on June 14, 2014. An interesting component of the Green Line project was the complexities in design layout. Land surveyors worked directly with over twelve subcontractors to complete

4760-437: The greenway was resurfaced in 2021 using a technique called "microsurfacing". The same section was paved again in September 2022 with normal asphalt after a public petition got more than 2,000 signatures over concerns that the new surface was too rough and potentially unsafe. The Greenway consists of two one-way bike lanes and one two-way walking path, though they are combined in some places with space constrictions. Because of

4845-534: The historic nature of the corridor, it cannot easily be widened or modified. The Greenway starts near a Lake Street overpass, and continues to the Kenilworth Trail junction. It turns due east, and crosses Dean Parkway on a bridge. It goes in between Bde Maka Ska and Lake of the Isles . it passes over a channel and parkway connecting the two lakes on separate bridges. It has three at grade intersections, at James, Irving, and Humboldt Avenues. It goes into

4930-531: The light rail may produce. Some in favor of the line have expressed concern with the number of stations. The neighborhoods along University have demanded that the line have stations every half-mile, from Snelling to Rice Street, which would mean stations at Hamline Avenue, Victoria Street and Western Avenue. In February 2008, the Central Corridor Management Committee passed a resolution to include below-ground infrastructure for

5015-481: The light rail will be in addition to this existing track. Operating the two LRT tracks adjacent to the Twin Cities & Western Railroad line (four freight trains each day) will require Metro Transit to purchase a standard $ 300 Million insurance policy holding the railroad harmless for any accidents caused by derailments of freight or LRT trains. The annual premium cost of this policy is approximately $ 1.5 Million. Members of Southwest Policy Advisory Committee allege that

5100-465: The line through the Kenilworth Corridor would be a missed opportunity for increased ridership and better transit in this area of Minneapolis. Some Eat Street business owners were concerned that the access and traffic problems resulting from the construction period on Nicollet Avenue would severely affect their business. Engineers indicated Nicollet Avenue may have been tunneled instead of at-grade. In early 2008, Hennepin County Medical Center acquired

5185-506: The line, extending through St. Louis Park , Hopkins and Minnetonka . The estimated one-way travel time from Southwest Station in Eden Prairie to Target Field Station in Minneapolis is 32 minutes. Delays including neighborhood opposition from the Kenwood neighborhood and additional studies on the environmental effects of the Southwest Corridor have pushed back the planned opening to 2027. The Northstar Line commuter rail line connects downtown Minneapolis with northwestern suburbs, with

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5270-494: The line. There was a protracted debate over the route choice in the years leading up to this decision, with many parties strongly opposed to the final route choice. The final choice in favor of 3A was made for several reasons, including its favorable Cost Effectiveness Index (CEI) score and its relatively lower environmental impacts. The Kenilworth Corridor was acquired by the HCRRA to preserve it for future rail transit. The Kenilworth routing would have provided shorter ride times for

5355-445: The majority of the line's users compared to the 3C routing. It is also less expensive to build and operate. Supporters of a network alignment propose that a streetcar or trolley line be installed alongside the Midtown Greenway to connect the Southwest LRT line to the existing Blue Line ; however, this will not occur. Rather LRT will be used for the full stretch of the line. The Midtown Greenway Coalition has long supported and promoted

5440-458: The network alignment. The group successfully prevented the trench from being used for a busway and instead pitched the idea of the trench being used for a potential streetcar line. Some residents living adjacent to the Kenilworth Corridor favored the 3C route because they were concerned about the noise and disturbance of the trains passing through the corridor near their homes. The Kenilworth Corridor presently contains an active freight rail line and

5525-408: The new design; as a result, all of Metro Transit's type III LRVs (301–327) are now Siemens model S700. The first two of 27 Siemens S700 light rail vehicles ordered for the project were delivered to Metro Transit on May 21, 2020. Metro Green Line (Minnesota) The Metro Green Line (formerly called the Central Corridor) is an 11-mile (18 km) light rail line that connects

5610-417: The opening of the light rail line had a causal impact on reducing the rate of missed doctors appointments. Other transit in the United States: Midtown Greenway Used both recreationally and for commuting, the partially below-grade Greenway runs east–west about one block north of Lake Street . It provides cyclists , inline skaters , runners and pedestrians an almost automobile-free route across

5695-486: The plan – and continuing political battles meant that it was never implemented. The Met Council had its own plans for bus rapid transit in the metropolitan region. Another system using smaller people movers was proposed in the 1975 Small Vehicle Fixed Guideway Study and gained the most traction with the Saint Paul city council, but was eventually dropped in 1980. In the 1980s, light rail was proposed as an alternative and several possible corridors were identified, including

5780-464: The portion with poor soils. In January 2022 Metropolitan Council officials changed the expected opening to 2027 with increased costs between $ 450 and $ 550 million expected. Initial construction began in late 2018 with brush removal, and heavy construction of the line began in 2019. The project reached its 25% completion milestone in August 2020 and a 50% completion in July 2021. In 2016, the Metropolitan Council reserved $ 118 million to Siemens to build

5865-403: The project, with a then-anticipated opening date in 2015. On May 26, 2010, the Metropolitan Council voted to approve the locally preferred alternative advanced by Hennepin County . The project at that point transferred to Metropolitan Council control and at the time was expected to begin service in 2018. Since receiving approval from the Metropolitan Council on May 26, 2010, the Southwest LRT joins

5950-433: The publication of the Final Environmental Impact statement earlier in the summer, thus clearing the project for final design. The first construction began in late 2010, including work in downtown St. Paul and near the University of Minnesota campus. By November 2011, construction was about 32% complete, including most heavy construction such as the installation of track segments, a new bridge, partial completion of stations,

6035-454: The railroad grade and terminates at West River Parkway. To the west the Greenway connects directly to what was called the Southwest LRT Trail , named after the future light rail with which it will share right-of-way , but is now called the South Cedar Lake Trail overseen by Three Rivers Park District. It also connects to the Kenilworth Trail (which in turn connects to the North Cedar Lake Trail ) providing access to downtown Minneapolis and

6120-597: The route on December 9, 1890. In the 1950s, a decision was made to convert the streetcar system to buses . Streetcar service along the Interurban line ended in Saint Paul on October 31, 1953, and the route was the last to carry passengers in the city. Service continued a short while longer in Minneapolis, until November 28. However, due to fragmentary service elsewhere in Minneapolis, streetcars continued to use

6205-571: The route. Major locations on the line will include Bde Maka Ska , Cedar Lake , the Walker Art Center , the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden and Target Field in downtown Minneapolis. Hennepin County selected the alignment of the route and worked with the Metropolitan Council on environmental impact statements for the project. The Metropolitan Council is managing construction of the route. On November 15, 2018,

6290-510: The routes moving through the Kenilworth Corridor as it supports their redevelopment plans. Also, suburban cities have received the proposals favorably with concern over routing within their cities than opposition of the line itself. The 3A route through job centers in Eden Prairie garnered approval from its City Council. Hopkins also proposed routing the line through their downtown Main Street, but it will instead be routed nearby. In April 2015,

6375-543: The time of the collision and was subsequently treated for injuries and released from the hospital. In response to the Westlake crash, in which the train operator illegally ran a red light, Minnesota legislators changed a law that had previously prevented light-rail train operators from being charged in fatal collisions. On January 28, 2018, a female pedestrian was struck and killed, near the intersection of University Avenue and Pascal Street in St. Paul. A sixth fatality,

6460-486: The tracks along University Avenue to reach the shops at Snelling Avenue in Saint Paul until June 1954. The route 16 bus was developed to replace the streetcar, and followed the route of the modern-day Green Line. Other parallel service included freeway express service on route 94 and limited-stop service to the University of Minnesota on route 50. Twin City Lines continued to privately operate buses until 1970, when

6545-507: The western suburbs. At its approximate center, on the west side of Sabo bridge the Greenway connects to Little Earth Trail and the surrounding community, and on the east side of the bridge it connects to Hiawatha LRT Trail that reaches Downtown East and Minnehaha Regional Park at each respective end. To the east, the Greenway connects to West River Parkway, a segment of the Grand Rounds Scenic Byway that runs along

6630-416: The work. A particular area required exclusive attention and support, that being outside the University of Minnesota's biology department. Between Pleasant and Harvard streets there was 1/8" of tolerance between design and as-builds. Control factors used in the biology labs would be impacted by the electromagnetic radiation emitted from the nearby light rail. The 1/8" tolerance is said to cancel out any EMR that

6715-409: The year 2030. The FTA agreed that the line would be cost-effective at this level, a key requirement for obtaining federal funding. In April 2008, Governor Tim Pawlenty initially vetoed $ 70 million in funding for the Central Corridor project, along with other items, from the state budget. The funding was part of a state-local package of $ 227 million necessary to get federal transportation funds, and

6800-574: Was at Portland Avenue and 5th Street in Downtown Minneapolis. This intersection was already in use by Blue Line and is now being shared by the Blue and Green Lines. The first death occurred in August 2014, when Shana Buchanan, former attorney, was struck by a train as she attempted to cross the tracks at Westgate Station . On April 30, 2015, Lynne Thomas, the Minnesota Senate's office of counsel and research receptionist,

6885-422: Was completed, the Metropolitan Council's addition of substantial new or changed work resulted in delays and increased costs. Legislative Auditor Judy Randall noted that the Metropolitan Council was less cooperative than most state agencies they audited, and criticized their lack of transparency in communicating problems related to the Southwest LRT to the public. In January 2024, a whistleblower engineer working for

6970-473: Was expected to be completed in 2023, but unexpected poor soils in the Kenilworth Corridor have delayed the opening. In July 2021 the Metropolitan Council did not have a date when the line will be completed or how delays will affect project cost. In a private call with government stakeholders, the Metropolitan Council expected a delay of at least two years, pushing a late 2025 opening at the earliest. Construction contractors will use alternate construction methods for

7055-468: Was reached between the university and the Metropolitan Council and the Washington Avenue bridge was selected for use. As of Summer 2011, work had begun on the Washington Avenue bridge. In January 2009, Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) raised concerns over the effects of the light-rail trains on their recording studios on Cedar Street in downtown St. Paul. MPR presented the results of an engineering study which they sponsored that conflicted with that performed by

7140-530: Was struck just after 3 p.m. at the Dale Street Station. She was walking north in a crosswalk on University Ave. when she was struck by a westbound train. An eastbound train struck a car near the Rice Street station in the afternoon of July 4, 2021, marking the line's ninth fatality. Another occupant of the car was hospitalized in critical condition, and the train's operator was taken for medical evaluation. Around 10:30 a.m. on June 8, 2022,

7225-404: Was the second pedestrian killed by a Green Line train. On December 10, 2015, pedestrian Nurto Abdi Aden was struck and killed as she crossed the Green Line tracks near Hamline Avenue Station . On July 15, 2017, Nicholas Westlake, 29, died after a train struck his car near University and Highway 280. Westlake's girlfriend and ballroom dance partner Neli Petkova was in the passenger seat at

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