Most of the recent debate over rail has been between those who want to spend more money on light rail and those who prefer spending the money on roads and buses.
On Sunday, though, the Pioneer Press had a look at a light issue that hasn’t garnered as much attention: Is the east metro getting its share of rail projects?
The paper notes that St. Paul’s only rail line right now is Amtrak and that the city is on track to add just one light rail line, the Central Corridor Light Rail line running between Minneapolis and St. Paul. Minneapolis, on the other hand, could someday be the starting point of the Hiawatha, Southwest, Bottineau, Central Corridor and Northstar lines.
Some east metro legislators say that’s not fair. State officials and Hennepin County commissioners counter that lines require a certain amount of density to work and that previous east metro rail proposals fell through because of neighborhood opposition.
Click here to read the full Pioneer Press story.
Patch wants to know what you think. Does it makes sense to concentrate so much of the metro’s rail projects west of the river or should the state give our neighbors on the east side more rail options? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
This "unfairness" even rang true back when the privately run streetcars were criss-crossing the metro area (map here: http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/historical/txu-oclc-6445490-electric_railway-minneapolis-st_paul-1913.jpg ). Twin Cities Rapid Transit went where the money was, and in transit the money is where the people are. As populations grow and suburbs become more dense and roads become choked with busses (Have you seen how often busses go by on University? Yes, that road needs something higher capacity to move all those people!), then we can expand rail service. People can crow all they want about St. Paul getting the short end of the stick, but until there's more density and more demand on that side of the metro then there's no point in wasting our money on underutilized transportation projects. These systems don't get built in a day, and they'll get built where they're needed most first.
If I get a moment, I'll flip through my copy of Twin Cities by Trolley. I'm pretty sure that the book lists the most profitable streetcar lines, and I'm also sure that the light rail lines currently in the works generally follow the most profitable lines from the old system. Even a century ago it made more sense to invest more into transit on the Minneapolis side of the metro.