Legislators Propose Spending $332M on Transit, New Transit Tax

Minneapolis Sen. Bobby Joe Champion and Brooklyn Park Rep. Melissa Hortman introduced bills Thursday that would also help people walking, bicycling, or using wheelchairs.

A pair of legislators on Thursday introduced a $332 million proposal with a new transit tax, adding to the growing number of proposals to fund transit. Minneapolis Sen. Bobby Joe Champion (DFL District 59) and Brooklyn Park Rep. Melissa Hortman (DFL-District 36B) are proposing to spend an additional $300 million per year in the metro and $32 million in Greater Minnesota on transit and connections for people walking, bicycling or using wheelchairs. Click on the PDFs to the right of this article to read the full bills. "Across the state, people want more options and support investment in public transportation. And they want bicycling and walking to be part of that investment,” a news release quoted Hortman, the chief author of the bill in …

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Do an Unfair Number of Rail Projects Go to Minneapolis, West Metro?

The Pioneer Press reported that some east metro legislators say their regions are being left out of rail plans. Patch wants to know what you think.

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 …

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Matthew Kilanowski

3:25 pm on Monday, January 28, 2013

No idea why Texas has it. And that's not even the full system, the map is from around 20 years before the peak build-out. 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. …   more ›

A Fatal Crash, Sexting and Light Rail Taxes: Feedback Friday

The most thoughtful, moving, controversial or just plain funny comments from around the west metro between Nov. 30 and Dec. 6.

Each week, Patch users contribute numerous insights, opinions and observations. The following is a collection of the most thoughtful, moving, controversial or just plain funny comments that appeared on Patch sites in Eden Prairie, Edina, Golden Valley, Hopkins, Minnetonka, Richfield, Shakopee, Plymouth, St. Louis Park and St. Michael. Click on the headline to read the full story and join in the conversation. (The comments below are not meant to reflect the opinions of Patch or its staff.) *** Bottineau Survey Shows Light Rail Support Members from the Minneapolis Building and Construction Trades Council initiated an unscientific survey of Golden Valley residents to learn more about local feelings for Bottineau. Here's what Patch user Bill …

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Hopkins Approves Agreement With Klodt on Park Nicollet Site

The city will sell the site to Klodt for as much as $1,120,000.

Hopkins and Klodt Cos. at last have an agreement for the much-anticipated mixed-use development on Eighth Avenue. “I can’t tell you how happy I am to be here tonight,” John Bell, Klodt’s vice president of construction and development, said at the Tuesday Housing and Redevelopment Authority meeting where officials signed off on the package. Under the terms of the development agreement, Klodt will pay the city $10,000 per unit for the old Park Nicollet site at 815 First St. S. That price is capped at $1,120,000 if the company acquires the Lutheran Digest building at 31 Ninth Ave. S.—a site for which it has already signed a purchase agreement. Redevelopment of the Park Nicollet site has been a major goal of the city since the health care …

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City of Hopkins: Light Rail Transit Work Continues

Even though the project wasn’t included in this year’s bonding bill, planners are still working on the project.

  (The City of Hopkins made the following announcement in this week’s "Connections" e-mail newsletter. Click here to sign up to receive the newsletter.)   In spite of the Southwest LRT’s exclusion from the 2012 bonding bill, planning for the SW LRT continues and will soon be entering preliminary engineering. This work will bring the plans for the line to 30% completion and will involve the process of securing municipal consent from all five partner cities, including Hopkins. Sufficient funds are in place to begin work on this important milestone, but during the next legislative session it will be imperative that additional state funds are committed to the project for it to remain competitive for Federal Transportation Administration funds …

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(OPINION) House DFL: Bonding Bill Should Include Southwest LRT

"Expanded light rail service is a vital part of supporting the thousands of new jobs that will come to our area in the next twenty years," said State Rep. Steve Simon.

(The following editorial was submitted by the House DFL caucus.)   With as little as two weeks remaining in session and the Legislature wrapping up a 10-day break, members of the House DFL Caucus, along with state and local officials, and area business leaders, called today for a bipartisan bonding bill that includes funding for the Southwest Light Rail Transit Project at a press conference at Supervalu corporate headquarters in Eden Prairie. “Leaders of both parties said before session that jobs were the priority and the Southwest Light Rail project is an opportunity to ensure our actions match our words,” said House Minority Leader Paul Thissen (DFL – Minneapolis). “This is the type of project that will benefit the businesses and people …

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Gov. Dayton Likely to Include LRT on His Bonding Wish List

He's likely to include $25 million toward the $1.25 billion light-rail transit (LRT) line.