Transit History in the Cooridor
1882 - The Midtown Greenway first became a rail corridor 125 years ago as a part of the Milwaukee Railroad’s main line to the west coast. Back then, the rail line was on the southern fringe of Minneapolis but, as the city grew, there were more and more conflicts with the many trains crossing streets at grade. In 1912, the Minneapolis City Council directed the railroad to undertake a grade separation by placing the rail line in a trench between Cedar Ave. and Hennepin Ave. This project took place between 1914 and 1916 and was the largest civil works project in the state after James. J. Hill’s Stone Arch Bridge crossing the Mississippi.
1992 - A handful of people began sharing ideas about turning the 29th Street rail corridor into an amenity rich bike trail and the Midtown Greenway Coalition began meeting as a group of volunteers.
1993 - Rail traffic in the corridor had slowed to a trickle and MnDOT wanted the eastern end severed so Hiawatha Ave. could be rebuilt. The Hennepin County Regional Railroad Authority (HCRRA) purchased the corridor for future light rail.
1995 - The Midtown Greenway Coalition was incorporated as a non-profit and hired its first staff person on an contract part-time basis.
1999 - The Minnesota Legislature provided funding to the Met Council, our regional government, for construction of a busway in the Twin Cities. The Midtown Greenway Corridor was chosen. The Midtown Greenway Coalition board of directors passed a resolution opposing a busway and calling for light rail or a streetcar line instead.
2000 - At a public meeting in January, the Met Council agreed to conduct a study of streetcars in the Greenway. The Coalition disagreed with some of the assumptions and undertook its own Streetcar Feasibility Study. The Coalition hired a nationally known consultant, Jim Graebner, who designed a system that would have cost $53 million in 2005 dollars. For more information on that feasibility study and the Midtown Greenway Coalition’s advocacy work for a streetcar line, click here.
2001 - Rail service in the corridor was abandoned. A year later, the remaining railroad tracks between Hiawatha and Chowen Avenues were removed. The segment east of Hiawatha remains active.
2006 - Minneapolis began a Streetcar Feasibility Study and Hennepin County through the Hennepin County Regional Railroad Authority (HCRRA) began evaluating alternative alignments for the Southwest LRT Corridor. In a December 13, 2006, meeting, three alternative alignments were selected for further study. One of the alternatives would run a light rail line east through the Greenway as far as Nicollet.
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