Pursuit of streetcars in the Midtown Greenway (pictured in the simulation above) has long been of interest to the Midtown Greenway Coalition, the City of Minneapolis, and Hennepin County. In 2003 and 2004, 14 Greenway neighborhoods adopted resolutions supporting a Greenway Streetcar, and calling for its construction as soon as possible. The term "streetcars" is a misnomer, however, as they will not operate on a street or mix with traffic. They will instead run in a designated right-of-way with express service that will connect with the Hiawatha LRT on the east and the future Southwest LRT on the west. Riders will be able to travel from Hiawatha Avenue to Uptown in only 12 minutes. While the streetcars will provide a service similar to LRT, they will have the lower visual, sound, and rumbling impact thanks to the smaller streetcar vehicles. Likely station locations that will offer bus transfers and serve business nodes on Lake Street are:
West Lake Street Station of the planned future Southwest LRT
Hennepin Avenue
Lyndale Avenue
Nicollet / I-35W / 5th Avenue (1 to 3 stations here)
Chicago Avenue
Bloomington Avenue
Lake Street/Midtown Station of the Hiawatha LRT
An additional station serving the Chain of Lakes may be a possible addition.
The Midtown Greenway Coalition will be engaging the public through the fall of 2012 to create planning documents for a Midtown Greenway Streetcar and its station areas. This work is critical to:
- Guide transit development in a way that will protect the existing bicycle/pedestrian paths, enhance green spaces and trail aesthetics, improve Greenway safety, and serve far more people with high quality transportation.
- Identify a template of inspiring public open spaces to integrate the Greenway with surrounding areas and maintain livability within a denser built environment.
- Put in place better feeder routes to the Greenway.
The Midtown Greenway Coalition was very pleased that in 2011, Metro Transit was granted federal funds to begin an Alternatives Analysis for the Midtown Corridor. Metro Transit will study a number of transit options in the Alternatives Analysis, including bus, streetcars and light rail both on Lake Street and in the Midtown Greenway. The Alternatives Analysis will likely start in mid- to late 2012 and, when finished, will hopefully identify the Greenway Streetcar as a transit line eligible for federal funding.
The Midtown Greenway Coalition will be hosting a Design Workshop for the Midtown Greenway Streetcar in the summer of 2012. This workshop will focus on the ways a streetcar in the Midtown Greenway could improve the Greenway with the creation of transit plazas and other neighborhood amenities. Check back on this website for more details coming soon!
Background
Transit planning in the Twin Cities has long been complicated by the multiple jurisdictions involved. This is especially true of the Midtown Greenway where the Metropolitan Council, Hennepin County (through the Hennepin County Regional Railroad Authority or HCRRA), and the City of Minneapolis have all been active. In addition, the Midtown Greenway Coalition found it necessary to fund its own Streetcar Feasibility Study in 1999.
Recent Transit News
On October 14, 2009 the Southwest Corridor Policy Advisory Committee (PAC) recommended a Locally Preferred Alternative route that would bring the trains through the Kenilworth Corridor on their way from Eden Prairie to downtown Minneapolis. This is in keeping with the Midtown Greenway Coalition's pursuit of a Network Alignment that would connect the SW and Hiawatha LRT lines with a modern streetcar running through the MIdtown Greenway. .
On October 20, 2009 the Hennepin County Regional Railroad Authority held a public hearing at the Hennepin County Government Center. The HCRRA vote for a Locally Preferred Alternative route will take place soon.
In 2010 the Metropolitan Council concurred with the locally preferred alternative for the Southwest LRT line. As of early 2012, the project is in the Preliminary Engineering phase.
Meanwhile, funding the Midtown Greenway streetcar line, the City of Minneapolis, the Midtown Community Works Partnership, and others continue to work with legislators on laws that would provide Tax Increment Financing legislation what could be used as a fund-raising tool, likely for capital costs. If successful, this would mean that the Midtown Greenway streetcar would be paid for, at least in part, by funds generated from the real estate developments that the Greenway streetcar line itself would stimulate.
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