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See all of CarissaJ's blog posts
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Expanding Light-Rail
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Posted March 11, 2008 at 11:34 PM
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Transportation may not be as exciting to discuss as issues like gay marriage or abortion, but it seems to be the major issue of the 2008 election in Minnesota.
I have to be honest; until the bridge collapse last summer, I really didn’t pay much attention to the issue of transportation.
As a recent college graduate, I’ve had lots of political discussions with fellow classmates ranging from Iraq to abortion to the environment - but rarely about transportation. Perhaps this is because young people (especially those who take the bus, walk or ride to school) think that the issue of transportation only applies to people who drive a car on a regular basis. They don’t see how the issue directly affects them.
Well, students at the University of Minnesota will soon see firsthand how the issue of transportation is going to be hard to ignore.
The Metropolitan Council recently gave their approval to build the Twin Cities’ second light-rail line.
This line, referred to as the Central Corridor, will be 11 miles long and have 15 stations. Its purpose is to link downtown Minneapolis, the University of Minnesota, and downtown St. Paul.
The University of Minnesota Twin Cities campus is the largest in the state. In fact, with over 50,000 students, it is the fourth largest in the nation. Giving these students better access to downtown Minneapolis and St. Paul sounds great, right?
As it turns out, the proposed route is proving to be somewhat controversial.
Initially, the University of Minnesota had hoped the light-rail line would tunnel underneath the campus, but this option would be quite expensive. Instead, the Metropolitan Council decided the train should run at street level along Washington Ave.
“This probably isn’t the best line that we can build, but in reality, it’s probably the best line that can be built,” said Council Member Tony Pistilli.
I personally think students will get a lot of use out of light-rail connecting them to downtown Minneapolis and St. Paul. However, I wonder how they will feel about the line running through the heart of the University on one of the busiest and most traversed streets on campus.
The Central Corridor light-rail line will cost $909 million and begin service in 2014.
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