Light rail to the stadium

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MNSpaniel

MNSpaniel

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I have no idea of the timetable and don't live in the metro area. However, is the light rail scheduled to be done to the stadium next year or is that further down the road.
 



Thanks ... I was hoping for next fall but will have to ride the bus one more season.
 

It's been really a mess over there in Stadium Village for the last few years but it will be worth it when the Light Rail is completed. Go Gophers!!
 




Hopefully the University Ave corridor of bars and lots becomes a viable alternative for "railgating" and bargaiting in the future. I hope Metro Transit ups the frequency of trains on gameday to handle to load..
 

We alway catch light rail at Fort Snelling and switch to a bus at the Metrodome. Will the light rail have a switch as well or will it all be one line in which you get on at Fort Snelling and it takes you right to the stadium?
 



MNSpaniel said:
We alway catch light rail at Fort Snelling and switch to a bus at the Metrodome. Will the light rail have a switch as well or will it all be one line in which you get on at Fort Snelling and it takes you right to the stadium?
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Blue Line (Hiawatha) will intersect and run on the same track as the Green Line (Central Corridor and future SW LRT) in Downtown. You would have to get off at the Dome station and transfer to a Green Line LRT train similar to switching to bus today. Not much more convenient except that a LRT train can carry way more people than a bus can.
 

RailBaronYarr said:
Blue Line (Hiawatha) will intersect and run on the same track as the Green Line (Central Corridor and future SW LRT) in Downtown. You would have to get off at the Dome station and transfer to a Green Line LRT train similar to switching to bus today. Not much more convenient except that a LRT train can carry way more people than a bus can.
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And the LRT won't have to wait behind gameday traffic either.
 

GoAUpher said:
And the LRT won't have to wait behind gameday traffic either.
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Once it gets over to the U it will. On stretches where it's on the street, Central Corridor trains will NOT have signal priority.
 

GopherRock said:
Once it gets over to the U it will. On stretches where it's on the street, Central Corridor trains will NOT have signal priority.
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Maybe so, but it has a dedicated lane, so it won't have to wait through multiple light cycles behind traffic.
 



GopherRock said:
Once it gets over to the U it will. On stretches where it's on the street, Central Corridor trains will NOT have signal priority.
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It only hits traffic at Oak and Washington, so it will only have to plow through a handful of blocks in traffic. I don't think traffic will be a major problem for the train.
 

GopherRock said:
Once it gets over to the U it will. On stretches where it's on the street, Central Corridor trains will NOT have signal priority.
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And that stretch isn't the U.

From the West, Wash Ave will be a dedicated transit corridor through the U with limited cross street access (only 2 streets before the stadium station on WB IIRC). I'm not sure on traffic priority for those cross streets, but my guess is that the LRT will get it since they are cross streets not main arteries.

From the East, that will be an issue on the University Ave section of the LRT (i.e. most of it). But once the line reaches 29th St SE it jogs north to the Prospect Park station and completes the run to the stadium on the Transitway and dedicated tracks.

Between the two, traffic from the West should be the less problematic for LRT riders.
 

I can't believe that the LRT (or any other form of transit) doesn't get signal priority on a corridor like this. Keep operating speeds lower and safe but reduce down-time at lights. One vehicle every 3 minutes (1 each direction at 6 minute intervals at peak times) isn't enough to halt car traffic.

Regardless, the LRT will still move quicker than cars with its dedicated ROW not backing up intermingled with the cars, and the entire pedestrian/transit area will only help that as well.
 

RailBaronYarr said:
I can't believe that the LRT (or any other form of transit) doesn't get signal priority on a corridor like this. Keep operating speeds lower and safe but reduce down-time at lights. One vehicle every 3 minutes (1 each direction at 6 minute intervals at peak times) isn't enough to halt car traffic.

Regardless, the LRT will still move quicker than cars with its dedicated ROW not backing up intermingled with the cars, and the entire pedestrian/transit area will only help that as well.
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I don't know all the political wheeling and dealing on CC LRT, but it wouldn't surprise me to learn if this was a concession to get the buy in of some important legislator, a city council, etc.
 

GoAUpher said:
I don't know all the political wheeling and dealing on CC LRT, but it wouldn't surprise me to learn if this was a concession to get the buy in of some important legislator, a city council, etc.
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Where is Zales... he would know the deal.
 

I heard that the light rail won't have signal preemption (like emergency vehicles), but it will have signal priority where it can hold a green light for a few extra moments.
 

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