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Originally Posted by IMBY
Thanks, always, for the updates. A transit center at 35W/Lake? A light rail line down Lake Street? Orange Line?
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You are correct on Orange Line...but Bus Rapid Transit. Dedicated freeway lanes for 35W, but still some surface streets to deal with. As such, should be able to keep a pretty decent schedule.
I'm mixed on how it will do. Despite the route being heavily-developed, there is not a ton walking distance from the stations (especially if the weather is bad) so you might be able to get *close* to your destination, but not close enough. It does make some sense for people who want to get downtown from 'south of the river' (Burnsville, MN) if you can park, take a reliable bus downtown. The traffic can be horrendous if there is snow, a wreck, and the dedicated lanes would solve that.
It gets back to the 'curse' of a large, spread out city. There are not many slam dunk 'hubs' to connect and you just keep getting back to cars. Park n' Ride is as close as you can get (which in fairness looks to be an option in Burnsville).
I think Vancouver got as close as possible with the Expo line. If you look at the stations, there has been some serious vertical development near the stations. I think this is the plan for the real light rail in Minneapolis. You need to build the rail, have appropriate zoning, and let things work out there.
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