The following are three letters-to-the-editor relating to SWLRT that were published in the April 26, 2014 issue of the StarTribune:
SOUTHWEST LRT
This project ought to be sent back to beginning
I am weary of the opinions of “Policy Advisory Committee” members and other “urban planners” who think they know what is best for the growth and development of our metro area. The maps, charts and statistics that Bob Corrick and John DeWitt present (“Southwest LRT routing is best for a complete network,” April 24) make the project appealing on paper.
However, in my opinion, these statistics do not accurately reflect the views and attitudes of the voting public. Frankly, a large percentage of Cedar-Isles-Dean, Kenilworth and Kenwood residents does not want LRT traveling through the Kenilworth corridor. In fact, my wife and I recently moved from the Cedar-Isles-Dean neighborhood in large part to escape from the light-rail line.
Like it or not, the freight trains, runners, bikers and residents of the Kenilworth corridor are not going anywhere. In contrast, the Southwest LRT trains can be rerouted to the Midtown Greenway and Nicollet Avenue. Like it or not, the Kenilworth corridor is no longer a feasible option. Like it or not, the Southwest LRT project needs to start over.
Andrew F. Arthur, Edina
————–
So the city of Minneapolis, which was perfectly happy to inflict massive berms on St. Louis Park to reroute Southwest Corridor freight trains, gets hives over an apparently mistaken suggestion that light-rail tunnels proposed to appease a handful of Cedar-Isles residents be bermed — just like the existing bermed tunnel that takes the Hiawatha Corridor LRT and road across Minnehaha Park in southeast Minneapolis (“Tunnel mix-up snags rail plan,” April 23). This reaction demonstrates perfectly the infantile and hypocritical animus behind the city’s whole stance on this issue. Perhaps the city would prefer that we go back to the Minnesota Department of Transportation’s original idea for this corridor: the Southwest Diagonal Freeway, a four-lane expressway connecting Highway 7 to I-394 at Parade Stadium via Cedar-Isles.
Andrew Selden, Edina
————–
No matter how routing of SWLRT is explained by the Met Council, the fact remains that no passengers will be able to get on or off the trains between Lake Street and downtown Minneapolis.
Running the trains through the woods ruins the recreational value of the Kenilworth Trail area and wastes the cost of a massively expensive public resource by running it where it cannot be used to serve potential passengers.
Paul F. Leutgeb, Minneapolis
