Southwest Line (fantasy transit)

This fantasy line is partially based on ongoing Hennepin County studies on rail transit in the Southwest Corridor.  I've used Alternate 3A as my baseline, with some modifications and a considerable extension included.

Starting at the downtown Multimodal station, the line continues underground (as the downtown line is in a tunnel at the station), making a loop around the north side of the Hennepin County incinerator, then heads south underneath Royalston Ave.  The line follows Royalston Ave south for a few blocks, then turns southwest along the southside of the BNSF tracks, returning to grade near the I-94 overpass.  The line continues southwestward, following the southeast side of the BNSF and then TCW tracks underneath 394 and then southwest along the Kenilworth Trail.  About halfway between Louisiana Ave and Wooddale Ave, the line briefly tunnels underneath a relocation of the TCW tracks onto a CP rail line.  The line follows the north side of the TWC tracks west of this point to just west of US 169, elevating over both Blake Rd and Excelsior Blvd in the process.  West of US 169, the Southwest Line follows the HCRRA bike trail that is south of Excelsior Blvd, crosses over 11th Ave, and continues westward to near 16th Ave at the Hopkins/Minnetonka line.  Here the line turns due south along the Hopkins/Minnetonka line to near Smetana Rd, passing over the TCW tracks and underneath Smetana Rd in the process.

South of Smetana Rd, the line passes through the Opus and Bren Rd office park areas, generally following a Feltl Rd/Bren Rd W/Bren Rd E/Blue Circle Dr routing, ending near the west side of Crow Lake.  The line then turns westward, tunneling underneath MN 62 into the City West area of Eden Prairie.  It briefly follows the west side of US 212 before crossing over US 212 just north of the Shady Oak Rd ramps, then bridges over the Shady Oak Rd/Flying Cloud Dr intersection.  The line then heads southward to a location within the Golden Triangle near 70th St W, then continues southward to Valley View Rd, following the west side of Valley View Rd before tunneling under the Prairie Center Dr/Valley View Rd intersection.

The line then heads south along the west side of Prairie Center Dr until a point south of W 78th St, where the line cuts west along the north side of Eden Prairie Center.  The line then begins a long elevated section that crosses over Flying Cloud Dr/existing US 212, along Singletree Ln and Prairie Center Dr before coming back to grade along the south side of MN 5/Future US 212 west of Prairie Center Dr. The line follows the south side of MN 5, tunneling under Mitchell Rd then bridging over both Wallace Rd and MN 312/Future US 212 enroute to the SW Hennepin trail. The line follows the SW Hennepin trail all the way into Chaska before ending in downtown Chaska, with grade separations along the trail at CSAH 4, Future US 212, Dell Rd, Pioneer Tr, Great Plains Blvd, and existing US 212 on the Chaska/Chanhassan line.

Stations would be provided at the following:

In a pinch, the line could be cut short and end at the Southwest Transit Station, with the extension to Chaska occurring when population density or travel demand support it.

The following map shows the routing of my fantasy Southwest LRT line:

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Page last modified 23 December, 2007