As an add-on to my thoughts on a fantasy transit system for the Twin Cities, below are a few thoughts on a fantasy Rochester system.

Rochester is a city that has been growing very rapidly over the past few decades, with strong anchors in both the world-renowned Mayo Clinic and in IBM.  One byproduct of Rochester's rapid growth has been traffic, which recently culminated in a multi-year MnDOT project to rebuild US 52 through the city.

With the continuing rapid growth and expansion of the city, I came up with the idea of a fantasy transit system, as detailed below.  This system consists of two east-west commuter rail lines, utilizing the former DM&E (now part of Canadian Pacific) tracks running through the city, as well as a north-south LRT line that connects downtown with the airport and IBM.

The lines (click on a line name for a more detailed map of that line):

Line Name	Location	Description	Map Links
Rochester	Rochester Airport to 55th St NW	North-south LRT line that generally follows the US 63/South Broadway corridor between the airport and downtown, follows 1st Ave W through downtown, then heads northwest to IBM and 55th St NW.
Kasson	Kasson to Downtown Rochester	East-west commuter line using former DM&E tracks between Kasson and downtown Rochester.
Eyota	Downtown Rochester to Eyota	East-west commuter line using former DM&E tracks between downtown Rochester and Eyota.

The following map shows the overall fantasy Rochester system:

Back to Twin Cities fantasy transit system
Go to my suggested freeway/expressway changes.
Go to my ideas for improving/upgrading Twin Cities area interchanges.
Return to Twin Cites Highways

Page last modified 24 December, 2007