Community: Opinions

Connect Uptown by Light Rail Transit

Light Rail Transit (LRT) is being considered by Hennepin County to provide an improved transportation connection between the Southwest metropolitan area and Downtown Minneapolis. There are two main alignments under consideration in the lines approach into Minneapolis. One alignment would take it from the west side of Lake Calhoun along the Midtown Greenway to approximately Nicollet Avenue where it would turn north and run into Downtown. This alignment directly serves Uptown, Lyn-Lake, Eat Street, and the southern end of Downtown. The other alignment takes the LRT from the west side of Lake Calhoun up through the Kennilworth corridor and running to the Farmers Market area before connecting up to the Twins Stadium and into Downtown.

By connecting Uptown with Downtown, the southwest Metropolitan area, the Minneapolis Convention Center, and the south Nicollet Mall hotels the LRT will improve the lives of those who live, work or visit Uptown in a variety of ways. The project:

ADDRESSes Parking and Traffic Congestion
The Uptown community has been a major regional attraction, place of business, and residential community since the late 1800s. Our customers, employees, and visitors come from all over the Twin Cities. With hundreds of businesses, including multiple theaters and restaurants, Uptown experiences high levels of traffic and parking congestion. These issues could be reduced if a direct connection to the region is provided through the inclusion of an Uptown station on the Southwest LRT line.

Improves the regional competitiveness of Uptown
Southwest LRT will provide increased access to Uptown by providing a quick, reliable, frequent transit connection from the southwest suburbs, Eat Street, Lyn-Lake, the Convention Center, the south Nicollet Mall hotel corridor, and Downtown Minneapolis. The transit connection will help the greater Uptown area remain competitive as a retail district and improve Uptown’s ability to recruit and retain office tenants.

enhances existing transit users trips
Transit users on Route 6 already experience a 22+ minute bus ride between the Uptown Transit Center and 4th Street in Downtown Minneapolis. This same ride on LRT would take 9 minutes, which is a significant travel time savings. From Lyn-Lake the trip takes 24 minutes by bus and LRT would take 8 minutes. LRT would provide Uptown and Lyn-Lake the fastest connection to much of Downtown Minneapolis.

encourages a more walkable Uptown
A quick, frequent transit connection to the region would encourage transit users to walk and frequent more Uptown businesses. Instead of taking a longer ride to a bus stop closer to their home, LRT users would ride to a central Uptown station and then walk to their nearby home. While they are at the Uptown station, they may choose to complete errands that they may have done at stores outside of the community. As Uptown becomes more walkable, businesses will take advantage of a more captive audience by offering more conveniences to transit users, which will lead to an even more walkable community.

Learn more at ConnectUptown.com.

Visit the Southwest Transitway Project for more general project information.