The Metropolitan Council plans to have a fully operational Light Rail line up and running by 2018. The New “Southwest Line” will run through Eden Prairie, Minnetonka, Hopkins, and St. Louis Park before arriving at “Target Field Station,” where riders will be able to connect with the existing, “Central Corridor Line,” “Hiawatha Line,” and “North Star Line.”

The route laid-out by Metro Transit and Hennepin County has the line skimming the outside of Edina without ever going through or making a stop inside. While this may be a letdown for some, it comes as no surprise to sophomore Jack Devoe, who states that “Eden Prairie is a more industrial job center than Edina.” And “Places like [Eden Prairie] are a hub for surrounding cities such as Edina.”

While many alternatives did include possible stops inside Edina (route alternatives can be found at southwesttransitway.org) Hennepin county and the Metropolitan council decided that the previously stated route was the better option.

While Edina residents may not be getting Light Rail stations in their backyards any time soon, there will be plenty of stations nearby.  With almost every stop made by the South West Line being near the border of Edina, the new expansion should still provide an alternative to parking downtown for Edina residents. Considering things like a new Vikings Stadium in the works, having more options of getting down town should be a welcome option for everyone in the southwest metro.

The Process of designing and eventually implementing the Light Rail into the suburbs has been going on since “the early 90’s” says Laura Baenen, Manager of Communications for the Southwest LRT Project of the Metropolitan Council. Currently the project is in the stage of “preliminary engineering” meaning that all the stops and routes are still being pinned down. As Laura Baenen puts it “You have to have a blueprint for absolutely everything before you can start building.” The engineering and planning process is scheduled to go on until 2015, and then construct should begin so that the project can be finished before the end of 2018.

The cost of the expansion will be roughly $1.25 billion. The funds will come from Hennepin County, the State of Minnesota, a public transit sales tax on the metro area, as well as 50% of the cost being covered by the Federal government through the Federal Transit Administration.

For a flyover video of the currently purposed route of the Southwest Light Rail expansion go to http://metrocouncil.org/transportation/SW/SouthwestLRT.htm#visualization