I don't know if this is a Hot Take or something other Northside residents would nod along with, but my fantasy Blue Line extension would go up 7th Ave and Emerson to Broadway. Why?
1) Traffic calming. 7th Ave and Emerson are both speeding shitshows. And maybe a big ass train lumbering along could, like, convince the dudes going 70 in the bike lane that they will lose this fight.
2) Schools. But if you took the train up 7th and Emerson you would provide good access to two magnet elementary schools, a high school, and a jr. high. The alignment up Lyndale is decent for this (though Bethune is more left out) and is my favorite of the existing plans.
3) Bus connections for people who use a lot of transit already. There's a bunch of existing bus connections at the 7th ave/Emerson/Fremont area. Again the Lyndale alignment works decently for this. Just further away.
4) Access to the Blue Line for Heritage Park. Turns out, there's a bunch of people who live there (many of them low income) and putting the train up 7th Ave would serve them very well.
I have a feeling my fantasy is fantasy. As this two-pager makes clear, the right-of-ways on Emerson are ... narrow. I also might be the only area homeowner who is like "please turn my street into a two-way and make Emerson a train and bike road". metrocouncil.org/Transportation…
Ultimately, I favor the Lyndale to Broadway alignment and will generally be happy as long as the city doesn't bypass Near North and Heritage Park entirely to serve developers along the river.
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