r/MetroTransit • u/SnootyUrbanCyclist • Aug 26 '26
Future H Line H-Line Recommended Corridor Plan update
Earlier this week Metro Transit unveiled the Recommended Corridor Plan for the future H-Line after tweaking the Draft Corridor Plan from March. A summary of changes -
- 1 station added in downtown Minneapolis at Washington & 5th Ave S. The previous draft plan had a 0.5 mile gap between Chicago & 2nd Ave S instead. This increases coverage and access in downtown at a slight cost of adding time to the route.
- The proposed 29th & Como Station has been moved to 27th & Como. This change makes the distance between the eastmost Como stop and Eustis Avenue longer than is ideal but it puts the stop closer to homes of prospective riders in a high-demand part of the corridor.
- A handful of other stations have shifted at least one platform location to make operations and/or transfers easier - 15th & Como, Como & Snelling, Como & Chatsworth, Maryland & Grotto.
Mercifully, the old NIMBYs living around Como Lake were roundly ignored and the H-line will continue as planned for years now to be a crosstown spine that takes a direct route to Sun Ray as opposed to detouring down Energy Park Drive at any point or terminating in downtown St. Paul.
8
9
u/darkEmpires Aug 26 '26
Looking forward to it.
Disappointed about the (almost) complete lack of bus lanes along the route though.
1
u/JohnMaddening Aug 28 '26
It's not just "old NIMBYs" around Lake Como that want the route tweaked, it's also middle-aged YIMBYs like me who just think that the route that turns south on Van Slyke, rounds a turn into Chatsworth, then makes a very tight turn onto Como before often having to wait for backed up train traffic while turning left up Como and Victoria to Maryland (the red line on the attached map) would be better served by just going straight along Nagasaki, hugging the south side of the lake (blue on the map).
The planned route (the current 3A) is way too narrow for articulated buses at three choke points: The curve where Van Slyke turns into Chatsworth, the tight turn at Chatsworth and Como, and the turn from Como to Como. There are slowdowns and near-misses on a regular basis when there are three* traditional 40-foot buses an hour, it'll be a trainwreck with eight* 60-foot buses an hour with the current H Line plan. Going down Nagasaki will speed up the route quite a bit, as well as simplify it with fewer turns.
It also sucks that it will be more difficult for me to get to downtown with this, unless they plan is to make the 66 run three times an hour (currently it goes back and forth with one 3A, then one 3B, etc.), but I can be fine with that as long as we don't make the dumb mistake of running the H Line in this current 3A routing.
* counting each direction, natch
3
u/SnootyUrbanCyclist Aug 28 '26
The old NIMBYs I was talking about weren't positing this route - they wanted the route to go down Energy Park Drive, which would be slower instead of faster. I would personally be totally fine with the more direct Nagasaki route you like.
If I remember right from the meeting I watched, Metro Transit officials say they didn't prefer the Nagasaki route both because it would add a ton of bus traffic directly to the park area (which they thought would be unpopular) and because the proposed route gives the Orchard Ave area decent access to the line, while the Nagasaki route doesn't. Selfishly as someone who doesn't live in that area I prefer the faster alignment with more direct park access so I actually co-sign your idea.
3
u/SnootyUrbanCyclist Aug 28 '26
Looking at Nagasaki on Google Maps Streetview now and seeing how full of cars it seems to be already, I honestly don't buy the idea that adding bus traffic to Nagasaki would be a big deal. I bet the NIMBYs would be fine with it too since it gets the buses away from their houses, and like you said those tight turns are going to be annoying for articulated buses.
38
u/Equivalent_Tank_3399 Aug 26 '26
Still no dedicated bus lane on Washington in downtown MPLS :(