MTC Proposed Route changes in Nokomis East. Note demise of #22 and change in #7

I am pleased to see the addition of a new route 34 to serve the Nokomis East neighborhood, but would like to suggest that our area would be even better served if the route could be adjusted a bit more.

I urge each of you to review the proposals I have made regarding a proposed alternate routing for the new route 34. I urge each of you to contact John Dillary and also 12th Ward Council member Sandy Colvin Roy to let them know that you support a Full Circulator in the NENA neighborhood.

I have been presenting this idea at public meetings for over four years now. Every time I do, there has been wide spread support for the concept even when the audience was made up of upset 50th Streeters. I suggest that no other single act undertaken so far will have as profound an affect on the sense of community as our own internal neighborhood circulator. Our final chance for public input is at hand. I hope you will support me in letting the powers that be know that we feel this will be good for our neighborhood.

The Circulator Routes
I would specifically suggest that the route from the Minnehaha station heading west run all the way to 28th Ave where it would turn south and run past 58th street, under the crosstown and all the way to the Metropolitan Airports Commissions offices on 28th and then back to 58th where I would have it turn East and run to 34th Ave. I would have the route go North on 34th to 54th where I would have it turn East again and run all the way to Minnehaha where it would turn south and proceed to the VA light rail station and the front door of the hospital if that is permissible. It would then retrace the route back again.

	Route #34 - 54th St. option
	Route #34 - 56th St. option

I would terminate route 19 at 28th Ave and 50th Street. There is a small commercial node at that intersection which contains a coffee house making it a better than average transfer point for the few people who would need to transfer there. Or if you need to create a turnaround for the route, you might run the 19 all the way south to the MAC facilities and turn around there.

Advantages
There are several benefits to this plan and a possible drawback. I believe the benefits outweigh the drawbacks significantly. As I see it the biggest negative would be for people who use the 19 route from points south of the 38th street light rail station and the VA hospital to other points between the two points who may need to transfer from the 19 to the 34 route as I would have it configured. I suspect that this is a minority of rides originating along the route as proposed.

The advantages are significant. By extending the route from the Minnehaha Station to 28th, riders exiting the light rail at 50th will have access to our main neighborhood business center at 34th as the currently proposed route provides, but also access to a smaller node at 28th and 50th and access to Lake Nokomis park area. Residents in the area will also benefit by gaining access to the park as well, potentially building non rush hour traffic. This alignment also happens to bring people past the Nokomis East Neighborhood offices.

By extending the route under the crosstown to the Metropolitan Airports facility area residents will gain access to one of the few job generators in the area. The airport has added a number of support facilities in the area, and may add more in the future. This extension may not serve a lot of people initially, but could promote the neighborhood as a good place for current employees to live, and in turn improve local residents access to the jobs that exist in that location.

By turning the route North on 34th to either 54th or alternatively 56th you would provide a smaller walk distance to a greater number of residents than if you were to skirt the neighborhood along the frontage road on the way to the VA. Additionally, there are a number of primarily senior apartment complexes on 34th Ave between 54th and 56th that would have better bus access. Both 54th and 56th can accommodate buses. 56th provides the greatest number of people with the shortest possible walk times to the bus. 54th and 34th is another commercial node, which includes among others things a popular convenience grocery and other shops.

My personal preference and recommendation is the 54th St. route, but I could understand others preferring a 56th St. routing. Another benefit of the 54th Street route is that it would be possible for people to exit the bus at 54th or 50th do business in the area and walk along 34th to the alternate street and possibly even catch the same bus. The back and forth service between the VA and the 50th street station will run perpendicular to primary automobile vehicular movements in the area, and will over time tend to unite the neighborhood socially and economically. Residents in the western portion of the neighborhood would be drawn toward the commercial nodes to their east, as those on the east are drawn west. This dynamic will increase the potential use of mass transit for short intra-neighborhood trips, greatly increasing access to the three schools in the area, as well as their associated playgrounds and the areas major regional parks at Minnehaha and Lake Nokomis.

By using the 34th to 54th route all of the areas major and minor commercial nodes will benefit from increased traffic. This in turn will benefit the neighborhood directly in the form of greater potential for commercial variety and vitality. This plan also brings the bus line closest to virtually all of our largest multi family residences, traditionally our most transit dependent population. More importantly, this configuration will greatly enhance the areas ability to support families desiring to be one car families instead of two by providing easy access to existing neighborhood services as well as light rails access to major points outside the area.

One final benefit, is the increased access for VA Hospital staff, patients and visitors to our entire neighborhood. The VA represents the greatest single concentration of people in our area. This routing would greatly enhance their ability to visit our commercial establishments during their lunch breaks and at other times. This in turn will help us sustain our commercial nodes and help promote a greater diversity of such businesses and services within the area without increasing automobile traffic and parking pressures. This in turn will magnify the value of the service as it provides more reasons for area residents to use the 34 line as well.

- Earl Netwal, enetwal@mn.rr.com

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What can you do?
Let MTC know how you feel about the new routes. Comments will be received for consideration between now and February 14th, 2003 via:

1. Written: Metro Transit, Service Development, 560 Sixth Avenue North, Minneapolis, MN 55411
2.  Email: sector5@metc.state.mn.us
3. Fax: 612-349-7675
4. On-line comment card
5. Printed comment cards available on Metro Transit and BE Line buses, Metro Transit stores or from the Metropolitan Council Data Center (651-602-1140).

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