Continued: What route is best for Southwest LRT?

Some of the Twin Cities' most iconic neighborhoods are caught in an unusual game of hot potato over the prospect of a light-rail line connecting Eden Prairie and Minneapolis.

Everyone professes love for the train, but not everyone wants it to pass close enough to reach out and touch.

The 14-mile Southwest transitway will traverse an urban landscape far different from those of the Hiawatha Line and Central Corridor, which mostly were plotted along busy four-to-six-lane roads.

Although Minnetonka and Eden Prairie are united on how things should go on their end of the Southwest line, Minneapolis is a house divided. Tonight, those who want to weigh in on potential routes will get their chance at a public hearing in St. Louis Park.

One route would bring trains past Cedar Lake and the Kenwood area, under Interstate 394 and to the new transit station being built into the Twins stadium. The other route would come through Uptown on the Midtown Greenway, tunnel under part of Nicollet Avenue and run on Nicollet Mall, ending near the new Central Library.

The first option is called the Kenilworth route after the verdant bike trail in the corridor. It would bypass Uptown, "Eat Street" and the downtown core in favor of a quicker trip through what is now park and industrial land.

Sometimes, "not in my back yard" is just an expression. But along the Kenilworth Trail, it's mere feet from the truth. One home's swimming pool is separated from the walking path by only a fence; at another spot, trains could run within 20 feet of some townhouses, opponents say.

Julie Sabo, a former state senator whose back yard is on the corridor, says light-rail trains aren't that loud. She would walk a short way to use the 21st Street stop near Cedar Lake's Hidden Beach.

But Sabo thinks that the line should "serve communities that, in the past, were bypassed by highways, and we have an opportunity not to ignore them with LRT."

Some areas would prefer to be ignored.

Eat Street, the section of Nicollet Avenue packed with independent restaurants and grocers, is the spine of the Whittier neighborhood. The businesses, often immigrant-owned, "do well, but they don't have deep pockets" to survive the disruption required to put in a tunnel, said Marian Biehn, executive director of the Whittier Alliance.

There would be stops only at the ends of the milelong heart of Eat Street, not in the middle, so it's unclear whether business would benefit from the final product. The alliance has voted to support the Kenilworth alignment.

If you build it ...

Rick Collins from the Ryan Companies likes the Kenilworth route for a different reason: His firm sees it as a bonanza for redevelopment.

One of the stations would be across Interstate 394 from the Dunwoody Institute, in a desolate spot where the city's impound lot is the major feature. Ryan's plans call for 6,000 to 8,000 jobs and 2,000 residents on 56 acres.

A light-rail station would reduce the need for parking and help make up for some of the costs of building on the area's poor soils, Collins said.

He and other developers have a bit of history on their side: The old streetcar system often extended into unbuilt areas. When trains arrived, development quickly followed.

But the city also has a strong tradition of preserving parkland, especially around the Chain of Lakes.

"Choking a scenic byway with frequent rail crossings" is not in the park's best interest, said Matthew Dalquist, a member of the Cedar-Isles-Dean neighborhood board, at a hearing last week. A half-dozen freight trains now use the corridor daily.

In Uptown, the local business association is scheduled to decide its official opinion on the routes Oct. 21. But Nancy Sjoquist, who lives a block south of Calhoun Square, has made up her mind.

"We welcome the LRT to come through Uptown and connect the dots with the existing lifestyles and business habits of the local people," she said at the hearing.

City leaders are also looking at smaller-scale ways to connect the dots, such as a streetcar on the greenway and a circulator bus on Nicollet Mall.

A third way?

Some neighborhood activists are recommending a route called Option E, taking the line east on the greenway and using Portland and Park Avenues to get to downtown.

"We feel that it benefits a larger number of Minneapolis residents, employers and cultural and educational centers than the options that are currently on the table," said Art Higinbotham, chairman of the Cedar-Isles-Dean neighborhood.

Park Avenue was dropped from consideration but may get another look if it is deemed a "reasonable alternative," said Katie Walker, who heads the project for Hennepin County.

The goal is to have service begin in 2015. The estimated cost in 2015 dollars is $865 million to $1.4 billion.

Peace in the suburbs

The line's path through St. Louis Park and Hopkins is set. But at the southern end of the line, there's another choice to be made.

One route would use a rail/trail corridor that Hennepin County already owns. The other would serve the Southwest Transit Center, Eden Prairie Center and business parks in eastern Eden Prairie and Minnetonka.

Those two booming suburbs long ago decided to endorse the second route. They're staying on the sidelines during the current debate.

"We've done our best not to tread into Minneapolis politics," said Scott Neal, Eden Prairie's city manager. "We're going to let other people make that decision."

Jim Foti • 612-673-4491

WANT TO GET INVOLVED?

Public comments are being collected through Nov. 7. A final decision will be made by late spring or summer.

IF YOU GO:

TODAY: Open house, 5 p.m.; hearing, 6 p.m. St. Louis Park City Hall, 5005 Minnetonka Blvd.

OCT. 23: Open house, 5 p.m.; hearing, 6 p.m. Eden Prairie City Hall, 8080 Mitchell Road.

IF YOU DON'T GO, YOU CAN . . .

• Watch the meetings via streaming video online at www.southwesttransitway.org.

• Send comments by e-mail to swcorridor@co.hennepin.mn.us.

• Mail comments to Southwest Corridor, Hennepin County Transit, 417 N. 5th St., Minneapolis, MN 55401.

• Get information online: www.southwesttransitway.org