This fantasy line is my idea of an LRT remake for the Riverview corridor, running from the airport to downtown St. Paul.  My fantasy Riverview Line is based on Alternate 4 from the Riverview Corridor Major Investment Study of August, 2000 (LRT along CPR corridor).  Initially I had looked at an LRT line along West 7th St itself, but West 7th has some disadvantages due to its relatively narrow width...an LRT corridor along West 7th would require eliminating on-street parking *AND* eliminate a traffic lane in each direction.  Now that the Ford Plant in St. Paul is closing, with that plant being pretty much the only customer for the Canadian Pacific (CP) Rail spur paralleling W 7th St, it makes a CP Rail alignment a lot more attractive.  Though redevelopment potential isn't quite as high as a line along West 7th, using the CP Rail corridor minimizes a lot of the issues associated with the West 7th St alignment.

The line begins at the Mall of America station on the Hiawatha Line and follows the Hiawatha Line to the GSA/Fort Snelling station.  Just north of the GSA station, the Riverview line splits northeast, bridging over MN 55 at the Fort Snelling interchange.  It then passes between MN 55 and the Fort Snelling parking lots, then tunnels underneath the western part of Fort Snelling before returning above ground and bridging over the Mississippi just west of the MN 5 bridge.  The line goes back into tunnel underneath Mississippi River Blvd and the MN 5/Edgcumble Rd interchange and returns to grade in the W 7th St median wast of Davern St.  The line briefly follows the West 7th St median up to the CP Rail spur mentioned above, where it shifts to follow the CP Rail spur.  Near Webster St, the line departs the CP Rail right-of-way and returns to the West 7th St median up to the start of the downtown St. Paul segment, bridging over Randolph Ave and Smith Ave in the process.

In addition to the stations co-located with the Hiawatha Line, stations would be provided at the following:

• Fort Snelling East (Fort Snelling parking lots)
• Davern St
• Montreal Ave (with connection to the Snelling streetcar line)
• Randolph Ave
• Grand Ave

The following map shows the routing of my fantasy Riverview LRT line:

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Page last modified 23 December, 2007