Let me just state right off that I think putting in light rail in general, and the Central Corridor line in particular, is a big fat DUH. And I, as a resident of the city of Minneapolis, am more than willing to pay for it. If legislators can justify the spending on the damn Twins and Gopher stadiums (I know, I know, it’s stadia, but it looks weird), then they can sure as hell justify the cost of transit infrastructure like this.

There are four public hearings this week. The first was last night. The remaining three are:

Tuesday, May 23, 5 p.m., Lao Family Community of Minnesota, Inc., 320 University Ave W, St. Paul. An open house for questions and answers will precede the hearing from 4 to 5 PM.

Wednesday, May 24, 8 a.m., Minnesota History Center, 345 West Kellogg Blvd., St. Paul. An open house for questions and answers will precede the hearing at 7:30 a.m.

Wednesday, May 24, 6:30 p.m., Central High School, 275 N. Lexington Pkwy, St. Paul. An open house for questions and answers will precede the hearing from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m.

At last night’s hearing, there was this:

Clay Lambert owns a gas station on the avenue, and was the only business owner to testify.

“We are in support of the light rail transit. We believe it’s good for business along the University corridor,” Lambert said. “I can say not all businesses are in support of it. But I think it’s more of a concern of the construction itself. Me in particular, I’m all right with that. I think we can deal with it, and overcome it.”

Even gas station owners are in favor of light rail.

Some people apparently think that the LRT line should go in closer to I-94.

“Would it make sense to have light rail interact with the freeway, at least on some visual aspect so that at least people stuck in traffic could say, ‘Ah, I could have taken the train?’” says [rental property owner/manger Triesta] Brown.

Now that’s just a dumb statement. But my bigger issue with the idea is how are you gonna get on the train in the first place if it runs along 94? There’s no foot traffic on the damn frontage road. You want people to schlep a half mile over from University Ave to get on the train? Right. The point of this LRT line is not simply to be an express commuter line.

Related posts:

1. Met Council Seeking Artists for Central Corridor Light Rail Line Public Art Projects
2. Light (Rail) at the End of the Tunnel
3. Met Council okays University Ave LRT
4. Link Dump
5. 1st Annual Light Rail Pub Crawl