Memo- Capstone Report Downtown LRT StationMEMO
To: Hopkins City Council
From: Tara Beard, Community Development Coordinator
Date: June 9, 2009
Subject: Downtown Hopkins LRT Station Presentation
As you are aware two County -led initiatives are currently underway for the Southwest Light Rail
Transit line planned through Hopkins: A Station Area Master Plan and a Draft Environmental
Impact Statement. Both of these plans build on previous work, but are still broad in scope and
do not address many specific aspects of the station areas for which the City needs to plan.
Therefore, when contacted by the Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs at the University of
Minnesota to participate in a graduate student capstone where specific issues regarding selected
stations would be researched and analyzed, City staff enthusiastically agreed. Staff worked with
the capstone instructors to select one of Hopkins three planned stations and a scope of work for
the master's candidates to examine.
Because of the extensive work already underway in the Blake Road Corridor and the breadth of
possibilities at the Shady Oak station area, staff decided to work with the capstone students on
the Downtown Station (at 8 th Ave and Excelsior Blvd); specifically on how that station will
relate to Downtown Hopkins for transit users, pedestrians, bicyclists, and vehicles. There were
three main issues in the scope: 1) Redevelopment along 8 th Ave that will draw transit riders to
Mainstreet and reduce barriers to crossing Excelsior Blvd, including design guidelines and
streetscape recommendations; 2) Circulator options to connect people from the Downtown
Transit Station to various destinations, including Mainstreet, other LRT stations, and major
employment centers; and 3) Design of 8 th Ave itself, including an examination of what modes of
mobility would be permitted and how they would interact.
City staff was immensely impressed with the professionalism and resulting study delivered by
master's candidates Greta Alquist, Cole Hiniker, and Andrew Guthrie. They have produced a
high - quality report at no cost to the City, and they have graciously agreed to present their
findings to the City Council on their own time. Many of the issues in the study need further
review and refinement as planning and realization of LRT in Hopkins continues, but the
information provided has already been useful to staff and will continue to be as future efforts are
planned.