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Hopkins is the proposed site for three transit stations which would have a significant impact on future development in the city.
In Hopkins, station area planning is occurring on an ongoing basis around and within a ½ mile radius of the station locations at Blake Road, in Downtown Hopkins and at Shady Oak Road.
For more information about the project as a whole, visit the SWLRT website.
Proposed site: just west of Blake Road and north of Excelsior Boulevard on the Cedar Lake regional trail (just north of the Pawn America site)
Proposed site: on the Cedar Lake Regional trail corridor just east of 8th Avenue and south of Excelsior Blvd (by Hopkins Honda)
Proposed site: Near Shady Oak Road and Excelsior Boulevard, on the border of Hopkins and Minnetonka (behind the Hopkins Tech Center)
Beginning in June 2006, the City of Hopkins partnered with Hennepin County and heard from residents through open houses and community meetings in order to determine the best methods for development of light rail transit in Hopkins. The findings are compiled in the October 2007 Hopkins Station Area Plan Final Report (PDF) 4.5MB, now being used as a guide for further Station Area Planning.
In 2009, three Master of Urban and Regional Planning students from the Humphrey Institute at the University of Minnesota completed a study of 8th Avenue S (PDF) as a connector between the future Downtown Hopkins LRT Station and Mainstreet. The study was given the award for Outstanding Student Project by the Minnesota chapter of the American Planning Association.
That study in particular highlighted the need for a “pedestrian seductive” experience along 8th Avenue South through streetscape improvements, active first floor uses, and circulation options from the station throughout Downtown.