Dan Patch
In the winter of 1998 the Minnesota Department of Transportation chose the 40-mile Dan Patch commuter rail (running between Minneapolis and Northfield) as one of the metro's three most promising passenger rail routes. The prediction was for fourteen heavy, fast trains each day along the corridor by 2020.
Dakota County finished the $400,000 Dan Patch Study in December 2001. The following spring, then-Sen. Roy Terwilliger, R-Edina, and Sen. Bill Belanger, R-Bloomington, introduced legislation (a "gag order") that became a state prohibition against further study of the Dan Patch line. Edina opposed Dan Patch because the rail line would pass close behind homes and beside parks, and residents were concerned about the heavy trains running at high speeds along the tracks.
Scott County officials attempted to lift the gag order in 2008 but failed.
This page was last Modified on 5 December 2010.