SouthWest station

SouthWest station is a park and ride facility and a transit hub with two bus platforms for SouthWest Transit in Eden Prairie, Minnesota.[1] The station is being reconfigured to include a light rail station on the Metro Southwest LRT, which is an extension of the Green Line.[2][3] The station is located on Technology Drive in Eden Prairie, just north of the Purgatory Creek wetland area and south of U.S. Route 212. In December 2018 the Metropolitan Council purchased the station from SouthWest Transit for $8 million.[4] The Metropolitan Council's 2021 park-and-ride system report found 156 cars parked at the station compared to 829 in 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic.[5]

SouthWest
Metro light rail and SouthWest Transit bus station
On an overcast day, two cranes and several other construction vehicles work in a mostly empty worksite between some one-story buildings, a road, and a lake.
Work underway in 2019 on the SouthWest station
General information
Location13500 Technology Dr.
Eden Prairie, MN 55344
Coordinates44.8600041°N 93.44305109°W / 44.8600041; -93.44305109
Owned byMetropolitan Council
Line(s)  Southwest LRT  (2025)
Tracks2
Construction
Parking925 spaces
(450 additional spaces by 2025)
AccessibleYes
History
Opening2025
Services
Preceding station Metro Following station
Future service
Eden Prairie Town Center
toward SouthWest Station
 Southwest LRT Terminus

Modeled after Burnsville Station, SouthWest station was one of several suburban park and ride facilities opened in the Twin Cities in the late 1990s. When it originally opened in 1998, it had 500 parking spaces and 15 acres of surrounding land available for housing and commercial development. The station cost $5 million which was twice the cost of Burnsville Station.[6] Construction began on a 3 level parking ramp in November 2001 that could accommodate 700 vehicles. The new parking ramp cost $9.7 million and was designed to accommodate a 4th level with additional spaces. Land surrounding the station had begun to be sold for restaurants, apartments, and townhouses.[7] By 2006 parking on the site had expanded to 900 spaces on 5 levels but was still often full.[8] At the time, SouthWest Station had 230 units of housing.[9]

References
  1. "Southwest Station". Southwest Transit. Retrieved November 15, 2018.
  2. "Southwest Station". Metropolitain Council. Retrieved November 15, 2018.
  3. Moore, Janet (December 8, 2018). "Developers eye building projects near Southwest light-rail stations". Star Tribune. Retrieved January 21, 2022.
  4. Morris, William (December 21, 2018). "Met Council pays $35M+ for Southwest sites". Finance & Commerce. Retrieved December 28, 2018.
  5. Ackerson, Jenny (December 2021). "2021 ANNUAL REGIONAL PARK & RIDE SYSTEM REPORT". Metro Transit. Retrieved January 1, 2022.
  6. Blake, Laurie (July 12, 1998). "Transit hubs have bus riders lining up". Star Tribune. pp. B1, B4. Retrieved January 21, 2022.
  7. Wascoe Jr, Dan (November 13, 2001). "Getting more of us on the bus". Star Tribune. pp. B1, B2. Retrieved January 21, 2022.
  8. Steverman, Ben (June 21, 2006). "Getting more of us on the bus". Star Tribune. pp. W1, W12. Retrieved January 21, 2022.
  9. Jacbonson, Don (September 11, 2006). "Hot Property - Southwest Village". Star Tribune. pp. D4. Retrieved January 21, 2022.


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