Light Rail Options Deserve a Full Study

Golden Valley is the only city along the Bottineau Transitway to not endorse the proposed alignment that comes through Golden Valley as the Locally Preferred Alternative (LPA). The identification of an LPA is a critical step in pursuing federal funding. Selecting an LPA does not mean that other alternatives will not be examined under the federal and state environmental process.

Golden Valley needs to plan for the future of transportation and not remain entrenched in old, isolationist ways of thinking. Congestion will get worse. There will be more people commuting to and from work through Golden Valley. Do we want to position ourselves for more economic opportunity by embracing this opportunity or do we want to stagnate in isolation?

Golden Valley needs to support this proposal and be a part of the planning process. The current plan is not perfect, but we need to remain engaged to help determine what the best solutions are. Let’s endorse this Locally Preferred Alternative and allow the study to be done and to be a part of the solution and design the future of transportation which includes Golden Valley as a partner in the process.

How do we know if this light rail proposal is bad for Golden Valley if we don’t fully study the issue? We need to have all the facts in order to make an informed, logical decision on what is right for our community. There are a lot of areas to be concerned with, but let’s not destroy the whole project from advancing before we know the answers to our questions and have all the factual evidence to base our decision on. We don’t know the impacts until they are studied.

Urge City Council members to endorse this Locally Preferred Alternative and let the study advance. What do you think about letting the light rail study advance?