South 5th Street at Marquette
Length: 0:20
Description: The Hiawatha light rail line runs on South 5th Street in downtown Minneapolis. Here it resembles an old fashioned streetcar line; the trains on this stretch are required to obey the traffic signals along with everyone else.
Like most downtown streets, Fifth Street has been a one-way for many years, and it remains so despite the inclusion of two-way rail traffic. From the Metrodome to the Government Plaza stop, the tracks run in the center of the street, like an old fashioned street with streetcar tracks, but motor vehicles travel in only one direction on both sides of the tracks. From Government Plaza to the Nicollet Mall stop, there is one vehicular lane on the left side of the tracks. Drivers in this lane will often pass a train going the other way, which will be counterintuitively on the "wrong" side of the automobile.
Some of the locals have grown accustomed to this odd configuration, but it can be quite confusing to those who encounter it for the first time. While following the one-way directive, many people have driven on the tracks (which is forbidden) only to be startled by a train approaching them head-on (with bright headlights and blaring horn) from a block away. No, there has not been a disastrous accident because of this. Low speed limits and lots of traffic signals help keep the risks down.
I shot this vid while waiting on 5th Street for a red light at Marquette Avenue. The train is leaving the Nicollet Mall stop enroute to Bloomington. This was on June 25, 2007; the day before the third anniversary of the Hiawatha line's opening.
Author: cleostreet
Source: YouTube
