Talk of the Dan Patch rail line is revived

Dan Patch is making another run for it.

Not the horse, of course, but the south-metro commuter rail line.

Legislators from Northfield and Jordan, with support from Scott County officials, are pushing -- again -- to lift a legislative "gag order" that essentially wiped the line between Northfield and Minneapolis off the metro and state planning maps in 2002.

"It's just odd," Sen. Kevin Dahle, DFL-Northfield, said of the ban on planning for a Dan Patch Line. "It's not really the right way to legislate. Let's have the discussion on its merits."

An effort to lift the ban gained approval in both the House and Senate during the 2008 session, but it was mysteriously plucked from an omnibus bill in conference committee, some say at the request of senior members or the governor. The Dan Patch line had been particularly unpopular in Lakeville, Edina and Bloomington, cities the line would cross. Legislators from those cities questioned its cost and route through residential neighborhoods.

This year's bill flew through the Senate on a 47-14 vote in mid-February, but its fate in the House, where it has yet to come before a committee, and beyond is unknown.

"I don't know that things have changed dramatically, but it's a simple little bill and we thought we would try it again," said Sen. Claire Robling, R-Jordan.

Senate authors Dahle and Robling, and House author Rep. David Bly, DFL-Northfield, are hopeful but uncertain about the fate of the ban. But they're set on making sure the south metro transit wishes are known.

In addition to the request to lift the Dan Patch gag order, the Northfield legislators have also filed bills, admittedly long shots, asking for $500,000 to study another potential commuter rail route along tracks that run between Northfield and St. Paul via Rosemount.

"We are sending the signal that Northfield and the surrounding area is very interested in commuter rail," Bly said.

The Dan Patch line, about 40 miles of track running between Northfield's depot and the site of the new Twins ballpark, was once among the state's top priorities for commuter rail.

A 2001 study by Dakota County predicted 7,500 rides per day by 2020 with six trains to Minneapolis and one to Northfield in the morning, and vice versa in the evening. But that same study, which came with a $400,000 price tag, also noted public resistance to a line that would run through many residential neighborhoods in Lakeville, Burnsville, Bloomington, Edina and St. Louis Park at the cost of $441 million in 2010 dollars.

The study concluded that the Dan Patch line was financially impractical and recommended no further planning for the line until the Northstar and Red Rock commuter rail corridors were up and running.

While some cities have softened their positions -- both Edina and Burnsville are neutral to the idea of lifting the study ban -- others, including Bloomington and Lakeville, are still set against it, based on the 2001 recommendations.

"I'm not afraid of discussion. I think discussion's good," said Rep. Paul Rosenthal, a DFLer whose district includes Bloomington and a portion of Edina. "But this line has been studied and at this point, I don't see the point in reopening the study."

But others, including Scott County Board Chairman Jon Ulrich, said even people who aren't in favor of the Dan Patch line are beginning to advocate removal of the ban, just because it's bad policy.

Supporters of lifting the ban also note that the authors of the 2002 legislation that became the state prohibition of further study of the Dan Patch line, then-Sen. Roy Terwilliger, R-Edina, and Sen. Bill Belanger, R-Bloomington, are no longer in office. Neither is Rep. Ron Erhardt, R-Edina, who was a strong opponent of the Dan Patch corridor.

And so the Northfield and Scott County officials hope this time, they'll at least be able to talk about the commuter rail proposal named for the famous pacer.

"It's not like there's going to be picks and shovels on the line next week," Dahle said. "It's just to open up the discussion."

Katie Humphrey • 952-882-9056